OTOTOY Editors’ Picks: Selected 2025 Releases and Short Reviews

This feature presents short reviews of standout releases from 2025, each personally selected by members of the OTOTOY editorial team.

We hope this guide helps international listeners navigate the breadth of Japan’s independent music scene across genres, spanning established names and emerging voices alike. It aims to help readers rediscover old favorites, uncover overlooked gems, and trace new listening paths branching out from these selections. We invite you to listen and explore.

While the focus remains on music rooted in Japan’s independent scene, the selection also includes a small number of releases from outside Japan that have left a clear mark on Japanese music. This reflects how the Japanese scene has continually evolved through exchange beyond its borders.

As a Japan-based music platform that functions as both an archive and a store, OTOTOY continues to document and support this evolving scene.

In the section that follows these short reviews, we also present 50 releases chosen from titles that resonated strongly on the OTOTOY Store in 2025. These include works that captured the mood of the moment and gave shape to the year’s defining sounds, as well as releases explored in depth through our editorial features. Feel free to check out the related feature articles (available in Japanese) alongside each release for deeper context.

Editors’ Picks: Reviews of 2025 Releases

‘333’ by the hatch

The band’s first album in three years, and their first since welcoming new members. From their early days, when Sapporo-born post-punk eclecticism collided with the ferocity of hardcore punk, the hatch have continuously absorbed a vast spectrum of rhythms and sounds, including spiritual jazz, African polyrhythms, and footwork. What resonates most here is how the band’s form has evolved into something that does not retreat inward, but instead leans gently toward the listener.

There is an approachability that feels as if the music wants to remain in that fragile space where we grieve over small things, grow irritated, and then suddenly laugh. The interplay of percussion and synthesizers, along with its post-production, creates a Fourth World–like soundscape that is deeply comforting. With so many rhythms coexisting, it feels as though the listener can discover multiple places to rest their emotions within the music.

(TUDA)

‘Bout Foreverness’ by NOT WONK

The fifth album by NOT WONK, released at the beginning of this year. It is the band I listened to most and saw live most often in 2025. Shaped in the aftermath of a member’s departure and the large-scale event “FAHDAY” in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, the album brings to the surface wordless screams that emerge from the everyday act of continuing to live one’s life. A quiet urgency runs through it.

The complexity that has long defined NOT WONK, including their intricate song structures and feedback-heavy noise, feels deeper here. Their experiments now extend toward more abstract ideas such as contrasts in volume and the passage of time. Yet for all its experimental richness, the album is ultimately wrapped in a universal mood.

There is warmth in the overwhelming sound, as if it were gently holding sorrow rather than amplifying it. Bout Foreverness feels like a work addressed to the individual who stands on the far side of that sadness, still present and still listening.

(TUDA)

‘観天望気 (Kantenbouki)’ by キセル (Kicell)

Their first album in seven years. Alongside new elements introduced after the pandemic, including older brother Takefumi Tsujimura on drums and younger brother Tomoharu Tsujimura playing handmade bamboo instruments, the record is built around a stripped-down trio of the brothers plus keyboardist Takuji Nomura, with guest musicians also appearing. That simplicity allows the strength of the songwriting to stand out all the more, leaving generous space within each song.

Takefumi’s solo work ‘The Instant Obon,’ itself wonderfully striking, incorporates elements of min’yō, or Japanese folk music, and traces of that sensibility seep into this album as well. The result suggests a new form for the band, wrapped in an earthy, rooted groove.

The mix by engineer Naoyuki Uchida, which decisively shapes the album’s sonic image, is undoubtedly one of its highlights. Every track is compelling, but the closing song, “縁歌 (Enka),” unfailingly loosens the tear ducts.

(Rita Takaki)

‘IMA WO IKIMU’ by T.V.NOT JANUARY

This is a deeply personal album for me, having had the chance to help a little with the press release text. It features sounds recorded exactly as they are, including children clearing their throats, singing voices, insects in the countryside, and construction noise. As you listen, it is an album that somehow causes “smells” to rise up along with the sounds.

There is a feeling of being invited to hear the band perform in the garden of the house where they live, at times evoking the sensation of a kind of pseudo live album. If one were to define its genre, “folk” might be the closest word, but at the same time the music overflows that frame, with a much freer atmosphere running throughout the record.

That sense of air is the band’s singular and irreplaceable quality, and on this album it feels more vivid than ever. This comes through especially in the uninhibited freedom of “ラーメンと元気なとき (Ramen to genki na toki),” and in the sequence of the final three tracks, “もの (Mono),” “春 (Haru),” and “わたしの前足 (Watashi no mae ashi),” where the feeling I want to convey emerges clearly.

(Rita Takaki)

‘Trooper Salute 2’ by Trooper Salute

This EP smartly accomplishes one of the most important things in contemporary music by doing something strange while seamlessly distilling it into pop. Surreal and humorous lyrics sit alongside odd time signatures and vibra-slap textures, creating a playful yet sharply executed sound.

From “野菜生活 (Yasai seikatsu),” a pop song that recalls the feel of a beloved Japanese national anime, to “不治 (Fuji),” a long-form, low-tempo shoegaze track, ‘Trooper Salute 2’ showcases an impressive breadth of sensibility. Throughout the record, the phrasing is consistently inspired. The rhythm section and melodic layers toss striking ideas back and forth like a conversation, and it is exhilarating to hear.

The keyboard work, in particular, is outstanding. The solo on “思考回路 (Shikou kairo)” feels legendary, both in its songwriting instinct and in the sheer quality of the performance.

(Kanke Takuma)

‘Spira1oop’ by 北村蕗 (Fuki Kitamura)

A long-awaited first full-length album from Fuki Kitamura, built around texture-focused dance music and presented with a vividly saturated sense of style. The contrast between shimmering, beautifully polished tracks and the soft tones of the flute is particularly striking. On “looping second,” that balance comes through clearly, sometimes locking tightly into unison and other times deliberately drifting apart.

By contrast, “vivid I: mm” blends tribal-leaning rhythms with industrial sound design and flows seamlessly into “menou.” The piano solo in the outro lands with a pleasing lo-fi warmth. Every aspect of the album feels finely realized, forming a work that fully showcases the breadth of skills Kitamura has cultivated through her multifaceted creative activities.

(Kanke Takuma)

‘MAGAZINE.’ by 月刊PAM (Gekkan PAM)

One of this year’s standout idol albums. ‘MAGAZINE.’ serves as an accessible first album from Gekkan PAM, clearly presenting the group’s dual identity: a pop side and a rock side. It’s consistently easy to listen to, while the alternative-leaning guitar sounds on the rock side shine in particular.

This is a work that deserves to be heard by far more people.

(Ken Nishida)

‘文明開化 – East West (Bunmei kaika - East West)’ by 友成空 (Tomonari Sora)

The first full-length album from Tomonari Sora, often described as a “Reiwa-era pop killer.” Having drawn widespread attention through major hits such as “鬼ノ宴 (Oni no utage),” his sound carries forward the melodic, song-oriented aesthetics of artists like Taeko Onuki and Tatsuro Yamashita, while also absorbing contemporary grooves reminiscent of Tom Misch and Thundercat.

In essence, it is a work that connects past and future, something like a reinvention of culture through pop music itself.

(Ken Nishida)

‘Sincerely,’ by Kali Uchis

After major turning points in her life, including pregnancy and the loss of her mother, Kali Uchis rediscovers a sense of emotional refuge within her music. Comprising fourteen tracks and featuring no guest appearances, ‘Sincerely,’ is an intensely intimate and personal album, deeply marked by her emotions, memories, and the passage of time.

The sonic foundation throughout is a mid-tempo, dreamy strain of vintage soul. Within its gentle flow, themes of loss, anxiety, and a quiet hope toward welcoming new life gradually surface. While rooted in personal stories, the album opens itself to the listener and offers a space where individual memories and feelings can be met and soothed.

Carrying both pain and renewal, ‘Sincerely,’ captures Kali Uchis at a tender yet resilient moment in her artistic journey.

(Sachiho Ishikawa)

‘藤子 (Fujiko)’ by 野口文 (Noguchi Bun)

The more you try to understand it, the further you seem to drift from its core. The moment you attempt to place it within an existing genre or conceptual framework, it slips through your hands. When confronted with something outside one’s own range of experience, a faint sense of fear and tension arises, along with the pleasure of having one’s intellectual curiosity sharply awakened. This album is suffused with precisely that sensation.

Elements of contemporary music, jazz, classical, and hip-hop are collaged together in fragments, yet the work as a whole belongs nowhere. Noguchi herself refers to it as “pop,” but through the gaps in that accessibility, a cold and sometimes aggressive form of rigorously constructed music seeps through. It is an album that urges the listener not toward passive consumption, but toward the active act of listening itself.

(Sachiho Ishikawa)

‘脱楽園構造 (Datsu rakuen kouzou)’ by 御花屋 (Ohana-ya)

The second album released by Ohana-ya, who is active as both a Vocaloid producer and a singer-songwriter. The previous releases, ‘ワンちゃん、ネコちゃん、あかちゃん、ありがとう (Wan-chan, neko-chan, akachan, arigatou)’ and ‘ワンちゃん、ネコちゃん、合成音声、ありがとう (Wan-chan, neko-chan, gousei onsei, arigatou),’ were issued simultaneously in two versions, one sung by the artist and the other performed by synthesized vocals. This time, however, the album features only Ohana-ya’s own vocals.

Perhaps as a result, compared to the previous works that revealed many different facets across a wide range of genres, this album is unified by guitar-driven songs that consistently evoke alternative rock. The result is a work with a strong emphasis on concept and coherence.

The lyrics, too, mark a shift. Where earlier songs often depicted sadness, anger, and frustration rooted in everyday life, this album expands its scope, adopting a more abstract and narrative-driven atmosphere. That change further deepens the album’s world, adding another layer of resonance to its overall vision.

(Kotone Fujita)

‘テレパシーを飛ばしている (Telepathy wo tobashite iru)’ by SleepInside

The eighth full-length album released this March by the internet-based home-recording band SleepInside. According to guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter hachigatsu_news, “the album as a whole represents the end of my moratorium” (from hachigatsu_news’s note).

This work carefully portrays the anxieties and regrets of youth through both its lyrics and sound. Rather than abandoning those feelings, the album stays close to them with warmth, offering a sense of reassurance as it walks alongside the listener and gently guides them toward the next stage of adulthood.

(Kotone Fujita)

‘STRANGE POP’ by 笹川真生 (Mao Sasagawa)

Mao Sasagawa returns with his first full-length album in nearly two years. True to its title, ‘STRANGE POP’ is undeniably pop, yet it glints, buckles, surges up and down, and constantly shifts color under pressure from within. It embodies an alternative in the sense of belonging nowhere else.

At the same time, the source of the album’s deep sense of embrace lies in its grounding as “song,” and in the sheer pleasure of rhythm. The grooves found in “美しい術 (Utsukushii sube)” and “溢れちゃった (Afure-chatta)” set both the heart and the body in motion.

This is an album best experienced by surrendering to its balance of constancy and fluctuation. Without question, it stands as my album of the year for 2025.

(Toshihiro Takada)

‘Anthem 1.1’ by SYAYOS

The debut album from SYAYOS, a four-piece band based in Ina, Nagano Prefecture. Formed in July 2024, the eight tracks written within their first eight months are brimming with ideas and display a level of completeness, along with an unfathomable potential, that belies the fact that this is a first album.

From the opening track “Spaceboy,” the listener is struck by the band’s grand sense of scale and explosive power. As the album unfolds, SYAYOS’s ambition continually recalibrates and expands. Centered on the expansive vocals of Hina Suzuki, each instrument rises to meet that presence with equal intensity.

Rawness and refinement, as well as stylishness and nostalgia, coexist throughout the record. And while the album itself is powerful, SYAYOS’s live performances are even more overwhelming. In 2025, they stand out unmistakably as my Best New Artist.

(Toshihiro Takada)

‘The Collapse Of Everything’ by Adrian Sherwood

The long-awaited solo album from Adrian Sherwood, a towering figure in UK dub, arrives thirteen years after his previous release. The record features a group of highly skilled musicians who have supported Sherwood’s work in recent years, including his dub reinterpretations of projects by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom.

An entirely instrumental album, it unfolds as a restrained yet deeply spiritual form of dub downtempo. Noise, bass, and echo, which are core elements of Sherwood’s aesthetic, permeate every corner of the sound and form a psychedelic dub journey in which his signature sensibility is embedded down to the finest detail. There is a bluesy, almost stoic quality to the music, and the deeper one listens, the more one is drawn into its cosmology.

Released in 2025, the album resonates as a sound of maturity. It arrives nearly fifty years after the birth of UK dub, a history that closely overlaps with Sherwood’s own career.

(Yuusuke Kawamura)

‘HOPE’ by SILENT POETS

Having gained a new generation of listeners through their music being featured in the popular game series DEATH STRANDING, Japan’s pioneers of dub, downtempo, and trip-hop return with their first new album in seven years. An updated sound resonates in harmony with an unwavering aesthetic.

In a world rife with reactionary demagoguery, racism and colonialism, and rampant violence, ‘HOPE’ presents a powerful vision of resistance. On “Struggle,” which features vocals by Gaza-based singer Amal, the collaboration with Japanese trumpeter Kazufumi Kodama echoes like a heartrending cry, a prayer for peace to arrive even one day sooner amid the massacres in Gaza. It is a moment of solidarity that feels all the more profound as a work released in 2025.

(Yuusuke Kawamura)