Throughout the duration of 2018, there was perhaps no artist that received more rotation on MTV and Space Shower TV than Gen Hoshino, and that’s not without good reason. But what makes this so remarkable? Most of the songs receiving rotation weren’t even from this year, with both “IDEA” and “Doraemon” being the only two songs with accompanying music videos released this year — up until now. Released a little earlier this month, Gen Hoshino is closing the year off with one of his most infectious releases to date, “Pop Virus”, a surprisingly downtempo sound that’s already doing numbers in Japan.
Coming straight from Gen Hoshino’s forthcoming studio album “Pop Virus”, the title track does an excellent job of setting the tone of the fourteen-track album. Set to release tomorrow on December 19 in Japan, “Pop Virus” is the fifth studio album from Gen Hoshino since he debuted as a solo artist over eight years ago in 2010. It’s been over three years since Gen Hoshino released his last album, “Yellow Dancer”, so there’s definitely a level of excitement building up here in Japan. With the amount of top-performing songs set to be included on this album, which does include “Family Song”, “Koi”, and more, there’s no doubt in my mind that this album will be sitting in #1 for quite some time.
The full set of details for “Pop Virus” can be seen below:
Gen Hoshino 5th Album『POP VIRUS』 2018.12.19(wed) Release
■Limited Edition A (CD + BD + Special Booklet) VIZL-1490 ￥5,000 + tax
■Limited Edition B (CD + DVD + Special Booklet) VIZL-1491 ￥4,800 + tax
■Standard Edition Limited Pack (CD + Special Booklet) VIZL-1492 ￥3,100 + tax
■Standard Edition (CD) VICL-65085 ￥3,000 + taxCD Contents
1. Pop Virus
2. Koi
3. Get a Feel
4. Hada
5. Pair Dancer
6. Present
7. Dead Leaf
8. KIDS
9. Continues
10. Sapiens
11. IDEA
12. Family Song
13. Nothing
14. Hello SongLimited Edition Only
・BD (Limited Edition A) / DVD (Limited Edition B)
・Special Booklet (Limited Edition A & B / Standard Edition Limited Pack)The Contents of BD/DVD（Limited Edition A & B Only / 98minutes Video footage)
・STUDIO LIVE 『Hoshino Gen Live at ONKIO HAUS Studio』
1. Night Troop
2. Hada
3. Sakura no Mori
4. Snow Men
5. KIDS
6. SUN
7. Umi wo Sukuu
8. Koi
9. Pudding
10. IDEA
11. Friend Ship
・Documentary Video「Akira Nise with His Friends」
Audio Commentary
For being one of Japan’s biggest musicians of the past several years, it’s always surprised me that he’s never truly managed to break out of Japan. Perhaps with his latest album, “Pop Virus”, he might just be able to do so — especially with the general accessibility of music from Japan progressively getting better. Set to release in Japan on December 19, you’ll definitely want to keep your eyes on Gen Hoshino if you aren’t already. Those interested in checking out additional information, be sure to check out Gen Hoshino’s official website.