For most of the world, December – particularly the end of December – is a dead zone for releasing new music but in Japan, it’s business as usual. Hence after a 2025 that was already busy enough with a new EP Seasons in March and album number four – White – coming out in September, idol-gaze stalwarts RAY capped off the year with another new single, this one particularly notable because it was a co-write with Kurayamisaka and features three members – guitarist Shotaro Shimizu, bassist Rinpei Asami, and drummer Yosuke Hotta – on the recording. Accordingly, it’s on the guitar-heavy and rockier side of RAY’s oeuvre, so obviously I love it.

It’s also notable in the history of RAY as it is the first song by the outfit as a five-piece – Harune Yuki appears on the track and makes her live debut with the band in Shibuya, Tokyo, tomorrow night.

And as a bit of forewarning/foreshadowing, I’ve been really appreciating RAY’s determination to make idol-gaze happen, and while they’re still stylistically all over the place, the overall quality keeps improving and the volume of their output means that there’s just more and more good stuff. Expect to see more of them – and their spiritual predecessor ・・・・・・・・・ – hereabouts in the next little while.