&
Both songs have 2 different promo tie in's .
Kusunoki -500 Nen no Kaze ni Fukarete- promoted NHK's Minna no Uta while Genkai was used to promote the Black Showman movie (released on 12th Sept in Japan) starring Fukuyama himself .
To say that both Kusunoki -500 Nen no Kaze ni Fukarete- & Genkai are like chalk and cheese is an understatement as they're 2 different type of songs but yet each of them presents 2 different musical sides to Fukuyama .
Kusunoki -500 Nen no Kaze ni Fukarete- is a fantastic touching ballad that has a strong choir backing while Genkai is entirely instrumental which's something I think Fukuyama has not released digitally before until now .
Surprisingly despite being an instrumental number , Genkai is not boring & it plays up to the fun mysterious sides pertaining to Black Showman .
Fukuyama released his latest digital released song Banyuinryoku last Thurs & Banyuinryoku will be reviewed in due time .
SPYAIR's latest new song is used as the theme no. to this year's JUST LIKE THIS 2025 outdoor concert that happened yesterday & today at Yamanashi's Kawaguchiko Stellar Theater .
Same with previous JUST LIKE THIS theme songs , physical CD copies of Bring the Beat Back were made available for sale at both this weekend's JUST LIKE THIS 2025 duo concert dates .
While not the best JUST LIKE THIS theme song , Bring the Beat Back overall is still a fun song . Strangely when I 1st heard it it reminds me of BRING IT ON ~Battle of Rap~ & coincidentally both songs start with the same alphabet ie. B .
I'm not sure if SPYAIR will release anything new before the year concludes . If not I do hope they will release a new studio album next year as it's about time for this to happen .
Aqua Timez's new song shares the same name as the band's indie album which was released back in Aug 2005 & also Aqua Timez 20th Thanksgiving Live『Sora Ippai ni Kanaderu Inori』 .
Sora Ippai ni Kanaderu Inori was created as a result of Aqua Timez's reunion & features a grand sound with strings and chorus work + emotional vocals , creating a finish that combines sadness & warmth .
Song credits wise , vocalist Futoshi wrote & composed Sora Ippai ni Kanaderu Inori .
Aqua Timez is known for their memorable uplifting songs & Sora Ippai ni Kanaderu Inori is no exception . It's easy to love the band's latest new release on 1st listen as it's such a great no. which's filled with nothing but positive upbeat vibes .
With the year coming to an end soon in comes Aqua Timez's impending disbandment . If Sora Ippai ni Kanaderu Inori is their last new song release as a group they're going out with an inspirational bang .
Promo wise The truth was used to promote both NTV's DRAMATIC BASEBALL 2025 and Going! Sports & News which Kamenashi hosts both sports programmes .
The truth is Kamenashi's 1st new solo music release after KAT-TUN disbanded this year in March & the last time he released solo material was 2023's Cross .
In addition , Kamenashi digitally released a best album Kame Best on the same day as The truth but this song's not included in the release .
Co-written by Kamenashi lyrics wise , The truth is a solid music return for Kamenashi as it's 1 of those songs that's easy to like on 1st listen .
Even before finding out if The truth received any promo tie in's , it's quite easy to tell Kamenashi's new song has a strong sports feel to it sound wise .
That said I look forward to more solo music Kamenashi will release in the near future .
CD
CD + DVD A & CD + Blu-ray A
CD + DVD B & CD + Blu-ray B
1) Henshin -Prologue-
2) Henshin
3) JOYER
4) Dai Ichi Kou : 「Henshin no Zenchou」 -Interlude-
5) Acchi Muite Hoi
6) Dry Ice.zip
7) WHAT'S NEW
8) Dai Ni Kou : 「Sentaku no Kiro」 -Interlude-
9) Chankapana (English Version)
10) Gomen Asobase
11) Love to Love
12) Dai San Kou：「Henshin no Yukue」 -Interlude-
13) Kimi no Mamade
CD only version
14) CHOIYAMA (Koyama Keiichiro)
15) Cocoon (Kato Shigeaki)
16) TM (Masuda Takahisa)
CD + DVD A & CD + Blu-ray A version bonus track
- Touch (METROCK 2025 ; 2025.05.11 Ver.)
CD + DVD B & CD + Blu-ray B version bonus tracks
- HOT LIMIT (T.M. Revolution) (Inazuma Rock Fes 2024 ; 2024.09.22 Ver.) ; duet with T.M. Revolution
- Chankapana (Inazuma Rock Fes 2024 ; 2024.09.22 Ver.)
The group's last album release was last Aug's JAPANEWS .
The theme of NEWS' new album is based on a transformative experience shared between NEWS & listeners . By the end of Henshin , both NEWS & fans will be transformed into new versions of themselves .
1 physical released single Acchi Muite Hoi is included in Henshin while the English version of NEWS' Chankapana was 1st released digitally on 2nd June .
And a concept movie was made for Henshin -Prologue- .
Experience a transformation with NEWS ! The group's 15th album Henshin is themed around a transformation experience for NEWS & for listeners as well . The album expresses this story of transformation in various ways .
I was not sure what to expect before listening to NEWS' latest album Henshin but to say their new album surprised me considerably in a good way is an understatement .
Henshin overall on whole felt like the music version of a kitchen sink . With how Henshin -Prologue- sounded like , that gives a rough idea how the rest of the album would turn out to be , not that it's a bad thing .
Oddly , some of the songs in Henshin felt like they could have been in NEWS' 10th album WORLDISTA which to me is the group's less memorable & weakest sounding album to date .
Also the more I listen to Henshin , the more I like it . I personally like the 1st 1/2 of the album a lot more than the 2nd 1/2 but I realised the more listens I gave , the more the 2nd 1/2 of Henshin sounded on par with what the 1st 1/2 of the release is .
On that note , NEWS LIVE TOUR 2024 JAPANEWS DVD + Blu-ray will be released on 10th Sept .
CD + DVD
CD + Blu-ray
1) ChaO!
2) Curly Hair
3) CELESTIA
4) CUBE
Koda's last physical single release was 2014's HOTEL .
All 4 songs in De-CODE have different promo tie in's .
ChaO! was used as the theme song an animated movie of the same name which was released in Japan's cinemas 2 Friday's ago .
Before De-CODE was physically released , ChaO! was 1st released digitally last month on 9th July & it's the only song in the release that has a video made .
The 2nd song Curly Hair promoted Koda's new beauty book Koda-teki Beauty while the 3rd song CELESTIA was used in the ads of loveil contact lenses . In addition , the song's instrumental is used in the promotional videos which were uploaded over the last few months in hyping up Koda's impending 25th anniversary .
CUBE is the last song in De-CODE & it was used to promote Koda's upcoming arena tour KODA KUMI 25th ANNIVERSARY TOUR 2025 ~De-CODE~ .
Celebrating her impending 25th anniversary in the business , Koda Kumi heats things up with her 2nd new music release of the year in the form of De-CODE .
Aside from having all 4 songs coincidentally starting with the same alphabet C , I thought most of the new material in De-CODE are pretty good even though I wished that Koda would have made videos for all 4 songs instead of just 1 .
It has been a long time since Koda last released a proper physical single & for that it's a long awaited welcome from her for sure .
BENI 1st performed Escape at BENI 20th Anniversary Tour “Deja Vu” which took place on 30th March at Tokyo's Zepp DiverCity ie. on BENI's birthday .
Written by BENI , Escape was also co-composed by her & Chaki Zulu . The song has a catchy beat that evokes a moment of escape from the mundaneness of everyday life , as well as a striking sound that evokes the 90s .
It has been quite a long time since BENI last released a new song but despite this Escape is worth the wait & it's something that reminded me of her older works a great deal .
Even though musically BENI has not been as active as she once was , the release of Escape was a nice return form for BENI & it's why I'm still her fan all these years .
Hopefully I will not need to wait so long for BENI to release something new again .
