“City Pop” is a Japanese take on what is sometimes called WestCoast or, more, colloquially, “Yacht Rock.” City Pop takes the Yacht Rock foundation of soft/smooth rock with r&b/soul/jazz touches and ultra-polished studio production and smoothes it out ever more. The result is often saccharine and sentimental but sometimes extremely refined and elegant.
One great example of City Pop done well—and a track I can’t stop playing right now is vivacious chanteuse, Ruriko Ohgami’s “ふわりふわふわ.” Don’t ask me to pronounce it, much less translate it. What makes it special isn’t the slinky cocktail jazz instrumentation but the exquisite Brazilian lilt in the deliciously, irresistably ever-so-slightly melancholy melody. Once it caresses you, it’s hard to let it go. I haven’t after a few dozen listens.
