The real hook here is that Lumine Ikebukuro — a specific branch of a series of department stores in Japan — has its own SoundCloud page. Late capitalism, what a trip! But hey, that’s 2018 for you, and if a place selling handbags and shiny shoes wants to recruit promising young women artists from Tokyo’s electronic community to create disco-tinged songs for them, let’s try to look at the positives. It helps that the songs here are pretty good! Utae delivers the highlight via “Overwrite Dance,” a minimal dance-pop number blurred around the edges (the vocal effects!) that keeps it simple but does enough to feel just off in the best way. Machina — recently appearing on Foodman’s stellar new album — delivers another highlight with a rumbling floor-filler, while rising act AAAMYYY provides one of the more straightforward pop delights with her “Yellow Dress.” Check it all out, above.
