Good vibes, elegant sound and mesmerizing performances. Welcome 2022 with a perfect list of 12 songs by male seiyuu made for a stylish New Years’ Eve.
That time of the year is here! We bid goodbye to 2021 and welcome 2022 in hopes it is a good year, overflowing with awesome music releases, surprising solo debuts, and exciting 2D group performances.
But while wishing that, we all have the eve to go through and for it to transition smoothly into 2022, I bring you this elegant feature + playlist – because I like my New Years’ Eve to have a loungy vibe, perhaps with slightly alluring vibes on top and, ultimately, lead to a good time.
The songs below are not ranked and if you enjoyed the songs on this list, I welcome you to check the massive Spotify playlist at the bottom of this article that includes these and last years’ entries.
Let’s kick start this night into New Years’.
Anthos* “Lay it down”
And we’re kicking off this party with a high-tension tune. Anthos*’s “Lay it down” is a hard-hitting, high-octane EDM tune that sets an intense tone for this playlist.
The instrumental in the verses is simple, bringing in dirty synths, and a bassy beat to the spotlight but everything goes crazy when the chorus arrives.
Synths go loud, the bass sound reverberates in the soundscape and tropical percussion joins in to give the song the proper dancefloor anthem track.
And the massive dance break in this song? Yup, time to hit the dancefloor with this song, dance your worries away, and enjoy yourself.
On top, you have the stylish and energetic vocals of Shunichi Toki, Toshiki Masuda, Kent Ito, Shun Horie, Wataru Komada, Seiichiro Yamashita, and Daiki Hamano.
This party is officially starting!
HOUND ROAR “syndrome”
After such an intense intro, it’s time to sit back and relax a bit, perhaps catch up with the others around us. HOUND ROAR takes you to a loungy soundscape overflowing with good vibes.
“syndrome” makes the best out of its funky guitar riffs, groovy bassline, elegant piano melodies, and intricate drums in order to deliver you the best experience possible.
As the loungy, mature instrumental paints a late-night soundscape in front of you, Toshiyuki Toyonaga takes the stage and delivers a performance that you won’t want to look away from.
This is a “feel-good” song with a charismatic performance on top, is the perfect song for some downtime.
And if you still want to hit the dancefloor, the bridge of this song is perfect for that, with a beautiful piano playing on top of the punchy bassline and funky guitar riffs.
FYA’M’ “Think about you”
Linking up to it, FYA’M raise up the heat in this playlist by bringing a mature, R&B acappella performance in the groovy “Think about you”.
This is a song made to be enjoyed while sitting back, putting your entire focus on it.
The song envelops you, much due to the fact that the mixing for this song was focused on spacing out the vocals in a way that everyone is performing around you.
Much like the title, you’re at center stage. The subject of desire, the muse in this song.
“Think about you” has an extra bit of shine provided by Takuya Sato and Daiki Hamano that really cranked up the allure and groove, respectively. This is a confident, seductive yet elegant performance that will have you going, grooving to it from start to finish.
Shugo Nakamura “Chocolate”
Still in the same tone, Shugo Nakamura arrives with the classy tune “Chocolate”. This is a song that arrives as a surprise in Nakamura’s repertoire, betting on a mature and slightly alluring sound.
This song has the refined twist of 70s funk and blues as well as the elegance and unpredictability of jazz at its core. The result is one of the best songs you can have played on New Year’s eve.
The good vibes are clear as day, the allure is tasteful, with wah-wah guitars and brass being in charge of fleshing that out. The guitars play a pivotal role in diving deeper and deeper into the underlying meaning of this song, cranking up the tension.
“Chocolate” is a song that spreads its elegance and good vibes, putting a smile on your face while being slightly cheeky about its intentions.
Yuma Uchida “DNA”
After taking some rest, it’s time to crank up the energy on this playlist by bringing one of the most intense EDM-pop tunes released in 2021.
I’m talking about Yuma Uchida’s “DNA”, a song with an incredible amount of energy at its core while being the perfect dance tune to light up this end of the year.
The song brings to the spotlight a slow-paced beat, carrying strong influences of Eurobeat, while having a trendy twist coming from the washy synths.
Leading the way with a lot of charisma is none other than Yuma Uchida, delivering a powerful performance with quite a bit of technicality to it.
Additionally, this song provides you with a dance break in which you can show your moves.
pioniX “Glare down”
And because I want energy levels to be high mid-way through the night, pioniX’s “Glare down” hits the stage.
Now, this is quite the intense song coming from the versatile quartet. Trap and EDM coexist in this song, creating a dark, intimidating yet slightly suggestive soundscape. As you get closer to the chorus, a sampled saxophone hit joins in, giving the song a danceable vibe.
The build-up to the chorus is seamless, with elements smoothly joining in the song in the later stages of the verse into the pre-chorus and later on, the chorus.
When the chorus arrives, it is intense and catchy, counting with a hard-hitting beat, progressive synths, and loud orchestral hits (courtesy of trap music) in the background.
And the chorus to “Glare down” is one you’ll want to sing along to, actually, this chorus is one that invites you to participate. There’s a brief intermission to this song that leaves an open soundscape for you to dance along and take the dark instrumental.
BAE “F△Bulous”
This is one of those songs everyone needs in their playlists. A boost in confidence. A statement. Words we all deserve to listen.
Thus, to wrap up the year, and as we get closer to 2022, BAE’s “F△Bulous” arrives as the perfect track.
Celebrate yourself, don’t care about others, do your thing and dance the night away with this peppy hip-hop tune with one of the catchiest choruses of 2021.
The verses have an unexpected elegance and poise that stand out whereas the chorus is all about the good vibes and making you feel good. This is a massive song and an uplifting anthem that will have everyone jamming along in no time.
“I’m so fabulous, fabulous… So be yourself.”, words to live by.
Toshiki Masuda “ordinary”
Things tone down yet again and we’re all back to a loungy, laidback tune.
Toshiki Masuda goes back into the 80s and 90s to deliver “ordinary”, a funk-rock tune with some sprinkles of citypop on top.
The verses are simple and relaxing however the chorus is an explosion of color, painting the soundscape in a beautiful dark orange hue, gentle waves crashing next to you as you sit back and relax.
Toshiki Masuda takes center stage and goes all-in with a charismatic performance overflowing with sweet vibrato and gentle mid-to-high tones.
This is a song to relax to yet while still keeping that cool, danceable tone of previous songs in this feature.
Koutaro Nishiyama “Highway cruise”
Hop in the car, we’re going on a journey to watch the fireworks.
Koutaro Nishiyama’s “Highway cruise” embraces the neon-lit streets, the quiet city, the gentle waves at the seashore and it basks in their beauty.
This is a song that embraces an elegant and slightly nostalgic citypop sound, bringing in distant guitar riffs, a pounding bass-driven beat, and nothing much in the verses.
“Highway cruise” wants you to fill in the gaps, live the journey, perhaps not even care about the destination as long as you are close to the ones you love.
As you drive by the seashore, Nishiyama stops to reflect on the lyrics and the waves come crashing to the shore, leading to one of the chilliest moments in music I’ve had the pleasure to experience.
It’s as if you are the only person by the seashore. Perhaps you and your significant other are the only ones in that special place.
It’s hard to leave this nostalgic and groovy soundscape but the end of the night is arriving.
Makoto Furukawa “Forsaken kiss”
And with it comes Makoto Furukawa’s “Forsaken kiss”, a song that is not shy about its intentions.
This is a song with two people – you and Furukawa – at its core and as such, he goes all-in in this performance to charm you with his growly vibrato and sweet mid-tones while tackling tricky English lyrics (this song is completely performed in English) about his love and adoration for you.
There’s really no place where you can hide and honestly, with a performance like this, with Furukawa exuding a unique charisma and maturity, is certainly hard to even think about that.
The performance is magnetic, the instrumental is classy and the lyrics – while straightforward – are tasteful.
“Close your eyes, can’t you see my heartbeat going faster?” Yup, with those growly, honeyed baritone vocals all over the listener, I can see many people having trouble dealing with their own heartbeat (me included).
This is as close and intimate as you can get. Charming, seductive, we’re already late into the night. Time to stop the car and watch the fireworks.
Mamoru Miyano “Dream on”
The perfect song to welcome the new year. Mamoru Miyano’s “Dream on” has the elegance and maturity of R&B at its core, the good vibes and danceable tone that you’d want to put a smile on your face.
This downtempo, R&B meets nu-disco tune is quite possibly one of the best songs released in 2021 and coincidently, one of Miyano’s best songs released in the past couple of years.
It is a nod to his old-school sound while revamping it to a robust, hypnotizing, and mature sound and performance that will have you sing or dance along to it in no time.
Dance your night away, motivate yourself for the new year by “dreaming on”, crank up the romance or spread the good vibes with close friends and family to the sound of this song.
BONUS: SparQlew “Dance in the Twilight”
SparQlew arrives with a loungy tune that is perfect for the start of the year.
Fireworks far in the sky and you just want to dance away your worry, embrace good vibes, and bask in the intimate and mature soundscape that “Dance in the Twilight” provides.
The nu-disco instrumental is intoxicating, the chorus is insanely catchy and the vocals are the right balance between gentle and slightly alluring.
Time to dance the night away and welcome 2022 in style.
These are just some of the suggestions I have to light up your New Year’s party. I leave all of these – and more – in a playlist for you on Spotify.
Attention as some songs may not play for you – because those are my local hosted files, however, if you have those songs with correct tags on your PC/smartphone, the unplayable songs will be playable to you.
This playlist is updated yearly so I welcome you to follow it!
2021 is almost over. I hope you take from 2021 a lot of quality music and performances with you, plenty of knowledge, and good memories.
I hope the songs in this feature and thus, playlist, end up lighting up your New Year’s eve or, in some way, end up spreading good vibes with you.
Make sure to make the best of this season and remember, be responsible about it.
