20xx

Amid the global revival of drum 'n'bass and jungle sweeping through modern music, could this be Japan's response to the K-pop tracks riding that very wave? 963's fourth album, 20xx, sets itself apart from the "high-density kawaii" dominating today's mainstream culture. Instead, it bridges the intrinsic charm of Japanese idols-their raw "imperfection"-with the lineage of dance music since the 2000s, delivering an ambitious record where the artists revel playfully in pure sound.
The album's sound production is helmed by Shigge, a Fukuoka-based trackmaker renowned for crafting world-class beats. In 2015, 963 and Shigge shared the stage at the very event that served as 963's live debut, making this collaboration a fateful reunion marking their ten-year milestone.
The duo features Ayuka Maeda and Yui Tsuji, both distinguished as Miss Magazine award winners. Stepping up to pen the lyrics for every song on the album, they lay bare the intricate emotions concealed beneath their glamorous careers.
"I portrayed the conflicting feelings of wanting to move forward while being terrified to take that step. It's about that invincible feeling-like sprouting wings and transcending 3D reality into the fourth dimension-contrasted with the vulnerability of being crushed by reality and retreating back into a 2D world. I wanted to capture that duality in the lyrics." - Ayuka Maeda (on "andante")
"We poured in the meaning of forging our own future. While embracing who we were in the past, the song declares that we can shine even brighter from here on out and keep beating our personal bests." - Yui Tsuji (on "Maker")
The album's signature track, "cider," offers an addictive appeal driven by delicate hook vocals that seem on the verge of fading away. Meanwhile, "Maker" and "ring" channel house grooves that resonate with current K-pop trends. On "Aishiteimasu." Maeda articulates "an inescapable romantic entanglement laced with pain and obsession," executed through 963's signature contrast-what Shigge describes as "Maeda's madness viewed coolly through Tsuji's gaze." Another standout is "SHAMAN," written and composed by fellow Fukuoka trackmaker abelest, which plunges the listener from commanding rap verses straight into chaotic delirium.
20xx. Within this record lies both the "inorganic melancholy" and the "beauty of imperfection" once deeply rooted in classic Japanese idol culture. Having survived a decade in the scene, 963 commands world-class dance music while transmuting their own vulnerability into expressive power-delivering a piece of idol artistry that could only ever be born in Japan.