J-pop has never been more diverse, and PSYCHIC FEVER are one of the groups helping to push it in new directions. Combining R&B, hip-hop, pop and dance music, the seven-member group has built a sound that doesn’t fit neatly into one category. Now, following the success of Just Like Dat featuring JP THE WAVY, they return with their second full-length album, DIFFERENT.
Released four years after their debut album, DIFFERENT is an important step forward for PSYCHIC FEVER. The album reflects how much the group has grown, and this time, all seven members contributed to the songwriting, so you know it will be very different from their previous releases.
The album’s title says exactly what the group wanted it to; every member brings something different to PSYCHIC FEVER
Every member has their own personality and their own colour, and we wanted this album to represent that. Because we’re all different, we can create something unique together.
Across its ten tracks, DIFFERENT mixes early-2000s R&B, UK garage, Afrobeats, trap and smooth pop ballads very well.
Leading the album is If You’re Mine, which arrives with a new music video. Filmed on an airport runway, the choreography shows just how much the group have grown over the past three years. Having interviewed them before their one-off London show last year, it’s been exciting to see that growth. They no longer feel like rookies; they’ve become performers who know exactly who they are.
READ MORE: Meet PSYCHIC FEVER: Japan’s Stars with Big Vibes and Bigger Dreams
What makes DIFFERENT work is its variety: no two songs feel quite the same. From the great Masterpiece and the easy groove of I Got Ways to the warmer, softer moments on Dream Flight, PSYCHIC FEVER move comfortably between styles without sounding like they are trying too hard. Glowing closes the record and completes the album in a very strong way.
The production, led by Grammy-nominated producer Rykeyz, is very polished. DIFFERENT comes after several very important years for PSYCHIC FEVER. Their viral hit Just Like Dat became a sensation across Asia as well as the USA and Europe, collecting hundreds of millions of views on TikTok and charting across multiple Spotify Viral charts. Since then, the group has completed their first US tour, performed at SXSW, and signed a global partnership with Warner Music and 10K Projects, further establishing themselves outside Japan.
With DIFFERENT, PSYCHIC FEVER continue to show that there is no single way to make great pop music. By embracing their different personalities and musical influences, they have created an album that is PSYCHIC FEVER. It is a release that not only celebrates how far they have come, but also shows there is much more still to come from one of Japan’s fastest-rising groups.
Featured image © LDH Japan
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