scrmbl contributor Patrick St. Michel runs an email newsletter called Make Believe Mailer, an offshoot of his long-running blog Make Believe Melodies. Every week, he shares essays and round-ups of new Japanese music, from J-pop to independent releases, including albums that might have flown under listeners' radar. Here are some of the highlights from the past month, shared with readers of scrmbl.

Shintaro Sakamoto — Yoo-hoo

The songs Shintaro Sakamoto creates feel occupied by particularly easy-going ghosts. The former Yura Yura Teikoku member has spent his solo career digging into retro rock sounds with a touch of bossa nova, ‘60s pop and funk among more. Something always feels a little off, whether via his singing or perhaps the backing vocals or maybe just the age of the styles he’s drawing from. It sparks unease, but Sakamoto’s so good at creating a groove out of these specters that it’s never too much. Think of it as a really well soundtracked haunted house.

Latest album Yoo-hoo continues Sakamoto’s good-time unnerving streak with ten songs dabbling in a variety of well-worn sounds, catchy but just a touch creepy. It’s also an exploration of aging, with Sakamoto turning into both a source of advice on opener “Dear Grandpa” (wherein he playfully comments on his own greying state) while elsewhere becoming more wistful for memories gone by. Time and the fact it runs out is ever present, but it’s easy to forget about the inevitable when the smooth flute touches of “Justice” or the backing vocals of “On The Other Side Of Time” come in. Listen above.      

KIRINJI — TOWN BEAT

Long-running project KIRINJI offers a collection of sketches reflecting life in the quieter corners of the country. The song on its 17th studio album provides vignettes catching small moments, ranging from someone letting loose while listening to music from the comfort of their home on the Motown-indebted shuffler “Room Dancer” to the melancholy of looking out from one’s veranda and reflecting on life during the deceptively smooth “A View From Our Balcony.” It’s also a set unafraid of plumbing into the political, with standout “Flulsh! Flush! Flush!” starting out as a celebration of Japanese toilets but revealing itself to be a funky critique of all the rot underneath. Along the way, KIRINJI gets to showcase its continued versatility, including self-covers of songs written for others, including one for V6 and one for THE IDOLM@STER, finding new angles on both while reminding of the wit within (especially on the latter, wherein Oda makes the word “terrorist” sound emerald). It’s a study in town living and the group itself. Listen above.

music fm — Shakkei

It’s easy to think of experimental electronic music as clattering and disjointed, artists largely interested in exploring fractures rather than anything that fits together. Credit to music fm for playing with fragmented sonic textures across new EP Shakkei. Standout “Koen” threads the needle between melodic and spiky just right, featuring mumbled voices and guitar conveying a melancholy that eventually gives over to joyful woos and sonic splatter. Elsewhere, the sounds of gunfire, sliced-up syllables, dogs barking, keyboard jolliness and so much more gets threaded together into fragmented bliss, a kind of 2020s update on in the blue shirt’s collage style. Listen above.

yuunari — yosuga

Osaka quartet yuunari knows when to let everything rip across their first EP yosuga. The three songs here slot the young outfit alongside bands such as Yukiguni who also excel at slow builders, but whereas that group explores nocturnal ennui yuunari creates music closer to sun-dappled daydreaming ready to be ripped into reality. The opener builds slowly and maintains a sonic delicateness, but that just allows the band to make the eventual guitar crash all the more powerful. The title track moves more quickly right away, but grows noisier without losing the vocal sweetness. Listen above.

Fushicho Group — Fushicho Group Sun Aqua Ota Oizumi

DE DE MOUSE and Sean Oshima return to the abandoned malls of the mind on the duo’s latest as imagined business Fushicho Group. It’s a thematic hook well worn by this point, and parts of Fushicho Group Sun Aqua Ota Oizumi feel like vaporwave tributes rather than fresh angles on corporate nostalgia. The saving grace here, though, is the decision to make the fictional venue housing this analog-warped music part pool facility, which allows the pair to play with new age and smooth jazz sounds that help it rise above cliche. Tape distortion or not, the best tracks here offer absorbing ambience and often playful splashes of saxophone. The concept is fun, but Oizumi reminds of the importance of making music that can stand outside of #aesthetic spaces. Listen above.