Top Ten Japanese Songs of 2021
We’re doing CROSSOVERS now, folks — and read This Side of Japan, if you haven’t already!
So if you follow me on social media, you’ve likely heard me speak about Ryo Miyauchi’s This Side of Japan, a truly top-tier music newsletter. Ryo’s work at TSOJ has been hugely inspirational when it comes to my own decision to try and do more music writing, and so when I was asked to contribute to a year-end post collecting their friends’ top ten lists, I was very excited to do so.
Now, you should check out that post — it’s full of great music — but because of the number of people involved, it’s necessarily just the lists. If everyone were to write about their choices, it would run thousands and thousands of words.
Nothing says I can’t expand on my picks here on my own newsletter though, so that’s what I’m gonna do. Plus, this way I can include my near-misses!
Honourable Mentions:
Three very different songs, all of which spent significant amounts of time on the list before ultimately being displaced. We’ve got an obnoxious EDM banger, a hypnotically spooky rock piece (which I blurbed for The Singles Jukebox), and a delicate, violin-focused instrumental jazz piece. All are worth your time.
10. Maika Loubté - Zenbu Dreaming
I discovered Maika Loubté near the beginning of this year, in the form of her previous album Closer. Her work has an ethereality to it I really like; she often sounds as though she’s singing through a veil, or from a long distance away, and her production choices evoke the same feeling. On “Zenbu Dreaming” she returns to that well, but layers the more gauzy sounds with sharper staccato bursts. It’s in the friction between the two that the song shines brightest.
9. Morfonica - Sonorous
Obviously, it was inevitable some BanG Dream! music would be on this list, but I surprised myself with how much of an impression this specific song made. It was right at the bottom of my longlist for quite a while, but every time a choice came down to “Sonorous” versus a song I initially thought I liked better, this is the one that ended up prevailing. Morfonica’s development as a band has been interesting to watch, as they continue to get a handle on how best to showcase Mashiro Kurata (Amane Shindou)’s voice. She sounds great here, but the real standout for me is the violin — the solo is lovely, but what I like best is how it augments and supports the vocal line, particularly in the second verse.
8. Roselia - Blessing Chord
Back-to-back Bandori selections! This one was much less of a surprise to me; I love Roselia’s whole Baroque pop-metal deal, and “Blessing Chord” made a strong impression from day one. I love how lively the piano part is, the fact that every band member gets a bit of vocal spotlighting, and the overall structure of the song. I’m particularly into the way it builds momentum into the chorus not just by starting to pass the vocal around (a trick they’ve used around), but with some fairly unexpected chord progressions. It’s just a fun song to listen to!
7. Miho Hazama & The Danish Radio Big Band - Green
As you’ll see when I publish my AOTY list (it’s coming! I swear!!), in 2021 I got into jazz in a big way after years of dabbling. Hazama’s album Imaginary Visions is wonderful top to bottom, but I can pinpoint exactly where “Green” stole my heart and earned its spot on this list — 1:08, where the piece suddenly flowers into a new key. Over the four minutes that follow, the composition continues to surprise, while still feeling entirely natural in how it moves from one idea to the next. Really stellar work from both Hazama as composer and from the members of the band, who play beautifully.
6. Kayoko Yoshizawa - New Hong Kong
There’s a real playfulness to “New Hong Kong”, with the twinkling synths and sing-song vocal. It’s present structurally too, though — even as the melody anchors the piece, what’s happening around it is ever-changing, swapping instruments and harmonic colour while maintaining that rippling sense of motion. All of that busy instrumental activity is perfect setup for the payoff at 2:25, where the accompaniment shifts in a way that stopped me in my tracks when I first heard it. It’s a short section, but one of my favourite musical moments of the whole year.
5. HachiojiP ft. Aimi - Twinkle Starry Night
I’m honestly not at all well-versed in the Vocaloid scene. I think some of the production and writing is super sharp, but I’ve never been able to get into the synthesized singing. Thus, I had no real familiarity with HachiojiP when I first heard this song. His production here is excellent, though — the main pulse is gorgeously spacious, and the delicate twinkling in the high synth is never obtrusive or obnoxious. The song would not be half so memorable without Aimi as singer though; she gets to use the throatiness of her low register to full effect here, and the way she flips into her high register for the chorus and for the climactic section of the bridge is beautifully done. Just a great collaboration between the two.
4. Buckingham - Wednesday Campanella
I don’t envy Utaha. KOM_I, Wednesday Campanella’s previous vocalist, was so indelibly the face of the band for many years. They’re big shoes to fill, and I imagine it’s intimidating. However, on “Buckingham” (and its companion track “Alice”), she more than holds her own against the gleefully chaotic production. There’s so much going on here — multiple layers of percussion and vocal samples, piano and synth lines dipping in and out, and a jarring but strangely effective gunshot noise — but Utaha remains a strong presence over it all, never feeling overwhelmed by the melee. Her rapping is decent, but she absolutely soars on the chorus; it’s a beautiful melody and she brings it to life in a way that makes me very excited for her future releases with the band.
3. Aimer - STAND-ALONE
I honestly can’t put my finger on exactly what about “STAND-ALONE” led to me placing it so high. There’s a great deal to like about it, of course; I’m a big fan of the piano ostinato, and how it transforms right before Aimer launches into the chorus. The composition in general though, while solid, doesn’t surprise or stand out in the way some of the other pieces on this list do. At the end of the day, I think it comes down to Aimer’s vocal performance: she sounds great in her low range on the verses, and there’s an intensity and humanity to the choruses that really draws me in. I go back and forth on how I feel about obvious breathing in music, but here it emphatically works for me, with Aimer’s gasping rush to the finish sweeping me along in her wake.
2. mekakushe - Watashi, Fiction
mekakushe is an artist I’m indebted to Ryo for introducing me to — they spotlighted her album Hikari Mitai ni Susumitai back in May. I love her vocal delivery, which is laid back and naturalistic, frequently tiptoeing up to the edge of speak-singing. She’s got a firm grasp of melody, though, and her piano-forward production is (unsurprisingly) something I’m a big fan of. I really enjoy how “Watashi, Fiction” ebbs and flows, instruments coming in and out as needed. It’s a really well-shaped song, in a way I’ve found rewards close listening. All the same, I think you could pare it all the way back to piano and vocal and still have a very satisfying piece; while the production adds a great deal, the compositional bones are incredibly solid underneath it all. The cherry on top is the ending, cutting off and leaving the listener waiting for a resolution. I —
1. Kumi Takahara - Kai-Kou
Much like with jazz, this year I spent a lot more time with contemporary classical than I have in the past. And of all the albums in that genre space I listened to, Kumi Takahara’s See-Through may be my favourite. I love the tacticility of the piano on tracks like “Kai-Kou”, the fact that you can hear the squeak and rustle as the pedal is worked. I love the patience with which the track unfolds; the shock of the strings entering after more than a minute of only piano completely recontextualizes what one can expect, and when the secondary melodic figure starts at 1:40, the new sense of motion and renewal is really powerful. The whole thing is expertly paced and deeply moving, tracing a complex emotional journey completely wordlessly. Every time I listen I’m struck anew by the care with which “Kai-Kou” was constructed, the way Takahara is able to pack an entire world into five minutes of sound.