Best New Music, Part Three

The best new K-pop, J-pop, C-pop, and more!

View the Substack version of this piece here!

Catch up on the best new releases with this multi-part series! Check out February’s Top Twenty here and here!

Next up: March’s Top Twenty!

#20: Ssup, Love and Breakup
This rapper reaps the rewards of seeing potential in a stereotype-straying, softer side of hip-hop. These rhythmic and romantic odes change their tunes instrumentally far more often than metaphorically, with fantastic string, guitar, and piano arrangements that sync up well with both Ssup’s raps and his collaborators’ voices. Each artist hits all their marks, but especially Park Jung Eun on “Ssup Time” and Jung Yi Han on “Love’s Formula.” The latter gets an extra boost from horns, and the synth beat serves a similar role in “Maze of Love.” Other accentuating details keep the listening experience interesting and the genre barrier porous.

#19: JunSung, Not GEN - Z
This album is a romp and a half, and “I Don’t Care About” is an early “Best Songs of 2026” frontrunner! Countless tiny details combine for a catchy, colorful sound that suits its message of tuning in only to the beat of one’s own drum. JunSung scoffs at those who patronize the perspectives of those younger than them (“Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you know more”), and he remains indignant about his ideals not turning into the ones society foists upon him (“The world people want is not my dream at all… Don’t push your standards onto me… I believe in the truth I hold”). Not GEN - Z is not just him preaching staying true to himself, though; it is him dramatizing that preaching! He puts on an infectiously lively show at the outset, with a “Ladies and gentlemen” welcome announcement in “JS WORLD (Intro)”! He sustains the theatrical energy until the R&B-inspired “I Love You.” The rest of the album slows things down for a soft landing that makes sense given his “Don’t tell me which format is best” approach! If people think he kills his own musical momentum, so be it! In “Hwarang Farm (Outro),” as he softly speaks in one ear while a guitar strums in the other, he says, “I truly love this town… happiness lies close at hand… No matter how much money you have.” After putting on the show that society expects of him, he dials it down instead of going out with the expected bang, as a reminder that he will determine for himself what and who are worthy of hype. By consciously going from ecstatic to calmly content, JunSung shows the many forms the stamina derived from individuality can take.

#18: Big Ocean, THE GREATEST BATTLE

While this K-pop boy band has been making waves (pun intended!) for being the first one in which each member is hard-of-hearing, THE GREATEST BATTLE proves they deserve to represent more than change-makers. Their artistry has improved by leaps and bounds; the musical and performance growth is evident (plus, their amount of writing and composing participation has increased). Sign language is seamlessly incorporated throughout the “One Man Army” choreography, and they have a metaphorical stage presence in the music video that is fuller and more commanding than ever. They are excitingly coming into their own and further prove it with a more intricate soundscape, one that favors high stakes over breeziness. Grand orchestras, an 808 bass, traditional Korean instruments, and synth-pop and R&B layers are all recurring and often overlapping presences. The highest-quality arrangements are in “One Man Army” and “Back,” while the biggest testament to their vocal improvement is in “Cold Moon,” a bouncy, nu-disco finale that shows this group is not always serious and suspenseful!

#17: Defying Decay, Synthetic Sympathy
Through EDM and hard-rock tendencies alike, this Bangkok-based but globally-renowned band sings and screams gripes both personal and societal with a decisive bite. The electronic-meets-pop-meets-metal act delivers electronic layers between raw screams and rage-fueled raps, and they tackle topics from suppression to self-expression. The most HYDE-esque number is “System of Sinners,” “RX Regicide” has the best guitar parts, and “21 Stitches” has the most impressively prolonged screaming! For those seeking milder options, the most pop-leaning song is “Clouds,” and there are surprisingly calm intermissions from “Prelude: A Peaceful Sleep” and “Hide & Seek.” Songs that are the best of both worlds include “Debris,” a scream-filled song that lyrically seems more pop-song-oriented, and “MEANiNGLESS!,” an ironically auto-tuned outburst about anxiety and the desire to reveal their unfiltered selves!

#16: Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Fujieda
With impressive efficiency, this rock band draws lines between what is literal and metaphorical. One of the best examples: their sewing machine lyrics in “Welcome Back Jonny.” They say that no one knows how to use it but then sing about people being “Unable to stitch things together,” causing their drift. Similarly, in “NANPURAA BIYORI,” they sing about literal nice weather but also say their life mantra is that there is “always a light to be found somewhere.” And in “Pedal Boat,” they narrate a river-crossing trip while describing a life of “headwinds,” “twists and turns,” and being “like fish / Doomed to perish if [they] ever stop moving.” These songs’ precursor is “Shanks Mare,” which gives the thesis statement so that the following songs can dig into the supporting evidence. “Shanks Mare” is about humans’ fleeting time on Earth in the grand scheme of things: “What remains after a hundred years? / The physical form… What perishes in this very moment? / The physical form / One cannot swear an oath of eternity.” It is also about making that impermanent time on Earth matter: “If you claim that nothing matters, then why not just / Stop walking?… that is simply not an option.” The band’s “only way out is through” remarks double as breadcrumbs for the following songs, with mentions of lives “woven” together (like in “Welcome Back Jonny”) and bracing for when a current becomes impassable (the topic of “Pedal Boat”).

As much as these songs are cleverly tied together, they also create complete pictures separately, with a shared bottom line that “The choice is yours.” They insist to “Jonny” it’s not too late to woo his love interest (in “Welcome Back Jonny”), insist to all who have lost their way that there is still time to make an accurate “treasure map” that differs from what traditional lessons have taught them (in “NANPURAA BIYORI”), and they tell everyone there’s still time to hold onto the “still-vexing hope of youth” (in “Pedal Boat”). However, as much as they stress there is still time, they also stress there is not that much time, so people ought to make haste! That discouragement of complacency mixed with confidence in going with the flow adds some necessary friction into such a compatible collection of tracks.

#15: STU48, Sukisugite Naku Special Edition
These bright and beautiful J-pop songs are romantic and resolute. The sweet and sensitive title track is about loving someone to the point of crying. Despite the upbeat sound, the group sings remorsefully about waiting too long to confess to a crush. They fear they fumbled their last chance to do so: “Graduation is like a box for sorting out feelings… Somewhere, I dropped what was important to me… Confessing my love now would be useless.” They insist, “If I could turn back the hands of time… I'm sure that I could tell you how I really feel.” 

The B-sides are about there being another chance if they make it and take it. They decide to go with gut instincts in “Mirai e Tsuzuku Mono yo”: “Since I don't have a map anyway, maybe it's that way / Cherish this intuition.” “Gomen ne Newton” compares crushing to floating in air, and they apologize to Isaac Newton (who discovered gravity) for entering a miraculous realm that ignores the laws of physics!

These songs essentially change the quote “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” to “Maybe it’s not over yet! You just told yourself it was!” They ask themselves “Why not?” when it comes to simultaneously crushing on polar opposites in “Lemon to Lemon” (“If I can’t choose, is it alright to love them both?”), and when it comes to putting themselves out there in “Kokuhaku Jump” (aka “Confession Jump”). That final song includes lots of shouts of “BOO!” at things like “regrets” and letting “rivals” beat them in terms of courage! 

Despite ongoing doubts - after all, they do admit to feeling “stuck to the ground” for a time in “Gomen ne Newton” - they enthusiastically pursue “unrealistic” ideals, wondering “What could go right?”

#14: Sakurazaka46, The growing up train (Special Edition)
Offbeat analogies remain the name of this J-pop group’s game! In the title track, a train ride through tunnels is a metaphor for adolescence: “Adolescence is always about fumbling your way in the dark, and it doesn't always go as you wish… May the tracks to adulthood not rust”! Other metaphors amusingly address youthful instincts, like a need for instant gratification (from “Kougen”: “Life is always fast food / As long as I can satisfy hunger, that's fine”) and antisocial tendencies (“Dried fruit” narrates losing track of time while on one’s cell phone, as well as part of one’s daily routine being to ignore the neighbor’s attempts at starting a conversation)! The group also unconventionally expresses a sense of detachment from the world around them and a related struggle to learn who they really are. “Kuragerashiku” compares being in love to swimming like a jellyfish, “swept away… Without having anything” to cling to, always just “drifting.” “Sunny side up” seeks certainty in at least knowing one thing about the day is predictable and within their control: breakfast! And in “Boku wa muitenai,” they view themselves as a “bump” but reconsider that status as not so bad - after all, “If you scrape all the corners / No diamond [could] shine”! They also sing, “I’m a bad guy who is bound by the rules / I lost my mind at some point,” which sums up their attitude towards what they consider a mad world!

As much as The growing up train (Special Edition) stays in Sakurazaka46’s wheelhouse, there are aspects of each song that reveal evolved emotional states, ones that leave more space for ambivalence. They sing about loneliness again and again, but they sing about putting themselves out there and knowing they will regret not doing so later just as often. They seem to be in a constant state of wavering, with an ongoing internal battle between fears and ambitions, and it changes from minute to minute which trait has the upper hand. For example, fear surpasses ambition for part of “Kougen”: “Life is full of missed swings… I hate myself for that.” But ambition surpasses fear when they realize “there’s a flickering light of hope” for which they ought to keep reaching. And “Kiss ga nigai” is about how a first kiss is nice enough, but it turns out to be overrated!

#13: GLIM SPANKY, Éclore
Named after the French word for “to hatch,” this rock duo indeed cracks open a new side of themselves! Their classic fired-up sound is alive and well (although there are some well-made slower songs too, like “Éclore” and “I am You”), but their words show newfound wisdom and wit (in part thanks to being entirely self-composed and self-written).

They indirectly make several arguments for living only by one’s own terms. First of all, flames of passion eventually die out, so there is no time to waste! This is the message of “Angel,” which shows how the “Make this world your own” insistence is of biblical importance to them!

Second of all, people should trust their intuition and live how they want to because love will always find a way to show up and hold their hands during the hard parts. They sing about love’s power in both “Start Anew” (“The outside world remains hectic, but you are by my side”) and “I am You” (“[Y]ou’ll always be my light”).

Third of all, fate has a plan worth trusting; if things do not seem to be working out as hoped for, something better is on the way and will appear when the timing is right. This trust in fate drives them to escape a past relationship (in “Neverland”), to make up their own definition of “beauty” (in “Camera Irony”), and to let an “Impulse” be their guide.

Besides “Éclore,” which comments on self-consciousness growing with age, the most insightful songs are “Angel” (their “unconventional” love story “is justice” in a cruel world!) and “Fly High.” The latter adds a modern touch to evergreen commentary. They decide not to part with their old dreams for the sake of social media cool points: “get away from days that end with a swipe;” “I don’t want to be killed by trendy ideas.” They also call for individuality in “Six Sense,” kicking open metaphorical closed doors, changing “the locks with new, sparkling nails,” and becoming “something no one can imitate.” 

#12: Younha, SUB CHARACTER
Younha has clearly done her homework! Each of this remake EP’s tracks is a thorough and thoughtful tribute to the original. While the emotions, lengths, and lyrics remain the same as or very close to the original versions, her music videos justify the story revivals.

Younha’s version of “Karma” is like a live-action adaptation of Dareharu’s original animated video, with a recreation of the setting, props, and even the main character’s outfit! But she intersperses her scenes in that recreated setting with ones in which schoolgirls sneakily use the school’s printer and print out pictures for decorating their lockers. The song is about the pointlessness of living with a mask on, and Younha’s story shows the delight that can come from rule-bending (misusing the school’s printer) in the name of self-expression! This might be why she seems to be rewarded more than the original video’s main character is. Both Younha and the cartoon character get a birthday cake, but the latter gets her face smashed in it! And there is a television set in both videos, but it only airs a program with a maintained “star of the show” status for Younha.

In KARDI’s original “Skybound” video, a schoolgirl sees a translucent figure out the window, follows and mimics the dancing figure’s moves, and eventually leads a group of students in their own dance. They no longer need the mysterious instructor. In fact, doing the dance in their own way becomes more rewarding, and the school turns into a rainbow-lit club! In Younha’s “Skybound” video, schoolmates also enjoy each other’s company and bond over shared experiences, but with shared albums instead of shared choreography. Her version ends with the main character energetically running down the street with her headphones around her neck. These are the same headphones she wears in the first of the videos in Younha’s series. She has gone from tuning out the world to feeling content and happy enough in it to not need them anymore. 

Both takes on “Skybound” are about contentment coming from camaraderie. Similarly, “Sub Character” (originally by wizu) and “Karma” are about wanting to feel a sense of belonging, rather than the jealousy that an “outsider” status can cause. What is specific to Younha’s versions are the scenes in which the schoolgirls giddily prepare to DIY their lockers (in “Sub Character”) and then do so (in “Karma”). They aspire to be the “main characters” in their life stories. 

Lastly, Younha puts a new spin on “Seasonal Crime” by Miiro (ft. Saebit), which is also a new spin on the short story of the same name that inspired it. In both song versions and the short story, memories and seasons are described interchangeably, and people selling their “spring,” for example, means giving away all of their spring-associated memories. Viewing the passing seasons and the passing of memories as one and the same adds meaning to Younha including a plant and natural sunlight in her music video. She plays music while filming herself next to that plant and below that sunlight, putting herself in the center of a season and a memory. This is yet another way this EP expresses the theme of living as a main character, which Younha ironically does by emulating main characters of music’s past!

Younha exceeds at the ultimate goal of a remake project: to honor a relic of pop culture history without being reductive. She enriches the original songs and videos in the ways she plays around in original narrative worlds but passes through as a respectful visitor of them!

#11: verycoybunny, Bunny Tale
Fittingly, verycoybunny pulls listeners down a rabbit hole with this album! Her love for someone grows deeper and deeper from track to track, until the last couple of songs depict her new reality as the stuff of dreams. Her lyrics change accordingly. She expresses initial interest plainly in “White Dopamine” (“I’m drawn to you”) and “My Name Is” (“I’ve been worrying about you”). She goes for it wholeheartedly in “HELP!” (“I’m gonna love you for life”) and “Surviving Summer” (“Hang in there… let’s surrender ourselves;” “We did it all for love”). “Child of Mars” is about how falling in love has changed everything for her: “Before you came… built up walls all around me and retreated into solitude.” After spending a few more songs doting on and gushing about a lover’s influence on her life, she then ventures into fantastical storytelling. It is as if falling in love has opened a new door to new dreams, and she narrates what those visions look like to her. She vividly pictures “The Veiled Land of 7,” “Kairos,” and a “Montage of Fate.” The soft finale is “This is, Us, Now,” which has the right vibe for simply sitting with a good feeling, taking stock of where life has gone and why one is grateful for what miracles have led to this moment.

Listeners also follow verycoybunny’s descent into dreams thanks to a story-enhancing soundscape. From echoes to “lalala”s to blowing winds to a ticking clock, ad libs and sound effects inject more life into each twist! Compounding the effectiveness is the independent rock spirit that imbues this “lucky in love” “tail”!

Read about the Top Ten here!

Catch up on previous “Best of” rankings and reviews for each month and year here!