Music Reviews

Haruna Luna's new single "君がくれた世界" (Google translation: "World That You Gave Me") starts off with Haruna simply singing along to pretty piano but soon erupts with thunderous drums and soaring strings that radiate every color of the rainbow. Things are a bit more subtle during the verses, which have a mild electro-beat, along with the piano, and feel like a ballad, but the fulminating percussion and unyielding strings return for the super-fast and highly contagious chorus.

Japanese artist May'n's first few singles were released using her full name, May Nakabayashi. The first two, "Crazy Crazy Crazy" and "Sympathy," didn't make it onto the Oricon charts, but her third single, "Fallin' in or Not" featuring SEAMO did chart, although it only reached #159 on Oricon's weekly chart. She has done much, much better since she started going by the name May'n in 2008. Part of her success can be attributed to the anime series Macross Frontier, on which May'n provided the singing voice of the character Diva of the Galaxy, Sheryl Nome.

Wild is K-Pop girl group Nine Muses -- sometimes stylized as 9MUSES -- second mini-album. It begins with an intro track called "Spotlight," which blends a bit of guitar noodling with a whole lot of synth and dance beats. The first actual song is the title track, "와일드(Wild)," a highly danceable pop tune that's sure to rise to the top of the K-Pop charts. The girls' emotive voices are what drives the propulsive track, but there's no discounting those sweet, punchy beats.

I was unable to find any background information on this new Japanese girl group. I couldn't even find the girls' names, honestly. All I know is that they're signed to Daiki Sound, which released this single, their first, on May 1st of this year. Perhaps the label is keeping quiet about them in order to be mysterious and generate hype? Clearly they're looking for attention with the group's name, REGIIIIINA!!. (I'm assuming that the each letter I represents one of the girls, since there are 5 members and 5 I's.) Also, the girls would seem to be nude on the cover of this single.

FTISLAND's new digital single, "Freedom," will be on their new album Rated-FT, their third Japanese-language album, which will be released by Warner Music Japan on June 12, 2013. The album comes year after the pop rock group's hit album 20 [Twenty], and features the top 10 singles "Top Secret," "Polar Star" and "You Are My Life."

"ティーンズ" (translation: "Teens") is the new single by the award-winning model Misaki Izouka and, hot damn, this track is on fire. It starts with some seductive, slightly dark synth then a heavy beat drops, Misaki starts singing -- her voice is golden -- and plenty of other sounds join the mix, like a clapper. This is one of those exquisitely-produced pop tracks that have layers and layers of nuances that you might not even notice the first time you listen to it. It's enchanting like that. You want to keep listening and investigating further, so to speak.

Leo Ieiri returns with her first single of 2013, "Message," which is an energetic, mid-tempo pop rock tune with the sort of sunshiny melodies we've come to expect from the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning young artist, who's just 18 years old now. The especially vibrant song is currently being used as the theme song to television drama Kakusho – Keishicho Sousa San-ka, starring Eikura Nana.

Momoiro Clover Z -- affectionately called Momoclo by their fans -- is a Japanese girl group made up of five members: Kanako Momota, Shiori Tamai, Ayaka Sasaki, Momoka Ariyasu and Reni Takagi. Prior to their debut album, Battle and Romance, the group had several other members but the line up has been stable since then. Each of the girls has their own color that they always wear and their costumes are like a cross between cheerleading outfits and superhero costumes.

Juice=Juice -- pronounced "Juice Juice" -- is a Japanese girl group created in 2013. Five of the group's six members were Hello! Project Kenshuusei trainees, the 6th member coming from GREEN FIELDS. The members are Akari Uemura, Sayuki Takagi, Karin Miyamoto, Aina Ōtsuka, Tomoko Nakazawa and Yuka Miyazaki. "さみだれ美女がさみだれる" -- pronounced "Samidare Bijo ga Samidareru" -- is their second single and follows "私が言う前に抱きしめなきゃね," which reached number 25 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.