It’s the end of the year so it’s “Best of 2022” season! A few hours ago, Pitchfork releases its “The 100 Best Songs of 2022” list. Two Japanese artist were included!
4s4ki‘s “Punish” came in at #93. Pitchfork’s Zhen Yu wrote:
“Punish” explores nihilistic self-loathing through a multi-genre electronic fantasia. The Saitama-based hyperpop artist 4s4ki alternates between clear and Auto-Tuned singing across the song’s quickly shifting sonics, which incorporate sounds from digicore and Japanese hip-hop. Her scream of the titular “punish!” flashes like a brief, electric glitch against the serrated drum‘n’bass chorus—a cry for help enmeshed in a suffocating, cybernetic pop landscape.
Utada Hikaru’s “Somewhere Near Marseilles” came in at #10. Pitchfork’s Eric Torres wrote:
Hikaru Utada reinvented themselves on their eighth album, “BADモード”, dialing from J-pop toward sleek, mellow dance music. Featuring co-production from Floating Points’ Sam Shepherd, the LP’s jet-setting, showstopping finale frames a Mediterranean tryst in finger snaps and rubbery synths. It’s a glamorous setup for breathless intimacy: “Maybe I’m afraid of love/Say I’m not the only one,” they murmur as the song builds toward a blissed-out dance breakdown. Spiked with unfettered yearning, “Somewhere Near Marseilles” makes falling hard and fast sound like its own euphoric form of escape.
