KANA-BOON Brings Honey to Their Darling With Upcoming Album!

Three-member rock band KANA-BOON announced that they will be releasing a brand new album, Honey & Darling, March 30. This will be their latest album since NAMiDA back in September of 2017 and will be their fifth album overall. It will be released with fifteen tracks total, eleven of which being newly created works for the album. Two editions will be made available: a CD-only standard edition and a limited edition which will come with a bonus Blu-ray. The Blu-ray will feature footage from KANA-BOON’s Re:PLAY TOUR 2021-2022 that took place at Zepp DiverCity TOKYO in January.

As we look forward to the upcoming release, be sure to check out the band’s latest music video “Re:Pray” along with the pre-order links for Honey & Darling below!

Standard edition

Limited edition

Honey & Darling Standard Edition Jacket Cover

Honey & Darling Limited Edition Jacket Cover

KANA-BOON「Honey & Darling」

CD

01. Re:Pray
02. 21g
03. Dance to beat
04. Torch of Liberty
05. マイステージ
06. 夜が明ける
07. 橙
08. イコール
09. alone
10. 天国地獄
11. HOPE
12. いないいないばあ
13. ひかり
14. スターマーカー
15. メリーゴーランド

Blu-ray

KANA-BOON Re:PLAY TOUR 2021-2022 Live at Zepp DiverCity(TOKYO) 2022.1.21

ないものねだり

盛者必衰の理、お断り

フルドライブ

ディストラクションビートミュージック

結晶星

街色

ターミナル

Wake up

Torch of Liberty

シルエット

MUSiC

まっさら

オレンジ

ネリネ

Re:Pray

メリーゴーランド

スターマーカー

YaYuYo Turns to A Brand New Day With Upcoming Album!

Four-member rock band YaYuYo announced that they will be releasing a brand new album, 日日爛漫 (Hibi Ranman), March 9. This will be their latest release since their EP THE ORDINARY LIFE back in June of 2021 and will be their first album overall. The work will drop with a CD-only standard edition and fifteen tracks. To hype up the release, YaYuYo dropped a teaser for the album which features scenes from several music videos, including those for “さよなら前夜” (“Sayonara Zenya”), “七月” (“Shichi Gatsu”), and “おとぎばなし” (“Otogi Banashi”).

Be sure to check out the teaser in question along with the pre-order links for Hibi Ranman below!

Standard edition 

Hibi Ranman Jacket Cover

YaYuYo「Hibi Ranman」

01. あばよ、
02. futtou!!!!
03. おとぎばなし
04. ユー！
05. 雨
06. キャンディ（飴ちゃんver.）
07. 七月
08. ピンク
09. テイク・イット・イージー
10. うるさい！
11. 一度きりの夢
12. 君の隣
13. 前夜前夜
14. さよなら前夜
15. 世界のなかみ

The Music Video of the Cover Song ‘Muscles Please!’ from the anime “How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?” by Nakayama Kinni-kun and Singing Cosplayer Hikari has Finally Been Released on YouTube

“Muscles Please!” Digital Jacket Cover

Japanese comedian and bodybuilder Nakayama Kinni-kun has released the music and video of a cover song “Muscles Please!” worldwide on the 26th of January across all digital music streaming platforms. He made this cover song video as a collaboration with cover singer, Singing Cosplayer Hikari, who is active internationally.

Nakayama Kinni-kun is known as a popular Youtuber who has over 1.4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel called, “The Kinniku TV【The Muscle TV】”. Singing Cosplayer Hikari is also famous with her activity as a YouTuber who has been releasing her activity to the world. She has released 25 cover songs in total and her songs have been viewed over 8.1 million times.The cover song of “Yume To Hazakura” was ranked No.1 on the J-POP charts of 14 countries.

In the music video of the cover song of “Muscles Please!” they showed the pair muscle training and dancing humorously and this music video has been released on both of their YouTube channels. The original song “Muscles Please!” is the opening theme song of the TV anime “How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?”. This anime song is very popular both inside and outside of Japan and has been viewed over 240 million times on YouTube. This music video, which is a collaboration between Nakayama Kinni-kun and Singing Cosplayer Hikari, is on air every Saturday as the ending theme song of the TV program “Doyou wa nani suru?” till the end of March.

This nationwide TV program, Doyou wa nani suru? is on both Kansai Telecasting corporation and Fuji Television Network from 08:30 to 09: 55 AM (JAPAN TIME). Also this song is on air through FamilyMart’s inside shop radio program called Mix Fam with your voice, from 23:00 till 04:59 AM until the end of January. Family Mart is a Japanese convenience store franchise chain and has 16,000 stores in Japan.

With their appearance in the media their cover song has been getting interest and the number of people who have viewed the TikTok with the two of them dancing together for practice, and also them on YouTube Shorts, has been increasing. By the way, Singing Cosplayer Hikari herself created the choreography. Their humorous dance has been gaining attention.

The full version of the music video of  “Muscles Please”’ has been released as a song and video on the 26th of January, which has been longed for by the fans of Nakayama Kinni-kun and Singing Cosplayer Hikari. Please check it out! Also try copying their dance with their cover song “Muscles Please!” on TikTok!

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

FEMM Announce Surprise New Album, ‘Tokyo Ex Machina’! Video for ’90s Revival Pop-Punk Track ‘We Got Each Other’ As Well!

Tokyo Girls Anthem Jacket Cover

Musical mannequin duo FEMM are famed for their girls’ anthem “Fxxk Boyz Get Money”, which quickly earned them a fan base in the United States, Europe and the rest of the world. Their debut album Femm-Isation reached the Top 10 of the Billboard World Albums chart in the US, and was picked as a Best Indie Album at HMV stores across the UK.

Their most recent album Tokyo Girls Anthem was released just last month, in December 2021, packed with a wide variety of rap tracks made in collaboration with globally active hip-hop producers such as Boys Noize and Star Boy. Now, FEMM have made the surprise announcement that their third album, Tokyo Ex Machina, has been released today, Friday, January 21 across all digital music streaming platforms. The music video for new song “We Got Each Other” was also released this past week.

The new album also features a selection of star collaborators from Europe, the US and Asia: Jenna Andrews, who worked on the smash BTS song “Butter”; John Ryan, who has worked on many songs with One Direction as well as Maroon 5 and Rita Ora; Doja Cat collaborator Kool Kojak; Danny L Harle, who is a cohort of Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama; and Woo Min Lee, who has worked on several songs for TWICE.

The jacket photo is by Liam Wong, who has been featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and who previously created the music video and jacket image for FEMM’s single ‘Tic Toc’. The photo, titled ‘Neo Tokyo’, recalls the classic cyberpunk vibes of AKIRA and Blade Runner and will appeal to fans of concept artist Syd Mead.

The opening track of the album, We Got Each Other, incorporates the sound of the 1990s punk revival that has been hugely popular this past year in the United States and Europe. The sweet and sour lyrics in which the two singers comfort one another over broken hearts deliver an emotional message, reminiscent of the girls’ rock movement that was prevalent in the ’90s and ’00s. 

Directed by Julie Giesen, the video dares to be girly, and starts with the two members of FEMM touching down in Tokyo’s Shibuya district. As the mannequins are brushed by a wave of animated magic, their appearance transforms into something we have never seen from FEMM before. As they visit an arcade and a bowling alley, the members – who are known for their icy demeanor – actually crack a smile! Are they dreaming, or have we been transported to a world of fantasy?

In the near future, music videos for new album cuts “Outta The Clouds” and “Crystal Ball” will follow, as well as a video for “Crawl Away”, the song that reunites FEMM with their “Fxxk Boyz Get Money” producer Pat Lukens, and a video for popular track “Falling For A Lullaby”. Look out for each new announcement as it comes.

FEMM have attracted attention from many global media, and their videos have found great acclaim, with Venezuelan musician Arca praising the twisted avatars in a previous video made with Aphex Twin visual collaborator Weirdcore. As the world contends with the ongoing pandemic, FEMM are broadcasting their own 21st-century Japonisme to the globe.

Be sure to check out the music video for “We Got Each Other” below along with the streaming link for Tokyo Ex Machina here!

Yui Makino Bring A Touch of Hope with Upcoming Release!

Vocalist Yui Makino announced that she will be apart of The Girl from the Other Side the feature-length animation based on a Japanese manga series by Nagabe that was completed in March last year. Yui Makino has been chosen to sing the theme song “Touch of Hope.” In addition, “Touch of Hope” will be released as a digital single on March 10, the same day as the release of the bonus manga volume that will come with the anime DVD.

The Girl from the Other Side was released in 2019 as a short art animation and was highly acclaimed at national and international film festivals. The feature-length animation was produced by Wit Studio and directed by Yutaro Kubo and Satomi Maiya. To fund this production, Wit Studio held a crowdfunding campaign from March to May last year, and the target amount of 3 million yen was achieved in just four hours. In the end, the campaign raised over 20 million yen from 1,418 users.

As we look forward to the upcoming release, be sure to check out her latest music video “Espro” below!