no heavenly — ruin your faith in authority
To deconstruct the club, you must fully understand the club. Then you can break it apart…and turn it into a bludgeon.
Producer takaryu has been a present in the Japanese electronic space for over a decade, with 2018’s Resources serving as their first major step forward and a snapshot of the kaleidoscopic fractures present in the country’s dance space at the time. Since, they’ve dabbled in more traditional party-starting spaces while becoming a more pronounced presence in depressive hyperpop, primarily with nyamura. Over the years takaryu has seemingly had many vantages of this world, understanding the sonic trends and larger developments.
With new project no heavenly, takaryu tears it apart to reassemble sound into sludgy claustrophobia.
With ruin your faith in authority takaryu hammers electronic sounds into shards and lets them avalanche over the listener. It’s very much “deconstructed club” in how fragmented and furious the sounds can be, but no heavenly takes it even further on its debut while shattering modern trends along the way. The malfunctioning abrasion that is “apostasy” and the rumbling rave-&-M of “hauntology” offer more extreme examples of the style, but then you get “explicit content,” weaving in the synthesized voice of voice-bank-of-the-year-contender Nurse Robot_Type T to offer a metallic sheen to the juking rhythm and laser-light touches. It all reaches a particularly dizzying climax with closer “ritual,” where an on-trend baile funk bounce gets grafted onto a heavy metal texture, no heavenly so sure they’ve hit on brutal gold they include a vocal sample declaring “it is time to introduce you to a new type of music.” It’s well earned…and punishing. Get it here, or listen above.
Kiyasume — silent
Bedroom artist Kiyasume created “negative pop songs” in her life, sharing them on YouTube and across three albums of sparse voice-and-guitar-only recordings. Those creations were often sparse, informed by the current anime-damaged world of online music but pushing past the sonic markers to instead dive into the emotional core of the world.
Kiyasume died earlier this year, and according to label Kumo Communication she was working on silent before her passing. Unlike the stripped-down works making up the bulk of her catalog, the songs here introduce experimental and electronic touches, which according to a comment from Kiyasume was a way to play with the feeling of being caught between life and death…of simply being, and needing to go on. They don’t offer a glow or buzz to her compositions, but rather discombobulation via heavy interruptions on the jittery “Wakaranai Koto” or emphasizing negative feelings on the echoing “Fuko Jiman.” It all culminates in the glossier synthesized strings of “Karaapo,” which add tension to a final number about the end of human connections owing to the realities of the world. A gorgeous, bittersweet moment. Get it here, or listen above.
Telematic Visions — “nightscale”
Odds are looking good that Telematic Visions’ forthcoming EP is going to be among the year’s best, if this (plus demos) are anything to go off of. “nightscale” turns the ennui-dabbed dance the producer has long explored and puts the focus on the floor, letting the beat itself do the heavy lifting and even the vocal samples feeling like percussive details meant to keep the energy going. At nearly eight minutes, it also has room to stretch out and let itself go. Fun with a hint of longing — imagine i-fls raised in Club Asia. Get it here, or listen above.
cero — “Globster”
The latest from experimental trio cero shows how their voices can be played around with to create something as compelling as the sound around them. Shohei Takagi goes from straight-ahead singing to rapping to pitch-shifted mutation. Underneath it all, an even more-warpred version of his vocals fiddles about, practically dueting with…himself. Get it here, or listen above.
masaboy — “Ii Igogoti”
At first blush, the usually unpredictable masaboy has made a tribute to the good vibes of Koenji along the Sobu Line. He sets the scene — walking along the neighborhood’s south side — and his at-peace flow plus the electronic whimsy serving as his beat makes this seem like a literal stroll. Yet like any good mosey around the block, it’s really a chance to reflect on relationships gone wrong and lessons learned, adding am ore sour taste to this one despite how bright it all comes off. Listen above.
America Minyo Kenkyukai — “Even if you’re a liar”
I’ve always been drawn to the speak-sing chaos of American Minyo Kenkyukai in part becuase of the humor lurking beneath it. The glitchy singing coupled with topsy-turvy songwriting is captivating and often funny, albeit sometimes in a surreal way. Their latest reminds of how emotionally gripping the project can get, using the same stuttering vocal construction and zig-zagging melodies to create something dramatic, focused on dealing with the self and how to navigate the world. Listen above.
untitled01 And Ido Kyo — “Fog Made Me Do It”
You know how the night gets kind of…wavy the more you enjoy yourself and the less sleep you get? Like, everything stars getting a touch fuzzier and dream-like? “Fog Made Me Do It” captures this phenomenon, starting as a only slightly wavy dance-pop number that turns into an out-of-body experience in its second half when the vocals get covered in electronic filters and the beat picks up. Real “3:30 and I’m invincible until first train” vibes. Listen above.
Paid subscribers to Make Believe Melodies get one extra post a week! Last week, that was a review of a very good disc guide.
Make Believe Bonus: J-POP 3.0 Disc Guide 2015 - 2025
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Jul 17
The Cool Japan Fund teeters on financial collapse. Recent reports say the government program to invest in projects and companies that could in theory help spread Japanese culture around the world racked up ¥54 billion in cumulative losses in fiscal 2025, surpassing expectations of loss for a project already seen as a money pit by most over the last decade. Many expect it to be merged with some other Diet-approved initiative…or just scrapped entirely.
Back in the day, the Oricon Music Charts were the go-to path to music stardom in Japan. Acts of all sorts traversed these lands, trying to sell as many CDs as possible in order to land a good ranking on a chart choosing to only count physical sales, even as the Internet came to be and the number of versions offered for sale got ridiculous. Today, with the country finally in on digital, these roads are more barren and only looked at by the most fanatic of supporters needing something to celebrate. Yet every week, a new song sells enough plastic to take the top spot. So let’s take a trip down…the Oricon Trail.
Pandadragon — “IDOL OF POP / Lovely Fighter” (106,544 Copies Sold)
Remember everything I wrote last week, about the exhaustion point we’ve reached with K-pop-indebted male idol groups in Japan? Well here’s the very welcome opposite, even if it approaches grating at times. Pandadragon go further than M!LK when it comes to high-energy pop, and these two songs illustrate just how maximalist their Technicolor sound can get. I think “Lovely Fighter” (above) offers a better example of the highs and lows this style is capable of. There’s A LOT going on here, and the Broadway madcap-ness can be a bit much (the rapid-fire sing-speak) but you also get buried Jersey Club squeaks and a genuinely nice hook.
“IDOL OF POP” is a little more childish, though I appreciate any number where idols examine their idol-ness. But J-pop songs that are 12 years old have done this fidgety sound way better, just revisit those. Listen above.
Zazen Boys to make their first-ever appearance on Music Station next week.
Interesting look at a Japanese artist trying to make it in the Filipino market.
Takuya Kimura worked with guitarist Rei for his forthcoming solo single.
It’s official…Spanish Miku. (aka the World Cup ended, with Spain winning and finishing a chain of Hatsune-Miku ownership that went Japan-Brazil-Norway-England-Argentina-Spain).
kivo🍦@kivonotbabu
Spanish Miku got her second star! Viva La Roja! 🇪🇸
1:02 AM · Jul 20, 2026 · 152K Views
52 Replies · 3.63K Reposts · 32.6K Likes
Hatsune Miku (I guess the Japanese one now) and Hoshimachi Suisei appeared at this Sunday’s Chiba Lotte Marines game as part of their summer Coolish collab (TV spot here). Suisei also threw out the first pitch which…well, check out how that went below.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies
Check out the Best Of 2026 Spotify Playlist here!
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