Tentenko Is Japanese Pop Music’s Greatest Weirdo

Tentenko’s first solo release outside of Japan is one of the most inventive, replayable, and mercurial pop records I’ve heard so far this year. The self-titled LP, premiering below ahead of its release via London-based Toothpaste Records on Friday, fizzles and spits and packs in a dozen choruses before throwing in glitchy synth sounds and off-time drums.

I’ve spent the past week listening to it almost non-stop, and I still feel like I’ve eaten a handful of sugar packets every time the hypnotic Logic System collaboration “Hoshi No Densha” floats off into the neon-lit post-punk of “Hokago Sympathy.” Tentenko, culled from the Japan-only releases of a 28-year-old, Hokkaido-born ex-“idol,” is so good that I’ve found it confusing.