Our top JRock albums of 2022 so far
Normally, I try to wait until December to start looking back at the year in JRock, but the first three months of 2022 have been so chock full of excellent music that even I haven’t been able to cover all of it as much as I wanted to. So in the spirit of trying to share as much amazing music with you as possible, I’ve opted to do a quick roundup of the major releases of the first three months of 2022.
Looking for more notable JRock content? The good news is that our library is always open and always growing. No matter what you’re looking to sink your teeth into, we’ve got you covered.
Tokyo Ex Machina by FEMM
We’ve celebrated FEMM quite a bit here and even had the chance to chat with them not too long ago, but with their impending UK and European tour coming up this summer – dates still waiting to be announced – it is a good time to remind everyone that they put out one of the best pop albums so far this year.
Tokyo Ex Machina is filled with great songs from start to finish. We Got Each Other is a great track, while Outta the Clouds might be the coolest pop track I’ve heard in a while. Sugar Rush is one of the best dance songs you’ll find. If you’ve got a love for JPop, then Tokyo Ex Machina is sure to scratch that itch.
Mirror by Scandal
Also in January, we got another album by one of my favourite bands ever, Scandal. Mirror is Scandal’s tenth full studio album since their debut in 2009, an impressively quick pace. Like every other album from the band, it is remarkably distinct from their previous work. Scandal changes their sound as no other JRock band can. Highlights from the album include eternal, which has a wonderfully ethereal feel to it, and It Didn’t Turn Out to Be True Love, which is a wonderfully melancholy love song about a relationship that has, unfortunately, run its course. The album finishes on one of its stronger tracks, with one more time bringing a much-needed injection of fun to an otherwise very serious album.
Mirror is probably the most serious album from Scandal, which makes sense; it was written and recorded throughout 2021, so there was a lot going on at the time. There is still joy to be found here just like in the band’s earlier offerings, but Mirror gives us their most grown-up, soft-rock sound to date.
Bohemia by Oreskaband
As far as I’m concerned, Oreskaband is one of the best ska bands out there, and Bohemia is one of their best offerings so far. It is a slick, cool album where each track feels different from the one that came before. SHE is such a fun song that gets me moving every time it comes on, while ARCO quickly became my favourite song on Bohemia simply for how uplifting and energising it feels when you listen to it. Which makes sense when you find out it is the theme song of the Arco-Kobe women’s futsal team.
Oreskaband bring a lot of fun and energy to every track, even laid-back beats like Stormy or Wonder Neighbor. Bohemia is, front to back, full of great songs and is an early front-runner for my album of the year.
Of course, they’ve got some stiff competition coming up. Man With A Mission have recently announced their next album will be dropping in May this year. And since they’re now signed with JPU Records, we can expect to get a taste of it here in the UK as well.
The best thing about the JRock scene is that it never stops giving. The first three months of 2022 have certainly proven that.
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