“Spotify Early Noise Night #17” was held at Spotify O-EAST in Shibuya, Tokyo on Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. The event, where people were the first to listen to footsteps of the next era, were reina, Billyrrom, AKASAKI, Brandy War Chronicles, and Retroliron. These five newcomers have emerged in the past year or two, with different origins and musicality. This event is hosted by Spotify, with many young talents coloring the stage since its launch in 2017, including Furui Riho and jo0ji, who appeared last year, as well as Aimyon, STUTS, Omoinotake, and sheep literature, appearing in the past.
Text by Ryutaro Kuroda
Photo by Yoshihiro Sakata (THINGS.)
reina
The first batter of the day was reina, an R&B singer affiliated with the up-and-coming creative label/collective wau. The story begins with a comfortable rap-like “Dogs” with a cool tone, and then leads to a groovy “Good to me” that really increases the presence of the bass. Although delicate, the bass that resonates at the bottom of my stomach is wonderful, and I can feel the heat coming from inside my body. It is an ensemble that combines technology and dignity. The band members, like reina, were six members from Wau, including Gai Seki (Per.), Koki Furukawa (Key.), Kota Matsukawa (Ba.), Kazuho Otsuka (Gt.), Reo Anzai (Mani.), and Ryuju Tanoue (Dr.). The uniform black costume gives an impression of a chic image.
The song sung with the short MC in between was “my apologiesss,” which reina said was “the first song she wrote.” The neo-soul-style melody gently unwinds your body, allowing you to dance comfortably while being swayed by the waves of sound. Then they went on to “Do The Thing” and then went to “Burn,” which was the first performance in a band. The meticulous drums and the bass that swelled in a strong swell, and a variety of percussion created a deeper depth of the music.
The atmosphere at the live performance changed completely. With tight drums and solid performances, he plays “Youth” featuring hip-hop artist Skaai, who was also selected for “RADAR: Early Noise 2023,” as his guest performance. The afro-style percussion inserted into the middle was also impressive, and I think the performance was the highlight of this stage. The final performance was finished by singing “A Million More.” “We plan to release a lot of songs and albums this year,” so we hope to continue to keep an eye on them in 2025.
2. Dogs
3. Good to me
4. my apologiesss
5. Do The Thing
6. Burn
7. Youth
8. A Million More
Billyrrom
The second place is Billyrrom, a six-member group from Machida, Tokyo and formed with friends in 2020. The other day, they finished the tour final at Zepp Shinjuku with a great success, and are surely feeling the momentum is heating up.
The show starts with the rock number “DUNE” with its dynamic drums and strong ensemble reminiscent of a wide stage. Mol (Vo.) screams “Dance freely!” and connects to “Once Upon a Night,” as if throwing more flames into the floor that was already on fire. The funky guitar cutting and provocative bass sway his hips, and the scratching of Yuta Hara (DJ/MPC) injects his mood even more.
“Soulbloom” combines restrained performances that make use of the space with psychedelic video production, creating an immersive worldview. In “Apollo,” an image of the audience running through the galaxy is displayed on the stage LED, and the accelerating drums and bass lighten the listener’s body. The claps that erupt from the floor further enhanced the sense of speed of the song, and Rin’s guitar, which seemed to be playing the lead role along with the vocals, resonated with excitement, and the phrase “Ride this Speed” sung as if to let the momentum go. The performance is a symbol of Billyrrom today, as it has grown into a tough live band.
Finally, play “Time is Over.” While the cutting guitars and aggressive bass that are typical of Billyrrom, I think the keyboard, which somehow feels the influence of jazz, also created a good accent. He created an extremely open mood and left the stage.
2. Once Upon a Night
3. Soulbloom
4. Apollo
5. Time is Over
AKASAKI
“Let’s make it the best night” — AKASAKI’s stage was lively. The first song is “Player Kikomori,” a powerful debut song with the phrase “I’m fed up with serious music.” The rough voice quality is perfect for this song, and the beat that makes you dance while feeling cool is pleasant. From there, we plunge into our “roots” with the cry of “Dance, Shibuya!” The keyboard reminiscent of the gorgeous light of neon lights stimulates nostalgia.
The MC recently raised a heartwarming scene from the floor to AKASAKI, who had graduated from high school, saying, “Congratulations on your graduation!”, and replied, “I avoided repeating my year and graduated!” The unpretentious staging is impressive.
Next, they showed off their “Super Fast Logicness,” which was just released on this day. As the title suggests, the drums are fast-paced, with distorted tones covered by guitars and basses. The vocals sing in a vomit-like tone were also perfectly adorable, and the excitement on the floor was also rising.
With the MC saying, “It’s no exaggeration to say that Spotify has changed my life, so I’m happy to be able to sing here,” the final sprint was Natsumi, who was performed with an animated footage reminiscent of the 80’s, and Bunny Girl, who made her presence known to the world. The former is an excellent song with a sweet and sour melody and bittersweet lyrics, and the drums become more lively as they progress towards the second half.
The latter is doubled and proceeding towards the finale. The moment the opening phrase “The Beginning of the Night” is sung, the floor is erupted, and light drumming transforms the floor into a dance hall. He will “released new songs every month,” and will continue to fly in 2025 with this natural appearance.
2. Roots
3. Extremely fast logic
4. Wandering
5. Summer
6. Bunny Girl
Brandy War
The fourth group is a brandy war story that gives off a tingly, skin-burning rock sound. The live show began with a floating sound, “nightmare-like” and the phrase “It was a nightmare-like week” sung with a lazy voice wafts through my mind forever. Rengetsu (Gt./Vo.)’s vocals are transparent and sung in this voice, and the lyrics thrust even deeper into the eardrum.
The second song is “Musica,” which quickly lifted the band to the spotlight in the scene. The sound of the pop song “Yui” and the alternative rock “Intense” have an irresistible charm, and from here onwards the live performance becomes more sharp. From the refreshing “coming-of-age story” with Bori’s light-driving beat and Minori (Ba./Cho.) bass that ignores gravity and rampaging, to “The End of the F***ing World,” which is just released with a short MC in between. This new song has a fun-clock nuance, and is attracted to the somewhat melancholic melody, unfriendly cutting, and the swelling bass with a strong presence.
The tight ensemble that is typical of a three-piece is of course attractive, and the MC is minimal. The stage, which had no direction or footage, is pure and powerful as far as possible. The performance was finished by singing the “last live performance,” and then performing “Stockholm’s Box,” a heavy beat. The fists and claps rising from the floor are refreshing, and it’s hard to help but feel that the band will make even more progress.
2. Musica
3. Coming of age story
4. The End of the F***ing World
5. Last Live
6. Stockholm Box
Retroliron
Pop and colorful music dazzles the floor. The finale of “Spotify Early Noise Night #17,” featuring four four-party performances, is a Retroliron live performance. They formed in 2020 with classmates at the College of Music, and their performance skills are attractive, with their vocals that look like they are singing and their solid performance skills, and their performances are refreshingly bright. The keyboards highlight the dramatic aspects of the song, the bass swaying from under the gorgeous up-and-coming notes, and the most vibrant drums have an impact that will last a lasting memorable end even after the live performance. Also, when I moved from the “headliner” to the “one-time epilogue,” I think the message I told was “free to go home as you please, enjoy yourself as you please,” which is a theme that is essentially true for their creative work. Ryone (Vo./Ag.)’s vocals are passionate, as if to express the feelings she put into the song with great force.
The stage continues with a refreshing performance, with a stylish “DND” that shows the influence of funk and soul music, and a “category” that is drawn to the energetic drums. The “category” with its floral chorus melody and the dancing phrases on the keyboard are particularly memorable performances, and leads to an “unbalanced blend” that hears a large chorus from the floor. “Unbalanced Blend” was a song filled with the band’s charm, with rhythmic yet heart-warming songs.
An encore also erupted, and Ryone said, “Shall we have fun and end it?” and performed “TOMODACHI.” The claps and chorus that take place from the beginning give you a sense of the band’s high support. It was a live performance that gave off a very positive aftertaste.
2. One-Time Epilogue
3. DND
4. Category
5. Unbalanced blend
EN. TOMODACHI
All five newcomers who appeared on this day will surely color the future music scene. We hope to watch each of them perform well, hoping that the next generation of players will be born.
[Event Information]
“Spotify Early Noise Night #17”
Date and Time: Wednesday, March 19th, 2025, 17:30 / START 18:30
Venue: Spotify O-EAST, Shibuya, Tokyo
Cast:
AKASAKI
Billyrrom
Brandy War
reina
Retroliron
