medorē #36 – Q1 Standouts (2026)
featuring MALIYA, 333, IKIZULIVE (and more!)
Hey there, and welcome to a brand new edition of the medorē!
For those who are unfamiliar: this is omunibasu’s take on a song roundup, where I pick out a bunch of songs that I like (and most likely have listened to/discovered recently) and give my thoughts on them. It’s a way to share my own appreciation for these tracks and the artists who made them, but I hope that everyone reading can also gain a similar feeling through my ramblings.
And as you may remember from last year, I introduced the ‘quarterly roundups’ for this segment, which deal with songs that have released in each quarter of the year and I later showcase them in the month that follows. And despite my inconsistency in the past, we are continuing this schedule in 2026!
That said, Q1 (January through March) just wrapped up, and I’ll be honest here, it feels like I’ve been in a ‘music-listening rut’ lately, even before 2025 ended. I legitimately don’t know why I haven’t been jumping on new releases as much as before, but I did want to point that out for transparency. Despite that, I think I rebounded in a decent way in preparation for today’s roundup, so I hope you continue on and potentially find something cool to listen to within this post.
Alright, let’s jump right in!
♫ 「Night Fly (feat. Tomita Nanaka from ≠ME)」 Night Tempo
Released: 2026.01.28
Boy, I sure do love talking about Nankachan on this blog.
Surprisingly enough, producers creating music (on their own discography) for idols to perform on has strayed further from uncommon, as we saw this happen with the whole ‘GEKKAN IDOL’ project that featured talents from groups like Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, GANG PARADE, and 22/7. And one example that’s closer in relation to the song we’re about to talk about is trackmaker Joint Beauty plucking people like BATTEN GIRLS’ Yanagi Miyu or former Hinatazaka46 member Watanabe Miho to sing on a brand new comp they produced.
That’s exactly the case with a recent release from South Korean-rooted DJ and producer Night Tempo, titled “Night Fly”. And I may be super biased here but what a great choice for the vocals on this song, as it features the lovely Tomita Nanaka from the Sashihara Rino’s own ≠ME idol unit.
I always find these specific idol/producer collaborations to be neat since there seems to be a real emphasis on the singer’s vocals. Don’t get me wrong: I love when these idols sing within their groups, but it’s kind of a breath of fresh air to hear some of them perform solo, in order to get a true feel of how talented they are at singing. Nankachan might not be the most obvious example of an idol’s voice needing to be put at the forefront, considering her massive popularity and how she’s been put in the center position of a lot of Noimii’s songs, but it’s still super nice to hear someone like her just belt out a song on her own.
Especially with how nice the overall atmosphere is in the composition, as Night Tempo takes us on what feels like the equivalent of a nice midnight drive around town. The combination of those nice ‘la-la-la’ harmonies and the subdued piano, mixed with the high-speed beats, all makes for a really nice contrast; and while it’s generally on the chill side, it has an ‘oomph’ that can get the adrenaline pumping. It seems like that was intentional, as Night Tempo mentioned that this song is reflective of the ‘urban atmosphere’ he’s experienced ever since he moved to Tokyo. And I totally see that; as hectic as the hustle-and-bustle of a big city can be, you can still recognize and admire in the beauty amongst the craziness, which I think is exhibited perfectly in this song.
Also, Nankachan sounds awesome in this track. Usually in Noimii songs, she exerts so much passion and power when singing, but here, Night Tempo has her toning things down a bit, making for a really nice change of pace. She fits so well with the mature, chic vibe of “Night Fly” and almost has this calming effect when listening to how her vocals glides throughout the song (and, for me personally, it further shows a great sense of versatility with her voice). Would love to hear her do more collabs like this, and it also was cool to find out that Toki Asako wrote the lyrics!
♫ 「Sanagi」 Arika
Released: 2026.01.09
As a long-time fan of anime voice actors who later pursue music, Arika has certainly been a fascinating case of that. Even with Natsuyoshi Yuuko’s surging popularity as of late (via her involvement in stuff like Umamusume or the recent Chou Kaguya-hime! ONA), many might not know that she’s also been a part of a music project, alongside guitarist YAMATO, that’s been releasing stuff since 2022. And as odd as this sounds, I can’t say I exactly blame them, considering that Arika (and especially Yuuko) barely show their actual faces on any promotion/visuals pertaining to the group, unlike the majority of these seiyuu-centric music releases.
Even then, it’s been really fun to see Arika evolve as a duo throughout the years and I’d say they’ve only gotten better since they first dropped their debut EP, particularly with this latest release from January, titled rotten sample. One that also happens to revolve around the concept of a butterfly’s life cycle which, now thinking about it, is expressed even further when you realize how different every song on the EP is to each other, similar to how each stage of a butterfly’s evolution looks completely unalike the previous one.
The third track specifically, “Sanagi” (or translated as “pupa” on Apple Music), caught my attention the most. It honestly has the same atmosphere as some of Arika’s earlier songs, emulating the spacey hollowness heard on “Gyoukou” or “Karatachi”, except this time, an erratic piano gets thrown in between the verses/choruses, giving it a really strange-yet-memorable aspect to it.
I was talking to my friend Leap about this very release, and one interesting theory he brought up was how Arika might’ve been ‘directly referencing’ other, sometimes popular Japanese songs and artists within this EP, hence the ‘rotten sample’ title. And I quickly realized I had a similar feeling during my first few listens of “Sanagi”, since it has a very Maison book girl quality to it with those weird piano melodies, and even the scattering of various sounds (like that xylophone or ticking noises). I have yet to see any confirmation of whether or not this was their intent (or if there even is a coincidental MBG connection), but regardless, it’d be an interesting angle from the duo if it was the case… especially since some of the other songs also had that spirit (“FATBUG” totally sounds like a Yonezu Kenshi track lol).
♫ 「REGAIN AGAIN LLLLOVE」 IKIZULIVE
Released: 2026.02.06
The Love Live franchise’s newest endeavor, Love Live! BLUEBIRD, is now going full-steam ahead, particularly with how they presented the group’s first major live concert, where they streamed and posted their entire Day 1 performance, for free, on YouTube (as of this post’s publication date, the archive is still available to watch, so definitely go check it out!). And honestly, props to the LL staff for doing this; not only because of how unprecedented of a move this is from them but I’d say it was a smart decision, in terms of generating more interest in the unit, especially for us fans outside of Japan.
And while I could bring up a lot of the music that IKIZULIVE has released so far, one track from that concert caught my attention quite a bit, even weeks after watching it: “REGAIN AGAIN LLLLOVE”.
The song itself is a fun one where it feels like a very fast-paced and hype, and I’ve even seen other people compare it to older idol tracks/groups like Hello! Project. And while this live version doesn’t entirely do it justice (with the fact that it’s not as crisp as the studio version), it’s still easy to notice that there is some really damn good line distribution here. Similar to many of the group-focused Love Live songs, they give all ten of the characters so much space to show off their individual personalities and vocal stylings (like how peppy Miracle sounds, compared to the deeper voices of Polka and Yukuri), which I absolutely adored, especially from Konohana Aurora (and her accompanying voice actress, Amasawa Akane), the presumable center of the song.
But I think what drew me the most was its choreography. Admittedly, it’s not something I necessarily ‘care’ about within the idol space but here, some of the moves they did were kinda rad. The beginning part where they were smoothly shuffling their positions, or how a few of the chorus parts were very reminiscent of the signature move from μ's’ “Kaguya no Shiro de Odoritai” (and even music style-wise)… I just thought it was an awesome performance, all in all, and I appreciated the added bonus of them posting a dedicated dance practice video for this track.
And like I’ve said in the past, I am one of those fans who generally eats up whatever new things this franchise gives us, and I strongly believe they’ve done a pretty good job with IKIZULIVE’s beginnings so far. These ladies have been such a fun bunch to watch, much like the groups that came before them, and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next for them.
♫ 「No No No」 333
Released: 2026.02.04
As I’ve mentioned on many previous occasions, YouTube can sometimes be an unexpected paradise for finding new music. How neat-o is it that once you enter the homepage, you can be greeted with an artist you’ve never heard before, especially ones who are fairly new to the scene and/or don’t have a whole lot of traction yet. It’s how I found bands like Mama Rag or ofton fun club, of whom I really enjoyed following this past year, so props to Google’s algorithm… be it good or bad, morally (lol).
In any case, it happened again this past month or so, with a song called “Mawaru Osushi” by the 2025-formed pop rock band 333 (or ‘sunsunsun’, as they translate it). And being a fan of all-female rock trios, their stuff was very much up my alley. Judging from that song and its accompanying MV, it’s clear that they’ve got a playful & spirited energy to them, which is exemplified further with their self-assertion of performing whatever music they want. Plus, hearing a very impassioned-style of vocals within bands like these are always a treat, which is exactly what we get with main vocalist/guitarist Nakanomaru.
Lately I’ve taken a peculiar liking to another track off their recently released EP (titled Sunsun), namely "No No No”. One thing I’ve always liked from these bands is how, amongst the loud and fun rock, they do a 180 and put out a more lax song here-and-there. These kinds of tracks probably aren’t the best examples when introducing people to these bands for the first time, but it helps show a completely different side to them and how they’re very well capable of lightening things up a bit, thus giving them some musical and emotional depth.
That’s exactly what we get with “No No No”. It opens with a lovely, and quite catchy, acoustic guitar melody, as well as some somber vocals from Nakanomaru. I loved the later inclusions of that mildly bright xylophone and the marching band-like snare drum rolling, with the latter giving off this interesting ‘grand’ flavor to it, while also somehow adding to the melancholic nature of the song. And as gloomy as this track may sound, it almost has a nice tranquility to it that you can get lost in, and one that could have you thinking about past memories and someone you’d want to spend some time with.
♫ 「Sweet Escape (feat. MUD)」 MALIYA
Released: 2026.03.18
Sometimes it’s a little difficult to anticipate upcoming album/EP releases, and while I’ll reiterate that I haven’t been too dialed in on the JP music scene as of late, there have definitely been a plethora of ‘surprise’ announcements and music drops; one of which was R&B singer MALIYA’s first album in almost five years, titled pluto. I regrettably only heard about it a couple weeks ago (it was originally announced at the beginning of March), but regardless, I was legitimately hyped about this one.
You may remember the mention of MALIYA in a couple of past medorēs, most notably within my ‘favorites of 2023’ post where I really could not get enough of “Old Clothes”. Considering that was the year when I was diving fairly deep into the more indie, multicultural R&B/hip-hop/rap scene, this was, for sure, a discovery highlight that I still find amazing to this day. The low-key grooviness of it, the tasteful intertwining of English and Japanese in the lyrics, and of course, MALIYA’s gorgeous voice just pairs so well with a smooth track like this one.
pluto released a few weeks ago, and I’d say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It takes on that familiar, cool R&B sound that I fell in love with when I first discovered MALIYA’s music and just builds on it so well. It’s even fitting since, via an article from Spincoaster, the overarching theme of this album is about what the dwarf planet represents in astrological terms: transformation, renewal, and rebirth. In this album’s case, fans can tell how much MALIYA has evolved as an artist throughout the years and a lot of the songs on here 100% show it. Plus, a good handful of the tracks feature blog favorite Kota Matsukawa at the producing helm, so that’s always a plus.
However, the one track I kept going back to over and over again was “Sweet Escape” alongside Tokyo-based rapper MUD.
I absolutely love the vibe of this track. Right from the jump, it hits you with a serene, atmospheric tone that immediately puts you at ease. The sheer strength of the bass and hi-hats, while you can subtly hear the violins, piano and sparkly sound effects that help create that dreamy feeling… it’s such a perfect setting for MALIYA’s relaxing voice and the things she’s singing about. Showing a desire to just get away from it all without any planning or hindrance; it’s especially expressed really well through MALIYA’s intertwining of English and Japanese (‘nukedashite from disupurei’ meaning ‘breaking out from this place’, or ‘iranai explain’ as ‘no need to explain’).
MUD, on the other hand, had a really nice feature on a track like this. I really enjoyed the slight edge he brought, which resulted in a cool contrast to MALIYA’s softer tone, yet he still maintained that sentiment of escapism and dreams of some freedom from it all. It kinda reminded of me of some of the other R&B/hip-hop vocal collabs I’ve heard in the past, like with RiE MORRiS and Wez Atlas, or the Salasa feature on that single from hip-hop duo 69.
♫ 「Kasou」 Yorushika
Released: 2026.03.04
Speaking of unexpected releases: oh hey, a brand new Yorushika album!
I say ‘unexpected’, solely in the perspective of myself, since I honestly haven’t been following the recent activities of this duo all that much, other than occasionally checking out a new single or two (one of which was through watching the first season of Frieren). Either way, I’d like to think that a lot of Yorushika fans were excited for this new full-length album from them, with the added benefit of it being entirely available on streaming services this time around.
…unwarranted snarky comments aside, one other reason why I was intrigued is because of the recent buzz around it. I’m specifically referring to what Western Yorushika fans have been saying, as I’ve seen a few people consider this to be a pretty major stylistic shift in the duo’s music. And while I initially pondered what they meant by that, I started to also realize the change; heck, with how much I adored “Rubato” when it first dropped, I should’ve probably seen the signs by then.
You can tell that what’s heard on Nininshou is Yorushika widening their boundaries a bit, and further experimenting with different sounds and instruments. While their signature, rock-heavy sound holds a special place in my J-music fan heart (and for damn near ten years at this point, jeez), it’s refreshing to hear this new side to them. I mean, n-buna’s using horns, trumpets, other forms of percussion, and ultimately taking on a more chill and easy-to-listen tone, all while maintaining that deeper expression of storytelling through their lyrics… I can imagine the opinion of this album will be divided amongst long-time fans of Yorushika, which is completely normal, but if you ask me, I’m really digging the change. And you know, the re-recording of “Hitchcock” was a nice nostalgic throwback.
I could showcase a lot of tracks from Nininshou here, but “Kasou” (“Cremation” in EN) is just so damn good.
Even though I’m, in no way, an expert on bossa nova music, I’ve always been a fan of it through the softness it gives off, and how the nylon guitars and its rhythms just give off such a satisfying groove. And no doubt do we get that on this track, as the guitar layering, the ever-so-slight horns popping in and out, that deep bass, as well as suis’ calmer and lower-toned vocals fitting incredibly well… for n-buna to pull out a modest Latin-style (specifically, a Cuban/Brazilian mix) banger like this one is just insanely cool to me.
Plus, as some commenters pointed out, the clapping throughout may also be imitating the crackling noises you hear while a fire is burning, adding to the whole ‘cremation’ theming going on, which… holy moly, that’s such a clever touch.
♫ 「Standard (feat. Hina)」 Ohashi Trio
Released: 2026.03.18
While I absolutely adore whenever singer-songwriter Ohashi Trio performs solo, a lot of why I love this man’s music is through the collaborations he’s done throughout the years. I can easily say that his 2012 release White is one of my most listened-to albums of all-time, and given that most of the tracklist consists of duets, it’s a pristine example of how well OT works with other singers. Whether it’s someone more in-line with his generation and style of music (BONNIE PINK, Hata Motohiro), or later working with more contemporary singers (kojikoji, Riria., Kamishiraishi Mone)… the way he’s able to- not only match the vibe and talent of these various vocalists, but also be aware of their strengths and compose songs that fit their overall character & tone of voice is quite impressive. One interesting instance being a duet with Nulbarich’s JQ; I woulda never expected this collaboration, but OT, despite being known for more acoustic songs, showed that he can absolutely hold his own on a flow-y R&B-centric track.
That said, Ohashi Trio recently released a brand new album, titled A BAND, with a main focus of expressing ‘rock’. And it’s not like this is something that’s way out there in terms of who OT is as an artist; there have been plenty of times where he’s used an electric guitar (and done so in a really nice fashion). But it’s more like he doesn’t do it all that often, opting for a more folksy/jazzy style with the consistent usage of an acoustic or piano. But after hearing the premise of A BAND, as it’s also mentioned that there are no signs of the usual strings or wind instruments to be found on any of the tracks, I was more intrigued than I initially expected.
In the case of “Standard”, the guitars have that cool, old-school rock style that also doesn’t overpower the vocals and shines when it’s needed (like that solo at 2:34), which I liked. It’s a really pleasant backdrop to the equally calming vocal performances of Ohashi Trio and Super Tozan-bu vocalist Hina. I love the gorgeous harmonizations and the contrast between the male/female vocal registers, while OT really allows Hina’s air-y voice to shine on her own (or put her in the forefront) in various parts of the track.
When looking at Ohashi Trio’s discography as a whole, ‘standard’ might be the best way to describe a song like this, as admittedly it’s very similar to a lot of what he’s put out. But even then, this one’s still a lovely track, plus I’m very interested in checking out Hina/Super Tozan-bu’s own music now (apparently they’re also a group of recreational mountain climbers which, for a band/music group’s overarching theme, is a new one to me lol)
♫ 「Naisu da ne」 CUTIE STREET
Released: 2026.03.25
We talked about CUTIE STREET just last year, fresh off the insanely fast & meteoric rise they were experiencing towards the end of 2024 and entering 2025. Since then, and in true KAWAII LAB/Kimura Misa fashion, they’ve only gotten bigger with their plethora of consistently viral hits, to the point where I do not think it’s far-fetched to say that they’ve now cemented themselves as a mainstay in the current J-idol space. I mean, just a week or so ago, they were featured on M COUNTDOWN, a popular pop music TV show in South Korea, and have since attracted a brand new wave of fans from that country (which certainly adds to KAWAII LAB’s whole mantra of ‘From Harajuku to the World’).
But let’s talk about this brand new song they just came out with, “Naisu da ne”. We’re introduced to some short solos from Parutan and Ayano, which it leads into this cacophony of a really nice & bright melody, someone going off on the guitar, a rad bassline, a pleasant inclusion of some violins, most of which sound oddly familiar…
…wait, no. No way, this can’t be. Is… that who I think it is?
Kawatani Enon (of indigo la End and Gesu no Kiwami Otome fame) working with traditional idols is nothing new, as he’s made plenty of tracks for groups like Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, Yumemiru Adolesence, Genin wa Jibun ni Aru, among others. So clearly, just like the variety of normal singers/artists he’s worked with, he has some level of cred in this specific part of the Japanese music scene. But man… CUTIE STREET? One of the biggest groups in the game right now? I dunno why, but I find that both funny and impressive at the same time lol
And just like a good handful of Kawatani’s portfolio, you can tell he wrote this. The melodies feel super familiar if you’ve heard a lot of his music, and just as I suspected, a couple of his trusty band-mates happen to be on this comp, namely Kyujitsu Kacho and Etsuko providing the bass and keyboards respectively. Not necessarily implying that this is a ‘bad thing’, but I can see why people may think Kawatani’s stuff can feel a little same-y/stale, which some could find to be the case with this Kyuusuto song as well.
What I do wanna praise Kawatani (and Kimura + their producers) for is allowing CUTIE STREET to show off a more mature side to them. Hell would freeze over before they stop embracing their now-quintessential cutesy image, but even giving fans a small taste of what it’d be like if Kyuusuto sang a more somber & sophisticated song helps show that they can very well be suitable to perform stuff like this. And all eight of ‘em sounded great, keeping up with his usual fast-paced style of writing music; and I loved hearing their deeper registers, since those who naturally have a voice that’s on the lower end (e.g., Kana, Haruka, Nagisa) felt perfect for a track like this, while the high-pitched members were clearly able to adapt and 100% pulled their own weight (Emiru, Aika). Just a cool song all together.
Bonus Tracks
Brand new addition to the quarterly roundups: similar to the ‘honorable mentions’ section in my year-end medorēs, there were some songs that barely couldn’t make the main list, yet I still wanted to give them a shout-out. Plus, I’ll add some brief & roughly-put comments, rather than just leaving them bare.
「Blur」 WHIMSY ▸ Released: 2026.01.20
may not happen all that often, but i always love finding new indie rock bands, and whimsy’s been a cool one lately. love nene’s voice here too
「Asobitai」 Harusaruhi ▸ Released: 2026.02.18
haru & asoboism might be the newest match made in heaven, just a real nice head-bopper with those fast beats and the smooth sax… almost wish it was a full song tho
「Rainbow」 ROBITAS ▸ Released: 2026.02.18
enjoyed the nice jazzy feel of this one, it’s very calming and i’m loving robitas’ stuff so far. also apparently shin rizumu provided the bass & drums, which i can’t say i expected but i ain’t complaining lol
「Rurimatsuri」 Yano Hinaki ▸ Released: 2026.03.05
feels poetic/perfect that kusunoki tomori’s non-solo producing debut (i think) is a song for her former/fellow nijigasaki cast member. hinanon really does emulate riru’s emotional cadence well, and the brighter, almost odd-sounding piano/xylophones were a nice touch
「See Me True」 FIVE NEW OLD ▸ Released: 2026.03.25
fresh off their brand new album, love the strong ‘80s feel of this song and hiroshi’s signature all-english vocals just come through so well here
Aaaaand that’s all I got for you today!
…I’ll admit that I may have yapped too much in this post, but considering that this dealt with three whole months of music releases, I feel justified in some ways (lol). Hopefully most of what I talked about made sense, as I really enjoyed all of the tracks we talked about! And as always, I created a dedicated Spotify playlist for this roundup, so feel free to save/check it out:
Think that’s all! If inclined, definitely leave your thoughts in the comments, whether it’s about any of the songs I featured today or any unrelated ones that you yourself found within this past quarter. I’d love to hear them!
Thanks for reading!! :D
-al