Kicking off this edition of the Roundup are AprilBlue, something of a “Super Group” comprised of members of various bands like For Tracey Hyde, Seventeen Years Old and Berlin Wall and I Saw You Yesterday. The band’s first album “Blue Peter” takes the genres of Indie Rock and Dream Pop familiar to its members from their other projects and blends them with J-Pop sensibilities to create what the 5-piece are calling “New J-Pop”. Over the album’s 10 tracks this translates into echoing vocal melodies from lead singer Funazoko Haruki which are backed by dreamy instrumental melodies with undercurrents of Indie Rock or J-Pop depending on what the mood calls for, as heard on such tracks like the fantastic “Sundae” and “Unmei no hito”. While the description of the group’s sound might be a bit style over substance, the same can’t be said for the music itself. If you’re looking for a new dreamy, Rock album to add to your collection then you have to pick this release up.
