I haven’t talked about music in a little while, and although I haven’t really had much reason to do so, I wanted to just go over some of the music I have been listening to lately. Not all of it will be from 2026, but it will mostly be quite recent music, at the very least from the last 2 or 3 years. Let’s start with some recent music from anime though.

When I wrote my review of You and I are Polar Opposites season 1, I talked a lot about the opening theme which was incredible. The second season of the anime is currently airing and as good as it is, the opening theme doesn’t stand out in the same way as the one for season 1. It’s a good song but the direction is a step down. There is one shot where the characters are standing next to a field of barley before it is revealed that it’s not just Tani and Suzuki standing there but the entire main cast, but I digress. The song from this second season that is sticking with me much more is the ending theme by Mega Shinnosuke. Unmei no kimi is a song about love in its purest form. The video that accompanies it sees the singer hang out with a young student who is trying to get the attention of his crush. It’s a very nice song and I recommend giving a listen to the version on Youtube too as that has a small choir section at the start that also sounds really good. 

There’s more anime music though, and this one is a bit peculiar. I didn’t grow up watching Ghost in the Shell but I did watch the movie much later. I liked it but I wasn’t really blown away by it. I don’t like science fiction as a rule, so it needs to do something that draws my attention to get me invested. I just much prefer fantasy and its endless wonder to science fiction and its often harsher vibes, even though the stories told in each medium end up being roughly the same anyway. But what I love about the new adaptation of Ghost in the Shell is how it feels much more chaotic and funny. There’s debauchery and people actually live their lives as opposed to the darker vibes the movie gave me. Still, what caught my attention the most is once again another ending song. Blue is the ending theme and it’s made by Millenium Parade. It’s a musical group that includes Saya Gray, Daniel Caesar and Daiki Tsuneta. I’ll have to admit that these names meant nothing to me, but I understood later on that Daiki Tsuneta is also the vocalist of King Gnu, who has done some absolutely fantastic songs. Check out both Blue and other works by King Gnu if you have the time. If you don’t know where to start, check out their song “boy” which was used for the anime “Ranking of Kings”. 

Now let’s move away from anime music for a bit and instead of staying in Asia we’ll head down south instead. There’s a question that I need answered and who better to ask than the locals. Hey you over there! Hey there Mr. Jambo, can the Serengeti swallow up the evils of our world?
Mr. Jambo is a satirical song by the incredibly talented Kyle Gordon. He’s a Youtuber who does comedy skits and parody songs and he is probably most known for his song Planet of the bass. He has a knack for writing songs that are incredibly silly but still feel cohesive while also being incredibly catchy. With Mr. Jambo, Kyle manages to make fun of Paul Simon’s music about Africa while somehow creating a catchier sound than the legendary singer had managed to do. The song is about a man going to Africa and asking one of the locals about his life there. The local “Mr. Jambo” then answers in his mother tongue that he does not have a clue what Barry Bergen (the character that Kyle plays) is talking about and to leave him alone. I found myself singing the chorus to this one so often that even my neighbors probably know it by heart.

Lastly, let’s rapid fire some pop-punk and punk-rock songs I’ve been really enjoying lately. I’ve mentioned some of these artists here before, but their latest songs have been really solid. Youtuber musician Mattstagraham is back with Say what you mean to tell people to have the balls to be honest with each other while The Paradox is probably into that kind of language as explained in their song I kinda like that. They also did a tiny desk concert somewhat recently and although I can’t say I’m super impressed with their live vocals – I think a lot of singers sound better in the studio, with some very clear exceptions – I did think they put out a really good set. I’ve also been keeping my eye on Stand Atlantic, whose song Velcro has been stuck in my head as well. Their new album Godbreath should also be coming out later this year, towards the end of October, so I’m already excited for that. I’ve also been listening to some of Good Charlotte’s newer music. It’s the most dad-rock generic pop you can expect out of a band of boomers but it sounds great. Give their song I don’t work here anymore a listen. It reminds me of Durry’s “idk, I just work here” and that’s high praise.

Lastly there’s a song I found just over the weekend that blew me away, so I had to include it here. I’ve been keeping an eye on Sueco’s music for a while now and although he’s a strange fellow, he makes some absolutely banger songs. He now made a song with Japanese rock band Paledusk who I only really know from one collaboration with One Ok Rock. Pairing their harsh rock vocals with Sueco’s aggressive punk sound is a flash of genius. I’m not the biggest fan of Paledusk’s general style but sometimes it just works really well.

That’s it for my musical roundup for now. I don’t write a lot of these because I do not really have the knowledge and vocabulary to describe music well, I just like what I like and that’s it. But I do want to share the songs I like with others, so I might as well put them on this blog as well. I’ll be talking about video games in the near future as well. I’ve played a ton of them over the past year and I have some thoughts, so look forward to that. I’ll also recap the Ancient Magus bride volumes I missed and then add a recap of the latest volume as well, so look forward to that too. So much to do, so little motivation. It’s very clear that it’s summer. Thanks for reading!
(Small edit, but Google Docs wants me to correct the “bride” in Ancient Magus bride to “bridge” make of that what you will.)