J-Pop Song Review #3: Pretender by Official HIGE DANdism (Official髭男dism)

Listen to the song here

When I first started following the Japan Hot 100, I once called Higedan  "like Maroon 5 but if they actually tried and were actually good and were also Japanese". They're both mundane pop-rock bands who make generic pop music.

The difference is that A. one is Japanese and one is American, and B. one makes bangers and one does not.

Higedan (whose full band name approximately translates to "manly moustache official") are in the business of making inessential pop hits that don't break any moulds or innovate. They just slap really hard. Pretender is their biggest hit, spending 7 weeks at #1, over 40 weeks in the top 3, and is currently at 173 weeks total on the chart.

Pretender doesn't do anything special. It doesn't say anything groundbreaking lyrically, as far as I can tell. It doesn't have some novel production gimmick, the band's singer Satoshi Fujihara is solid but unremarkable at first listen, and the instruments the band plays are nothing out of the ordinary.

It just does everything you'd find in a regular song, and makes them as high quality it can be.

The song just straight up goes hard. It's got a bit of a melancholic tinge, but that doesn't take away from the staccatos in the prechorus making your head want to bang along with the beat. It doesn't make you not want to sing along when that chorus arrives, soaring higher and higher. It doesn't stop you from marveling at the electronic breakdown that serves as a bridge.

And when the song ends with Fujihara trailing off on his last note as the beautiful guitar riff from the very beginning of the song returns to the forefront, but this time in piano form... you know that, despite how unremarkable the song may seem, you've still experienced something truly special.

This wasn't the first hit Higedan had in this vein. It most certainly was not the last. I might not think it's their best, but I would absolutely not begrudge you if you did.

It, in my opinion, aptly summarizes what they are as a band: Taking what's normal in music, to an extraordinary level.

9/10