SCANDAL Ivory: 15th Anniversary Celebrations Continue with International Limited-Edition Cassette!

Four-member pop-rock queens SCANDAL will release “Ivory” on 16 June, the second single of their 15th anniversary year! The band have reached legendary status in Japan where all nine of their studio albums have ranked in the charts at position five or higher. This latest single has been written and composed by SCANDAL's powerful guitarist MAMI, and co-arranged by the musician Kohei Munemoto (KAT-TUN, KinKi Kids, Mika Nakashima), and also features an acoustic version of the track. The cover sees art director Junya Handa return, who also worked on prior single 'eternal'.

To celebrate the release, our friends at London's JPU Records will be releasing a special edition tape cassette featuring both versions of the track, as well as a translation and transliteration of the lyrics. This edition will be limited strictly to 100 copies and will not be re-pressed. It’s available to pre-order today. It’s best to order quick as the previous single sold out fast.

SCANDAL's latest album Kiss from the darkness is also available from JPU Records on CD with English lyric translations and Romaji. It’s limited edition bundle with an English printed copy of SCANDAL's magazine 'her' is also available while stocks last.

SCANDAL's postponed world tour is still planned to go ahead later this year, which dates and locations are located below!

SCANDAL's rescheduled world tour dates:

23 October 2021 – O2 Academy Islington, London. UK 🇬🇧

26 October 2021 – YoYo (Palais de Tokyo), Paris. France 🇫🇷

28 October 2021 – Lido, Berlin. Germany 🇩🇪

11 November 2021 – Queen Elizabeth Hall, Toronto. Canada 🇨🇦

13 November 2021 – Sony Hall, New York. USA 🇺🇸

17 November 2021 – House of Blues, Anaheim. USA 🇺🇸

19 November 2021 – Canton Hall, Dallas. USA 🇺🇸

21 November 2021 – The Masquerade, Atlanta. USA 🇺🇸

Nao Toyama to Stream Free Online Concert to Mark the Release of Mini Concept Album “Off”

To celebrate Nao Toyama release of her mini concept album Off, she has announced that she will be holding a free online concert titled “Ouchi de Naobou! Minna de Off-Kai” on her official YouTube channel.

Since her debut, Nao Toyama has played the heroine in numerous popular anime. Last year, in 2020, she celebrated her 10th anniversary as a voice actress and released a character song best album titled Special Thanks, which placed third on the Oricon Weekly Ranking. In December, the Special Thanks! Festival was held as a one-time event at the Tokyo Garden Theater. Now, in 2021, Nao has released her new mini concept album Off on the theme of “rest and healing”.

The concert will be streamed on June 13 (Sun) from 19:00 (JST) on Nao Toyama’s official YouTube channel. This will be Nao Toyama’s first live performance as a solo artist since her 10th anniversary concert in December 2020, and her first performance of songs from her mini concept album Off. We hope that you will subscribe to the channel and set a reminder. On the day, please tweet your impressions with the hashtag #おうちでなおぼう. We look forward to reading your comments and cheering along side you during the performance!

One Eye Closed Brings the Rebirth to their Album with Latest Release!

Fresh Tokyo talent One Eye Closed will release their diverse debut album Adam & Eve worldwide on CD and digital formats from 28 May via our friends at JPU Records. The album will feature eleven tracks that cross metal, pop and hip-hop genres, including a remaster by Яyo Trackmaker (girugamesh) of their biggest hit to date "Low", the ending theme to multi award winning music adventure video-game No Straight Roads.

One Eye Closed's music has been listened to over 200,000 times on YouTube and their tracks included in numerous official Apple Music and Spotify playlists. These include Apple Music's "New Rock" playlist, a hand-picked selection of hot new rock tracks from around the world, and Spotify's "Loud Rock Japan" playlist, where One Eye Closed are regularly included alongside domestic heavyweights such as Crossfaith, coldrain and BAND-MAID.

Adam & Eve is also the first time One Eye Closed's music has been available in a physical format anywhere in the world.

"We worked really hard on this album," comments vocalist REI, who also designed the album artwork and booklet. "We put a lot of our emotion into these songs and now we're proud to present them to you as a single package: Adam & Eve. We know there’s a lot of people struggling with depression and anxiety, so we hope you turn up the volume and find relief in this album".

Bass player Yasu also comments, "One Eye Closed is a band in which all members put 100% of their individualities into the songs. Adam & Eve is an album full of 'chemical reactions' so we hope you enjoy it!". Guitarist and lead songwriter none adds, "I hope this album will offer support for all those dealing with negative emotions and thoughts. I hope you’ll like this album".

Drummer Kay concludes, "This album is a collection of our 11 best songs yet. Which are my recommended songs? All of them, of course! Thank you for all your support!".

Be sure to check out the music video for N.C.H along with the pre-order link for Adam & Eve from our friends at JPU Records below!

Standard edition

Adam & Eve Jacket Cover

One Eye Closed「Adam & Eve」

1. Alone

2. Low (Яyo Trackmaker Remaster)

3. Fixated

4. Dynamite

5. Make Sure

6. Monster

7. Fire

8. Dear

9. N.C.H.

10. With How I Feel

11. No Fakes

waterweed Brings out the Best with Latest Single and Best Of Album!

Since the early 2000s, waterweed have been pioneers of Japan’s screamo and post-hardcore scenes.  With their latest release, waterweed had dropped Deep inside + Unknown best, a 15-song single and best-of album that includes their track “Deep Inside”, which is the ending theme to the popular anime series Kingdom. The music video for “Deep Inside” was also released to celebrate the release of the album.

When the latest season of Kingdom began broadcasting in Japan in April 2020 with “Deep Inside” as its ending theme, waterweed began to trend on Twitter, bringing a new wave of attention for this groundbreaking band. However, just as waterweed were preparing to rise to new levels of success, the ongoing pandemic struck, forcing them to cancel their plans for live performances and releases – resulting in a difficult year for them and many others.

The broadcast of Kingdom was also temporarily put on hold due to the effects of the pandemic. The series finally resumed in spring 2021. Produced in a world that was beginning to overcome the pandemic, the storyline has the characters confronting a major adversity – the biggest they have ever had to face. The lyrics to “Deep Inside” match this subject matter perfectly.

Roughly translated into English, the lyrics include lines such as “When faced with hardship, look ahead, and you can overcome the pain” and “We’ve lost so much, but that is all the more reason to smile.” Such lyrics portray the feeling of going up against a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, while the title is a reference to reaching into the depths of one’s heart. Strangely, while the song appears to reference the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, even though it was actually written before the global pandemic began.

As a dedicated live band, waterweed have shown their passion and support for Japan’s live music venues, which have suffered greatly during the pandemic. Through their “Pay For The Future Now” initiative in which they sold tickets for a tour that will eventually be held after the pandemic ends, they have raised about 2.5 million yen (roughly 23,000 USD) in advance ticket sales for 22 music venues around Japan, at a time when those venues most need the support.

As waterweed wield music as their strongest weapon even in these darkest of times, compilation album Deep inside + Unknown best is a historic work with the power to touch your heart. Rather than giving up or looking for someone or something to blame in the midst of disaster, the album conveys the strength that comes from never giving up, from facing yourself and picking up an instrument and starting to sing. It’s easy to believe we can stand firm and not be swept away by the times. But sometimes we need to experience hardship to understand the value of determination. Tune in to hear the deep and fresh sound of a band who were able to find something unchanging in this ever-changing world.

Be sure to check out the music video for “Deep Inside” below, along with the streaming link for Deep inside + Unknown best here!

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Deep inside + Unknown best Jacket Cover

waterweed「Deep inside + Unknown best」

01. Deep inside

02. 10 years 

03. Dead Joke

04. Still awake

05. All Our Wishes

06. No pride in them

07. Landscapes and Memories

08. Bitterness

09. Beyond the ocean 

10. Boring talk

11. July 31

12. In my veins

13. Music is Music

14. The last goodbye

15. Grateful song

Gen Z Diva and Icon Kimberley Chen Brings the Afterglow when She Joins Japanese Masked Production Duo AmPm for Collaboration Single!

“Afterglow” Jacket Cover

AmPm, the Japanese masked production duo who debuted to global acclaim with their March 2017 single
“Best Part of Us feat. Michael Kaneko”, have released their latest track: “Afterglow (feat. Kimberley Chen)” is out today, May 12 across all digital music streaming platforms.

“Afterglow” is a collaboration with Kimberley Chen, the Taiwan-based star singer who originally hails from Melbourne, Australia. It is a breezy summer tune with a refreshing dance-pop melody, bursting with love for that special someone.

The music video was also released today – AmPm’s first ever full-length animated music video. The visuals match the song’s dreamy vibe, a bright and positive video that follows a young woman who enjoys fashion and dating as she spends time with her boo. Look out for hidden illustrations of AmPm that pop up from time to time.

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Kimberley Chen

Message from Kimberley Chen

“This experience has been so special. I feel so honored to be invited to collaborate with AmPm. During tough times supporting each other through music is something that my soul needed. Thanks to everyone that help made this happen! And I’m looking forward to finally meeting in person :)”

Message from AmPm

“This project came to life after we approached Kimberley to collaborate with us, and it’s a song that truly conveys her personality. We also think this dance is perfect for the coming season, so we hope you’ll put on headphones or earphones and turn up the volume.

“If it wasn’t for the current situation, we would have loved to have gone to Taiwan to work with Kimberley directly, but when life finally returns to normal, we hope to visit Taiwan to hang out and perform live together.

“This was also our first time to make a full-length animated video, so we hope you’ll check it out! It’s always fun to have the opportunity to work with the most talented artists, and hopefully the video expresses this feeling too.”

Be sure to check out the music video below, along with the streaming link!