hasbrialeblog: Idol Box Vol.01

This is the best of Idol Box - Volume 1 of JPop Idol groups during second half of 2022 to March 31, 2023. The list showcases some of the Idols never featured before and their best songs over the last few months. Enjoy!

The songs were sampled on Apple Music/YouTube.

Fifteen voices - 逃避行 (Escape) SILENT ver.

A slow groovy song with great melody and transitions.

Released on: 2023-03-03
Composer: Mashiro Shirakami
Lyricist: Mashiro Shirakami

Published by: AVEX

Can be Watched on YouTube Only

Jonagold - Weekend

A uptempo JPop song by former Ringomusume Member. Brilliant vocals with some good Synth, Guitars, Bass and Drum Work. And of course it goes well with the colorful music video. The album cover too is darn cute.

Released on: Jan 18, 2023

Lyrics & Music: Shinya Tada

Arrangement: Takashi Shimada

Published by: RINGOMUSIC

LinQ - Winter Magic

Typical Idol song with great Christmas tunes. Could have been great if the vocals were mature, couple of members with child like voice derail the flow of vocals. That is the whole point of being an Idol. Be Cute .. Kawaii... Nevertheless, another great song with brighten your mood.

Released on: 2022-12-24

Lyricist: Yuya Fujinaka

Composer: Yuya Fujinaka

Published by: LinQ Records

Lucky² - Brand New World

Fantastic song by the newbies from Suffix 2 girl Idols and sister group of Girls2 group. Very nice song and brilliantly performed for their debut song. This is actually an old song I stumbled upon and should not feature in this list logically but than it leads to our next song.

Lyricist: Miyu Shirayuki

Composed and Arranged by: Ash Inoue

Published by: Sony Music Labels Inc.

Lucky² - LakiLaki Love!

LakiLaki Love is from Lucky2 who are sister group of Girls2 and sound unsurprisingly similar to their seniors. What separates then is in the quality of singing which is very evenly matched across all the members so no alarms like their sisters. You will surely be lucky to get some of their love listening to this song.

Released on: February 22, 2023

Lyrics: Ayumu Nakamura

Composed and Arranged by: Hiroto Kikuchi

Published by: Sony Music Labels Inc.

PiXMiX - Kimi Shirayuki

A brilliant song by Idol group PiXMiX with a classic rock style music.

Released on: Jan 19, 2023

Lyricist: Misaki Otani
Composer: Kohei Tsukada

Published by: King Record Co., Ltd

Can be Watched on YouTube Only

Prime Stone -「FAVO FAVO」

Another powerful and awesome song here by Prime Stone that makes you go FAVO FAVO for more. K-Pop eat your heart out! Brilliant vocals, great composition, sounds very K-Popish, but it's a cool track. The camera work in the Music Video, Editing and Transitions are outstanding.

"FAVO FAVO" is a dance track produced by hit maker Kanata Okajima. The members are expressing the excitement of flying into a new world with addictive songs and sounds.

Released on: October 8, 2022

Lyrics by: Kanata Okajima, Hayato Yamamoto
Composed by: Kanata Okajima, Hayato Yamamoto, pw.a
Arrangement by: pw.a

Published by: UMG (on behalf of Universal Music LLC)

SW!CH -『Pinky Bandage』

Everyday we have things to worry about and even injuries, but since "you" are helping us, let's face forward! This seems to be what the Idol Group SW!CH are trying to use as a message to express what they feel from his fans on a daily basis, and to gently push the back of "you" who is doing his/her best at the same time! The tune is similar to Nogizaka46 - I See.. so I find there is lack of creative juices and hampers the originality of the song.

The cute and catchy choreography using the little finger ("Pinky") is in charge of the up-and-coming choreographer, Konomi Kusaka! And the MV you ask, sure, for good measure throw some Idols into a boxing ring, stick some boxing gloves on and go boxing.. err singing!! And yes the have traded their boxing moves to dancing moves.

Released on: November 9, 2022

Lyrics: Matsumura PONY

Music by: Yutaro Ogawa (Wee's)

Arrangement by: Yutaro Ogawa (Wee's)

Published by: SPACE SHOWER FUGA INC. (on behalf of Lonesome Record)

Up Up Girls(2) - Suki na Hito no Suki na Hito

Strange song this one. But it's good and groovy. Members have worked hard and delivered a perfect song. The title phrase has to be better, sounds very draggy. MV, I have no clue what's going on there. Maybe the members dressed as students at a school are facinated by their Teacher or something like that.

Released on: February 22, 2023

Lyrics/Composition/Arrangement: Yamamoto Sho

Published by: T-Palette Records

WASUTA -「すまん、犬。」(Sorry, doggy.)

This is another rock infused J-Pop song with heavy guitar and rapid drumming. Something tells it's all about Cats and Dogs! The group, frequently uses cat-like wordplay and colorful costumes in their song lyrics and performances. That's why you hear the Nya, Nya, Nya.. that's Meow in Japanese. The dog barks too are brilliant in the song. Overall this is a great song, so be it, you like cats or dogs!!

On 31-Oct-2022, Wasuta took it to a whole new level, when they held an emergency apology press conference on November 1 (Dog Day), to apologise for being disrespectful to dogs by only singing about, you guessed it - CATS!

Released on: February 22, 2023

Lyricist: Manaka Suzuki (Relic Lyric, inc.)

Composer: Hiroki Sagawa, Manaka Suzuki (Relic Lyric, inc.)

Arrangement: Hiroki Sagawa (Relic Lyric, inc.)

Published by: AVEX

Can be Watched on YouTube Only

Solable:

Soleble is a five-member idol group with the concept of "facing forward". Here are couple of songs from their debut album "Kikkake wa Taiyo" released in Sep, 2022.

Solable - Solable (Title)

Solable - Tokimeru

Soleble - Miraisu

Absolutely beautiful song and music video shot brilliantly. You will like it. The members convey that your future will be full of smiles. The song gives a nice spatial, 3D ambiance. Very futuristic without heavy electronic mish mash. Simple piano drops with booming bass, and pounding beats.

Released on: December 24, 2022

Lyrics: Naotaka Uchida

Composition: Naotaka Uchida / Akihei Kishi

Arrangement: Akihei Kishi

Published by: STROKE RECORDS/Orchid Music