Music Corner 135: Maika Loubté

Maika Loubté Is a singer-songwriter, music producer, and DJ who currently lives in Tokyo. Spending her childhood and teenage years in Japan, Paris, Hong Kong and After graduating from high school, she discovered vintage analog synthesizers in which started her musical journey. While based on advanced electronic music, she places importance on authenticity of the "songs" themselves, stripped of their textures that is usually found in a majority of electronica songs.

Loubté is consistently exploring both novel and nostalgic music styles. Connecting numerous dots of sound, she creates original yet subconsciously familiar melodies listeners have an emotional connection to. As a multicultural songwriter, producer, and singer, Loubté takes in global influences as she experiments with sound using a number of vintage analog synthesizers in studio and has collaborated with the likes of Ryan Hemsworth and Miho Hatori. As a performer, she captivates fans with her unique vocals while playing a plethora of electronic instruments on stage while relying on her past experiences by singing in Japanese, English and French.

One aspect that sets Loubté apart from her contemporaries is her hauntingly beautiful voice. Her vocal range and controls are simply mesmerizing, evoking a wide range of emotions in her listeners. Whether she sings with delicate vulnerability or unleashes a powerful crescendo, Loubté's voice has an ethereal quality that leaves a lasting impression. Her vocal prowess is best exemplified in tracks like “Nobara” and “System”, where her evocative vocals take center stage, leaving listeners awe-struck.

Another notable aspect of Maika Loubté's music is her keen attention to production and sound design. She seamlessly blends organic instrumentation with electronic elements, creating a sonic landscape that is both familiar and innovative. This fusion of acoustic and electronic elements can be heard in tracks like “Show Me How” and “Ice Age” where Loubté's intricate production elevates her music to a whole new level.

In addition to her solo work, Maika Loubté has collaborated with various artists, further expanding her musical horizons. These collaborations have allowed her to experiment with different styles and genres, showcasing her versatility as an artist. Whether she's collaborating with a hip-hop artist on an upbeat track or lending her vocals to a downtempo electronic composition, wither it be tracks like “Hakumei” from KIRINJI or her latest release (as of this writing) “Blue Bird” from Shin Sakiura, Loubté's ability to adapt and shine in various musical contexts demonstrates her exceptional talent and adaptability.

As of this writing, she has four albums from 2014,16,19 and 21, along with abundant of singles released digitally. Be sure to follow Loubté on her official website, Twitter and Instagram and check out her latest music video “Ice Age” below!

Music Corner 134: Furui Riho

Furui Riho is a R&B-pop singer-songwriter from Hokkaido, who not only write and composes lyrics but also arranges music as well. Furui Riho’s musical career has a gospel influence as she has been involved in choir since a young age. Furui Riho has been an active solo artist since college. In 2019, she released her first digital single “Rebirth”, which led to all her current activities, including her debut album Green Light that released in 2022. Furui Riho’s music has garnished many fans due to her realistic lyrics that at times are filled with humor and attention grabbing compositions.

Furui Riho instantly grabbed me with her soulful track, “I’m free”. In I’m free, you can easily hear the gospel influence and feel it in your bones with not just her voice but her lyrics as well. Tracks such as “Sins” and “Green Light” have an R&B feel that combines soul and a more modern composition of what we hear in R&B today, that can give off both a chill but dance vibe. I also enjoy how Furui Riho switches it up and does songs with mixing soul and a jazzy composition, such as “Pink Hair” and “Backwards”. “Pink Hair” has a little bit of a slower and more soulful beat than jazz, while “Backwards” has a more jazz-like composition with R&B mixed in. Furui Riho has collaborated with several artists, such as Shin Sakiura, aimi, and Michael Kaneko to name a few. Her collaborations show off her skills to match her voice with who she is collaborating with, such as in the track “n.oy.b (Shin Sakiura)” and “The Wave (aimi)”. Furui Riho’s latest track, “Super Star” has a little bit of a more pop-like beat but with a memorable composition,which makes it stand out with Furui showing off her powerful voice and a catchy chorus to keep you coming back.

Currently, Furui Riho has one album, Green Light (2022) and nine digital singles, with her most recent being “Super Star”. Check out Furui Riho’s official website, Twitter, Instagram, and the music video for her latest single, “Super Star”!

Music Corner Week 133: Touya Kobayashi

Touya Kobayashi is a singer and songwriter who started as an independent artist but, in November of 2021, he signed on to Univeral J to make his debut. The very first single Kobayashi released was his song “Dryer” in August of 2020 and went on to release four more singles, “Happy End No Maesetsu”, “Otona ni Naru Mae ni”, “Chairo no Sweater”, and “Arifureta Love Song”. While he was independent he released his mini-album Otona no Kaidan, which was after he had released his song “Chairo no Sweater”. “Kimi no Inai Hajimete no Fuyu” would go on to be his debut song with Univeral J, and he has since released four more digital singles, an EP, plus he dropped his first album, Hiragi, in February of this year.

“Chairo no Sweater” was the very first song I heard by Kobayashi and it has left an amazing impact on me. “Chairo no Sweater” does an excellent job of showing off his amazing vocals and the piano work is equally amazing. The whole piece comes together really well and is an amazing song. “Hafimari” is the first track in his album Hiragi and, while there are no lyrics to this number, the composition is so well done that it is a shame how short this track is. “Aiganakya” is the second track on his album and I really like this song too, since it’s a more upbeat track. “Chairo no Sweater” is still my favorite song of his, but I’ve had a blast checking out everything he has to offer.

Touya Kobayashi is very active on his official Twitter and his official website stays up to date on all the latest news. Lastly, be sure to check out his song “Chairo no Sweater” in the video below.

Music Corner Week 132: Title Mitei

Title Mitei is a four-member idol group based out of Sapporo, Hokkaido, the most northern part of Japan that got their start in April of 2020. The current lineup for Title Mitei are Yuka Toskashi, Hana Abe, Noa Tani and Sora Kawamoto. Meaning ‘Title Undecided’, the name was chosen to define the expression of being undefined, lacking, and incomplete. It reflects the struggle of being around 20 years old and feeling anxious about the future and about who we must become. The group's name was chosen to express the hope that we can become anything we want to be. They also stick to the mantra of ‘not to try be someone else’, and to cherish the present moment of being no one.  The girls stick to that to a T as they aren’t falling into the usual trappings that idol groups do now with hyper energic beats, and most heavily relying on their strong vocals to carry them.  

One of the things that I find interesting is that the group had also debuted during the pandemic and had relied on SNS to carry them in their infancy as a group. A lot of what makes this group stand out to me is songs like “Kodou”, “Itsuka” and “Hana” where the girls get to show off their vocal range with various speeds in tempo that are used in their composition. It really shows that while just being an idol group, they will make their own way in the business without falling to what is popular or outside the range for the girls themselves.  

Currently, Title Mitei has 10 singles with their latest (as of this writing) being “Hana”, and one album titled Seisyungunzou that released back in 2021. Be sure to check out their official website, Twitter, and Instagram, along with the music video for “Hana” below!

Music Corner Week 131: Ayumu Imazu

Ayumu Imazu is and Singer-songwriter from Osaka Japan who got their start in the industry in 2014. Although his interest in dance started at the ripe young age of six, it wasn’t until he saw Bruno Mars’ performance at the Super Bowl in 2014 that Imazu inspired to become an artist in earnest. From there he participated in the GLOBAL JAPAN CHALLENGE contest that was hosted by LDH and Avex, and become one of the winners in the vocal and dance categories. He had then traveled to USA to study there for three years under the junior group PROJECT TARO. After studying in New York, Imazu became a singer-songwriter based in both Japan and the USA. He made his debut as a solo artist in 2020, Imazu actively writes lyrics, composes music, and choreographs dances. With his overwhelming dance performances and bilingual vocals, he continues to change and challenge the world in his own unique way.

One of things that I absolutely love about Imazu is that while a lot of his tracks have this delicate and straightforward word sense and dramatic world view message, I find myself trying to pick apart every song to hear his message. His time in the US isn’t wasted as he masterfully switch between English and Japanese Songs like ‘Sunshower’, ‘Stranger’ and his latest track (at the time of writing) ‘HONEYCOMB’, shows off how he is a next generational talent.

Currently, Imazu only has one album titled Pixel that he released back in 2022 along with the EP Epiphany in 2020, as well as several digital singles he has released in between. You can check out his official website here, and be sure to follow both his Twitter and Instagram! Also be sure to check out his latest music video ‘HONEYCOMB’ below!