Tag Archives: jrock

Music News

BAND-MAID New Single “Bestie” co-written by Mike Einziger of INCUBUS

Leave a comment

On April 17th, the globally popular girl band BAND-MAID started streaming “Bestie,” which is a co-written song by Mike Einziger (Gt) of Incubus. Incubus is an American alternative band that has been nominated for the Grammy award twice, topped the Billboard charts in the U.S., and sold over 23 million albums worldwide. This is BAND-MAID’s first release of new music in eight months since “Shambles,” which was released on the day of their appearance at the outdoor festival Lollapalooza in Chicago, U.S.

The cover artwork, which was released simultaneously with the single, was produced by SAIKI (Vo).

Comment by SAIKI: 

The tower represents BAND-MAID’s trajectory to date; from the beginning to the achievement of having an arena show as a passing point in our career. I would like to create songs that everyone is excitedly-looking forward to our new songs to be born around from that memorable tower. Overall, I asked the designer to capture the image I had of the song, of traveling through the wilderness with my best friend.

In May 2023, Mike saw a BAND-MAID performance at the Pointfest Radio Show in St. Louis, U.S. and praised the band’s high musicianship and intense performance. Mike Einziger is not only a member of Incubus but is also a well-known writer and co-writer of the international hit song “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, which has received over 2.3 billion views on YouTube and 28 million Shazam searches.

BAND-MAID will appear as a special guest for Incubus Japan concert on May 1st.

BAND-MAID also recently announced a special performance with Mexico’s popular three-sister band, The Warning. BAND-MAID’s goal is to “dominate the world,” and we can’t take our eyes off their rapid progress in 2024.

“Bestie”

Release Date:  April 17th, 2024

Lyrics: Miku Kobato
Music: Micharl Einziger / BAND-MAID

Wednesday, May 1, 2024 (Wed) ＠Tokyo Garden Theater
INCUBUS ASIA TOUR 2024 Special Guest: BAND-MAID


Wednesday, June 12th, 2024@Tokyo Roppongi EX Theater


BAND-MAID × The Warning SPECIAL SHOW IN JAPAN

Details: https://bandmaid.tokyo/contents/733903

BAND-MAID contrasts Japanese pop culture’s neo-gothic frills and anime cuteness with powerful and melodic metal. Their music videos boast more than 198 million views. Wildly popular in their native Japan, Miku Kobato (guitar, vocals), Saiki (vocals), Kanami (lead guitar), Misa (bass), and Akane (drums) introduced kawaii metal globally in 2013. In contrast with traditional pop idols, the quintet writes their own songs and shreds their instruments with skill.  In 2023, they held their 10th anniversary tour in Japan, the U.S., and Mexico, including Lollapalooza, then culminating at one of Japan’s historic and large-scale concert venues, the Yokohama Arena. Subversive, playful, and powerful, BAND-MAID dominates.

OFFICIAL HP：https://bandmaid.tokyo

YouTube： https://www.youtube.com/@BANDMAID

Twitter： https://twitter.com/bandmaid

Instagram： https://www.instagram.com/bandmaid.jp/

YouTube： https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJToUvYrmkmTCR-bluEaQfA

Music News

East of Eden Head West with International Debut Mini Album “Forbidden Fruit -1st piece-“

Leave a comment

Japan’s breathtaking new band East of Eden are set to expand west as their hotly anticipated debut mini album ‘Forbidden Fruit -1st piece-’ gets a physical release via London’s JPU Records from 2 February 2024. The release includes an exclusive booklet with English lyric translations from bassist Wakazaemon, lyric transliterations, and a limited-edition bundle with subtitled behind the scenes video footage and an exclusive shirt.

Forbidden Fruit -1st piece- features East of Eden’s breakout track ‘Evolve’, which brought them attention from all over the globe, including its music video which received a million views within four months. Follow up release ‘This Moment’ is also included, and its video surpassed one million views on YouTube within just four weeks as hype for the band and Forbidden Fruit -1st piece- continues to grow. The mini album also includes brand new tracks; ‘Rasenkairo’, ‘Mujuryokuhiko’ and ‘Hanabi’ and is available to stream worldwide digitally from today, 20 December 2023, ahead of its international physical release.

East of Eden is the brainchild of violinist and producer Ayasa. Her beautiful breakout hit ‘The reason why’ topped instrumental charts in 46 countries on iTunes and its live music video has been watched over 11 million times on YouTube – she is also part of the hugely popular BanG Dream! project where she plays Rui Yashio of the real band Morfonica. Ayasa set out to gather four other female musicians that share the same level of passion, world-class musicality and who have the power to transcend barriers. She found what she was looking for; she found East of Eden.

Joining Ayasa is powerful vocalist Akane Minato, who first made a name for herself as lead vocalist in predia, followed by various TV appearances and sporting events for her overwhelming vocal abilities; extraordinary guitarist Yuki, a member of instrumental band D_Drive, and has been featured on many artists’ tracks; lefty bassist Wakazaemon who’s supported many bands in Japan since her teenage years and was selected as a member of COTTELEE, a band born from the world’s first franchise system by the band MAXIMUM THE HORMONE; and dynamic drummer MIZUKI, who has played at some of Japan’s biggest venues and festivals, and was part of Shinkuhorou (whose song ‘Niji’ was an ending theme to Naruto: Shippuden) and is currently in the band Lonesome_Blue.

East Of Eden links:

Live Music, Live Reviews, Media, Photography

A tale of two venues…HANABIE. proves ready for the world stage.

Leave a comment

HANABIE., the unique and fast-rising metalcore band out of Tokyo, delivers the goods at two very different gigs, during their first overseas tour since the group formed in 2015: as openers in an intimate rock venue in a small southern city, and as headliners at a sold-out show in New York.

Written by Jonathan Lane

Following eight dates in Europe and the UK – a mix of festivals and concerts – the self-labeled “Harajuku-core” group continues with gigs across the US. This label signifies a blend of the sensibilities of Harajuku, Tokyo’s home for “kawaii (cuteness)” culture and fashion, and the band’s metalcore thrust.

At the down-to-earth rock ‘n’ roll club, Ground Zero, in Spartanburg, SC HANABIE. opens for Galactic Empire, the Star Wars-themed metal band. An informal survey of fans indicates about half have shown up from near and far to see HANABIE..

HANABIE. strides onstage to a wildly enthusiastic reception that seems to surprise even them – drummer Chika, front woman Yukina, and guitarist Matsuri each takes her bows. Bassist Hettsu hobbles onto the stage wearing a protective boot. She injured herself the night before in Greensboro, NC.  She sets herself up on a stool, plugs in, cheerfully waves to the crowd, receiving warm props for her “can-do” attitude. Hettsu rocks out despite the handicap, providing solid bottom to the kickass music. The band gets right down to business with “Hyperdimension Galaxy“, the first track on their 2023 album, “Reborn Superstar!” and continues to blast the room with their special brand of beautifully crafted metal chaos. It’s a fully satisfying sampling of 8 hits from 2021-2023, including breakthrough music and video hits “We Love Sweets” and the 2023 trilogy of “Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now”, “TOUSOU (Run Away)”, and “Be the GAL~Early Summer ver.~”.

This was an intimate, mesmerizing and head banging performance. HANABIE. quickly won over the half of the crowd that didn’t already know them – interaction with the crowd was warm and friendly. There was moshing.

The band hits another half dozen southern cities together with Galactic Empire, and then switches over to “headliner” mode, hitting cities from New York to L.A., with support from metal band Fox Lake, as well as Dropout Kings on some dates.

At Gramercy Theatre, where other fast-rising Japanese bands (Band-Maid and Nemophila, for example) have had smashing New York debuts in recent years, HANABIE. is up to the task. The band looks right at home on the more expansive stage and thrills the big-city crowd with a 13-song set, including an encore, 2019’s “L.C.G.”

With seven US shows under their belts since Spartanburg, all four members seem to enjoy themselves even more. A very animated Hettsu is back on her feet, Chika shakes the hall with her in-the-pocket drumming, Matsuri’s clean vocals and riffage are both hard and sweet, and Yukina owns the stage, which she leaves briefly for a little crowd surfing. She seems elated as she wraps herself in the Japanese flag a fan has given her, filled with autographs of musicians the fan has copiously collected in the US.

The music perfectly fills these quite different venues, and begs the question, how will this band sound and perform in an arena?

Based on these two slices of HANABIE.’s first overseas tour – the quality of performance, the confidence and stage presence, and crowd enthusiasm – it shouldn’t  be long before we’ll have a chance to answer that question.

HANABIE. will be turning Australia upside-down on December 1, 2, and 3 to finish up what looks to be a very successful overseas tour on three continents.

Hanabie Social Media Links

Set Lists – HANABIE.

Ground Zero, Spartanburg, SC, September 13, 2023

1.    Hyperdimension Galaxy

2.    REIWA Dating Apps Generation

3.    We Love Sweets

4.    NEET GAME

5.    SUNRISE Miso– SOUP

6.    TOUSOU (Run Away)

7.    Be the GAL ~Early Summer ver.~

8.    Warning!!

9.    Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now

Gramercy Theatre, New York, NY, September 24, 2023

1.    Hyperdimension Galaxy

2.    NEET GAME2021

3.    Be the GAL ~Early Summer ver.~

4.    Warning!!

5.    REIWA Dating Apps Generation

6.    We Love Sweets

7.    LOVE Ranbu

8.    Tales of Villain

9.    TOUSOU (Run Away)

10. Pardon Me, I Have To Go Now

11. Today’s Good Day & So Epic

12. Encore: L.C.G

Photography by Jonathan Lane

https://www.photographer-jonathan-lane.com/hom

Yukina (vocals) Instagram @yukina_hanabie

Hettsu (bass) Instagram @hanabie_hettsu

Chika (drums) Instagram @hanabie_chika

Matsuri (guitar, vocals) Instagram @mtr_hanabie

Music News

Re:NO to Release Expanded 17 Track Debut Solo Album Outside of Japan

1 Comment

Re:NO, the charismatic, powerful and popular former vocalist of Japan’s pioneering all female metal band Aldious, has announced the international release of her debut solo album DREAMER. The physical edition will feature a total of 17 tracks, including two bonus tracks exclusive to this international edition, as well as a bonus booklet containing full English lyric translations and Romaji lyric transliterations for every track. DREAMER on CD will be released from Japanese music specialists JPU Records from 13 January 2023 and available digitally later this week.

DREAMER includes a variety of songs, from the kind of heavy metal anthems one would expect from the former vocalist of Aldious, to sweet and beautiful ballads. Debut solo single ‘You go your way’ is also included, which topped the ‘Rock’ chart of iTunes Japan upon release, as well as the singles ‘Get over it’, ‘Re:play’ and ‘Forget Me Not’. The CD also includes two bonus tracks, recorded live from Re:NO’s sold out shows earlier this year.

Re:NO was born in Tokyo and joined Aldious as vocalist in 2013 where she helped the band break into Japan’s official top ten album chart, leading the way for Japan’s all-female metal bands to follow. It lead to Alternative Press saying “The ‘girls metal band boom’ of the 2010s, which brought us the likes of BABYMETAL, owes its initial success in part to the pioneering talents of Aldious”. Re:NO started her solo career strong in 2022 with sold out solo shows followed by a chart topping single, and finished the year with the domestic release of her first album DREAMER. Now, 2023 looks set to take her career even further with the international release of DREAMER following lots of requests from fans around the world.

CD Release Date: 13 January 2023

The debut solo album from RE:NO, the charismatic, powerful and popular former vocalist of Japan’s pioneering all female metal band Aldious. The CD includes two exclusive bonus tracks and bonus booklet with English lyric translations and romaji transliterations.

Re:NO – DREAMER CD Tracklist:
1. Live
2. BOLD
3. Dreamer
4. Re:play
5. AWL
6. Calling
7. Forget Me Not
8. Smile Again
9. Realize
10. Burn!
11. You go your way
12. Drive my life
13. Get over it
14. I’m crazy for you
15. Twinkle Little Star
16. Burn! (live bonus track)
17. Live (live bonus track)

CD Includes:
– 20 page original Japanese booklet
– 8 page English lyric translation booklet
– 8 page Romaji lyric transliteration booklet