Penthouse -- Koi Suru Kamisama（恋する神様）

 

When I was listening and reading up on this song, my mind made its own associations and my brain materialized that summer pastime in Japan, going to the rooftop beer garden among the skyscrapers. I'm basically a teetotaler but I had been to a few of these with friends and there is something appealing about having a mug and fried chicken under the stars. By the way, the above was provided by Samurai Junjiro Channel.

I guess all this beer garden on the brain is due to me coming across this latest album by the City Soul band Penthouse's latest album "Neon Garden" which was released on July 29th this year. One of the tracks here is the rapid-fire "Koi Suru Kamisama" (God of Love) that was written by vocalists Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）and Maho Ohshima（大島真帆）and composed by Namioka. It's quite the sangria of genres: technopop, jazz, soul, City Pop and all that as a young lass is going a little crazy about falling for a guy and asking for divine help to get her out of a sticky situation. Unfortunately, the titular deity probably has to deal with tons of other people in similar circumstances.

Just to let folks know, the above is an official music video for "Koi Suru Kamisama" and not a creditless anime opening or closing sequence, although seeing how polished and adorable it is, I wouldn't be surprised if fans are wondering if there shouldn't be an anime created because of it. Apparently, the story played out here has a more self-assured couple than in the lyrics.

Penthouse -- Ichi, Ni, San（一二三）

Amazon.jp

I'm not sure how the Spring 2026 season for anime has been accepted by fans so far, but I have to say that in terms of handling the theme songs, there have been some interesting and fun choices. "Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!"（ガンバレ!中村くん!!...Go for It, Nakamura!）not only has funkster Yasuyuki Okamura（岡村靖幸）back on the dance floor but it's also gone for bringing back the oldies for each ending. Then there is Keisuke Kuwata's（桑田佳祐）mix of his signature style and some European pizzazz for his contribution to "Akane-banashi"（あかね噺...Akane's Story）.

Then we have the fourth season of the anime adaptation of the fantasy manga "Mairimashita! Iruma-kun"（魔入りました!入間くん...Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun）. To be honest, I've never seen this in either format but judging from the opening credit sequence and the theme song, they sure make it enticing. I could imagine the first few opening sequences being fairly serious and then with this one, the producers opted to have the characters go for some fun instead.

And that is because of "Ichi, Ni, San" (One, Two, Three) by the City Soul band Penthouse. I've already posted a few articles on them and they really go down to town with this one which was released as their latest single earlier this month. Guitarist Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）was the composer of the snazzy jazzy melody and he shares co-writing credits with bassist Takuma Ohara（大原拓真）. Namioka and co-vocalist Maho Oshima（大島真帆）threaten to blow the roof off the house here.

Penthouse -- Minute by Minute

 

Y'know...I don't think I've worn a wristwatch in quite a few decades now. Don't quite know why...I can wear something cheap like one with a famous cartoon mouse's arm as the watch hands, but never got around to it. I certainly can't have a Citizen (as above) or a Rolex on my arm...out in public, that is. I would end up not having an arm.

The song that was accompanying the commercial at the top there is "Minute by Minute" (sorry...nothing to do with the Doobie Brothers' tune). This was released in October as the 16th and the latest digital single by the band Penthouse which I have gotten to know as a snazzy unit capable of some fine Neo-City Pop and R&B in general. With "Minute by Minute", I get more of the funk and some great gospel vocal stylings by Maho Oshima（大島真帆）and Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）. The latter member took care of words and music while band bassist Takuma Ohara（大原拓真）also helped out on the lyrics.

Penthouse -- Friday's High（フライデーズハイ）

 

Seeing some of the dance moves vocalist Maho Oshima（大島真帆）was displaying on her band's "Nijuu-roku-ji Juppun"（26時10分）and then catching the video for Penthouse's latest single "Friday's High", I sense that they shouldn't only be called a 21st-century Japanese City Soul group but also a song-and-dance unit. What can I say about those moves in the video? They're weirdly cool and good.

"Friday's High" was released as Penthouse's 10th digital single at the end of January 2024 and it's more of their delicious funky disco and/or Neo-City Pop as created by vocalist Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）. His lyrics suggest that the weekend shouldn't involve the mere two days of Saturday and Sunday. Friday night should feel like that extra half day added onto the usual weekend span and considering all of the time that I've had to meet friends at Hachiko in Shibuya on Friday nights, I think Penthouse is merely reflecting what has been fact for years rather than instigating a potentially new view on how long a weekend should be. 

"Friday's High" has also been used as the commercial song for a Nissan vehicle. And why not? What better way to signal a weekend escapade via the X-TRAIL e-4ORCE than this particular ditty. 

The Gospellers -- Summer Breeze

 

In addition to Sachiko Kobayashi（小林幸子）appearing on "Uta Con"（うたコン）last night, we also had the mighty Gospellers vocal group making another welcome visit.

Just in time before summer goes out in a few weeks, Gospellers released an EP called "Here & Now" in late August which contains a track called "Summer Breeze", which they performed last night. It's a nice slice of light soul and pop concocted by the two vocalists from the City Soul band Penthouse, Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）and Maho Oshima（大島真帆）. Both Gospellers and Penthouse have collaborated in the past by working on a cover of Daichi Miura's（三浦大知）"Keep It Goin' On" last year.

Not sure where they filmed the music video but it could be Okinawa. Nice accommodations, though. As for us here in Toronto, we're supposedly in the final day of a heat wave although tomorrow should still be quite warm. We'll finally get the September temperatures on Friday.

Penthouse -- Nijuu-roku-ji Juppun（26時10分）

 

Nope, this has nothing directly to do with the anime "Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!"（宇崎ちゃんは遊びたい!）but I wanted to direct your attention to the times listed for its broadcast at the end of the commercial. I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to advertise late-night anime or even late-night shows in Japan in general with times such as 24:30 and 27:15 (which are of course 12:30 am and 3:15 am respectively). It's as if the producers and TV stations are saying that your day isn't really over until you see our programming overnight. Unfortunately in my case, age and the need for slumber will trump weirdly-named times every time.

All that preamble ramble is to introduce "Nijuu-roku-ji Juppun" which is basically 2:10 am. But I'm not allowing the time to put my nose out of joint because it is another fine brand of that City Soul that the band Penthouse provided a couple of years ago. I mentioned the band last summer as this conglomeration of music circle minds from the University of Tokyo and Aoyama Gakuin University who are into the more refined, urban and urbane music. 

"Nijuu-roku-ji Juppun" is Penthouse's 6th digital single from February 2021 during their indies period. Written by guitarist Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）and pianist Hayato "Cateen" Sumino（角野隼斗）and composed by Namioka and bassist Takuma Ohara（大原拓真）, it's got a lotta good things going on here melodically including a TOTO-like (the band not the toilet company) piano introduction, some jazz here, some rap there, some of that vocal give-and-take by Namioka and vocalist Maho Oshima（大島真帆）, and that aforementioned City Soul. Lyrically, it's about a force of nature who suddenly shows up all sullen at a possibly off-and-on boyfriend's place at the titular time. Complications have ensued for a while, probably. I couldn't help but feel that if I were to think of an anime, it would be a sequel to "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya"（涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱）in which Haruhi barges in on Kyon's apartment for whatever cranky reason, five to ten years later. They will share a Wilkinson.

Penthouse -- Yoru to Yume no Hazama de（夜と夢のはざまで）

 

A couple of days ago, I mentioned about vocal group The Gospellers'（ゴスペラーズ）cover of Daichi Miura's（三浦大知）debut single "Keep It Goin' On" and that they collaborated with another group called Penthouse.

Well, having never heard of Penthouse, I decided to satisfy my curiosity and so I was happy to discover that there is a J-Wiki article on this sextet and their own website. The group first formed from five men and one woman through a music circle at the University of Tokyo in 2018; while guitarist Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）, guitarist Shintaro Yano（矢野慎太郎）, bassist Takuma Ohara（大原拓真）, pianist Hayato "Cateen" Sumino（角野隼斗）and drummer Tatsunori Hirai（平井辰典）all hail from Todai, the lone female member, vocalist Maho Oshima（大島真帆）, attended Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo. Penthouse centres around the two main singers of Namioka and Oshima.

According to that J-Wiki article, the band had wanted to explore the concept of stylish music as applied to everyday life and found that they wanted to express themselves through the catchiness of Japanese City Pop combined with the power of old soul music which thereby begat the description of Penthouse as a City Soul unit. What has also added further flavour to their music is that all of the members have musical backgrounds covering classical, R&B, pop and hard rock to name a few genres. Oshima, for example, was greatly inspired by Miwa Yoshida（吉田美和）of Dreams Come True.

My first taste of Penthouse through one of their own songs has come from their July 2019 second single as an indies band "Yoru to Yume no Hazama de" (Between the Night and Dreams), a quiet 70s soulful ballad beautifully sung by Oshima (reminds me of Miki Imai). Written and composed by Ohara and revolving around the emergence from a rough patch into a better tomorrow, this is the type of song that one would love to listen to while decompressing at home. The music video with Oshima walking through the nighttime streets of downtown Tokyo as she looks like she's actually illustrating the intent of the lyrics hits the mark.

As an indies group between 2019 and 2021, Penthouse released nine digital download singles. As of late 2021, they have gone major through a contract with Victor and have put out two singles and one EP.

Daichi Miura/The Gospellers feat. Penthouse -- Keep It Goin' On

Although there are probably plenty of celebrities in Japan who can sing and dance, I believe that entertainer Daichi Miura（三浦大知）is the contemporary version of the song-and-dance man that I often associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood in the early half of the 20th century. I'm kinda surprised, actually, that I hadn't included him up to now since I've been seeing him appear on consecutive Kohaku Utagassen for the past few years. For those who grew up in the 1990s or just had a chance to watch Japanese television regularly, he was part of the song-and-dance kids' group Folder originating via the Okinawa Actors' School.

I've already featured one other member of Folder on the blog, and she is actress/TV personality Hikari Mitsushima（満島ひかり）, so I figure that if she's up here, then I've gotta cover Miura.

His debut single in March 2005 was "Keep It Goin' On" which was written by Hiroshi "Jam" Yamada（山田ひろし）, and co-composed by Kaoru Kurosawa（黒沢薫）, a member of the vocal group The Gospellers（ゴスペラーズ）. His fellow composer was Hidefumi Usami（宇佐美秀文）, someone who has been so closely associated with the famed group that the members and fans consider him the 6th member of the normally five-member Gospellers. But getting back to the matter at hand, "Keep It Goin' On" is a pretty cool old-school R&B tune with an all grown-up Miura showing his fine moves and vocals. The video is a heartwarming one, too, as a young boy with his own dancing talents who was scoffed at by one dance team is fully accepted by Miura's crew. The song managed to reach No. 14 on Oricon and was also a track on his debut album "D-ROCK WITH YOU" from January 2006 which peaked at No. 18.

Now, the main reason that I chose "Keep It Goin' On" is that The Gospellers themselves performed their cover of it a few weeks ago on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, and I was interested enough that I decided to take a deeper look (on the same show, they performed the touching "Hoshikuzu no Machi"（星屑の街）). In fact, The Gospellers collaborated with the City Soul sextet Penthouse to release the cover in June this year. The tempo is slightly faster so the song actually clocks in at less than three minutes, but it definitely makes good use of its two minutes and change with more of a modern Latin jazz arrangement.

I've checked into a couple of songs by Penthouse and will have to write about them soon enough.