Well color me surprised.

Well howdy! 😉 And welcome back to another installment of the J-Music Exchange Rate! Hope the month’s been treating you well if not better than when I last say ya!

If you’re a regular of the series you know exactly what this is and we’re all about, BUT if this is your first time and you’re not quite sure what we do around here, do give the following a quick readー

The Exchange/Rate is a tandem album review series conducted every month by yours truly alongside my good friend and fellow Japanese music fan Al (from Omunibasu). Each month we decide on a specific theme with which our reviews would revolve around. We then pick out albums from our respective libraries which we think best coincides with that theme. We will then give the album we chose to the other person and vice versa (exchange), after which we then listen to and subsequently review the album we were given (rate). This project has not only allowed us to explore music beyond our libraries, but it provides an opportunity for us to see our favorite albums from a different point of view. It is our hope that this series is able to do the same for you and that you either find a new artist to try out and/or we offer you a fresh take on one of *your* favorite albums 

Al and I take turns on who gets to decide the theme for the month, and this March it was Al turn to give it a whirl… except, we both ended up doing just that, because this month features a wheel prompt! This is something we occasionally do for fun by adding in a bit of randomness to the theme by having it be dependent on what we spin on a wheel that either of us make. We’ve done so in the past for things like album years and straight up just album titles on the wheel. This time around, we spun a color wheel, wherein what you land on is the “color” of the album (based on its album art) that the other person will put up for review.

Al spun the color green for us, which meant I had to pick out a “green”-colored album for him to talk about. Conveniently for us, one album that I’ve been wanting to have Al go over is just that, and it’s Furui Riho’s Green Light! Check out Al’s review of it over at the Omunibasu Substack!

My spin was for the color orange, which prompted Al to send SIRUP’s OWARI DIARY my way for me to talk to you guys about today.

Let’s run it!

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SIRUP (formerly known as “KYOtaro”), is a singer-songwriter, known for his smooth blend of R&B, neo-soul, and hip-hop. His stage name “SIRUP” (シラップ /shi-rappu) is a portmanteau of the words “Sing” and “Rap”, which describes his style of incorporating the two in his songs. He made his official debut in 2017 with the release of “Synapse”.

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(＊Spotify link to the full album)

CDJapan Affiliate Link(s):
OWARI DIARY [w/ Blu-ray, Limited Edition] / SIRUP
OWARI DIARY [Limited Edition] [Cardboard dleeve (mini LP)] / SIRUP

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０１・UNDERCOVER feat. Ayumu Imazu
０２・LOCATION
０３・KIRA KIRA
０４・GAME OVER
０５・INTO YOU
０６・CHEESE CAKE
０７・PARADISE
０８・OUR HEAVEN feat. Daichi Yamamoto
０９・RENDEZVOUS feat. hard life
１０・TOMORROW
１１・今夜/konya

Ａｌ：Much like Furui Riho, SIRUP has definitely fallen off my radar in recent years, which is 100% my fault. I’m not even sure why, especially since I really enjoyed his earlier stuff, so it’d make sense to be hyped for a lot of the stuff he followed those two EPs up with. However, for whatever reason, SIRUP wasn’t in my rotation all that much… until 2025 rolled around, when he was involved in a couple of my favorite music releases from that year.

One of which was his first full-length album in nearly five years, OWARI DIARY. And to echo the sentiments from Tokyo ON’s own review, as well as going off the literal title of the album, it does feel like we’re getting a deeper, more emotional peek at SIRUP’s inner thoughts and life experiences. How he illustrates events like being as suave as possible when with a love interest, equating an unfortunate break-up to a co-op video game experience gone wrong, to a track like “RENDEZVOUS” giving SIRUP just a tiny ounce of hope when it comes to pursuing romance again… they’re all executed pretty darn well, due to the sheer candidness he displays. Even a few of the songs are apparently based on random-yet-meaningful moments, such going out on the town with Daichi Yamamoto or indulging in an actual cheesecake with Zion.T, which effectively adds to the ‘daily life’ aspect of this figurative journal he’s presenting (and the fact that he got these guys also to hop on as a guest feature makes it even better).

Another thing I really enjoyed was how SIRUP really has not lost a beat, in terms of his vocals and overall demeanor/personality. In fact, it does feel like he’s improved on so many fronts as the years have gone by, as we now hear him have the ability to hit high notes incredibly well (like in “KIRA KIRA” and “TOMORROW”), or even him easily taking on affectionate ballads. The latter I was particularly impressed with, as I couldn’t stop looping “GAME OVER” at one point due to his old school-like swag and how much it felt like he was the Japanese version of Bruno Mars here. Yet despite the changes in tone, I think SIRUP fans, whether they’re newer to his music or ones who were there since the beginning, will be quite content with what he’s putting down on this new record of his.

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０１・UNDERCOVER feat. Ayumu Imazu
We’re going into this one the same way we always do, as some of you already know, by starting with the album’s opener, UNDERCOVER. If you’ve listened to SIRUP’s earlier works before, as I have (most notably when I reviewed SIRUP EP2 for the Exchange/Rate a couple of years back), you might experience a bit of whiplash from the tone and mood this track carries. The song opens with a bright, broadly pop-oriented beat, a noticeable shift from the darker, warmer undertones I normally associate with SIRUP’s sound. It’s also considerably more upbeat and danceable than the kind of laid-back, zone-out-and-chill tracks I’m personally more used to hearing from him, almost the exact opposite, in fact. My initial impression was that it felt refreshing, a welcome change of pace that sets up a fun and lively vibe for the album right from the start.

Another little oddity I noticed about this opener is that it doesn’t even begin with SIRUP himself, but with guest vocalist Ayumu Imazu. Not that it detracts from my enjoyment of the track or anything, it’s just not something I see done very often, if at all, especially on an album opener. I’d like to think that this decision also ties into the carefree, free-spirited tone that OWARI DIARY seems intent on establishing from the outset. In that sense, I thought it was pretty cool that SIRUP entrusted that opening moment to Imazu, who in turn really elevates the track with his presence. I especially enjoyed the interplay between their vocals here (the exchange around the 2:30 mark in particular is fantastic), and overall they match each other’s energy extremely well. Of course, props also go to producer Taka Perry, who handles the majority of the album’s production, for setting the stage with such a solid bop.

０５・INTO YOU
That being said, if I had to pick, I do think I’m much more of a sucker for this kind of mellower vibe that INTO YOU leans into. There’s just something about how effortlessly it settles into its groove, nothing fancy or anything that immediately jumps out at you, but the longer you sit with it, the more it just locks you in. The hook in particular is deceptively simple, but it’s the kind that sticks with you in a very SIRUP-like manner way (pun notwithstanding) where you don’t even notice it at first until you catch yourself looping it back in your head later on. And I think that’s really where the appeal of this track lies. Much like what I talked about in my previous review, there’s this sense that his music is almost designed to be experienced in a kind of continuous flow, something you can just let play in the background, only to realize you’ve been listening to it on repeat without even noticing.

Compared to UNDERCOVER, which feels more outward-facing and energetic, INTO YOU feels much more internalizing (as the title might suggest). It’s the kind of track that sucks you in rather than move to. And personally, that’s always been the side of SIRUP that I’ve gravitated toward the most; that smooth, almost hypnotic blend of R&B and pop. I also really like how restrained everything is here. Producer me-mai keeps the production straightforward and clean, allowing SIRUP’s vocals to just glide over the track. It’s very much in line with that “chill pop” sensibility I’ve mentioned before; the kind of sound that makes for an easy listen, but one that you keep coming back to because of how comfortable it feels. If anything, INTO YOU almost feels like a reminder that despite the brighter, more pop-leaning shifts that OWARI DIARY introduces, this track reassures you that the core of SIRUP’s sound. that smooth, loopable, vibe is still very much there and intact.

０９・RENDEZVOUS feat. hard life
Another track that really stood out to me is RENDEZVOUS, and I think a big part of that has to do with just how seamless its use of English feels, largely thanks to guest vocals from Murray Matravers of UK band hard life. This is actually something I briefly touched on in my SIRUP EP2 review too, where I noted how SIRUP’s consistent use of English tends to work really well within the kind of R&B/hip-hop/pop space he operates in, especially given the genre’s Western roots . And I think RENDEZVOUS is one of the clearest examples of that idea being taken to its furthest extreme. Because rather than just sprinkling in English phrases here and there, you have an entire section of the song carried by an English-speaking act, and yet, it never once feels out of place. If anything, it feels completely natural, like this was always how the song was meant to sound.

And I think that says more not just about SIRUP’s musical sensibilities, but also about how global his sound has become. The use of Japanese and English vocals here doesn’t come across as a gimmick or an attempt to broaden appeal than it does feel intrinsic to the music itself. What I also really like is how the presence of Matravers subtly shifts the texture of the track. There’s a slightly different cadence and tonal quality to their delivery that contrasts nicely with SIRUP’s smoother, more laid-back style. But instead of clashing, the difference actually enhances the listening experience. It gives the song this back-and-forth dynamic that keeps things engaging while still maintaining that easy, breezy flow that the album leans into. A very minor nitpick that I have with it though is its use of the word “cake” in its main hook, if only because a previous song on the album (the aptly titled CHEESE CAKE) also uses the word for its hook (lol)

１１・今夜/konya
The last track I wanted to highlight here is the album’s closer Konya and this is where I feel like SIRUP quietly reminds you of something that can be easy to overlook when you listen to his music at a surface level, and it’s that he can really sing (lol). I’ve mentioned this before in my review of SIRUP EP2, particularly when talking about tracks like One Day, where it almost catches you off guard how naturally he’s able to transition from that talk-singing, groove-based delivery into more traditionally melodic vocal lines . And I get that same feeling here with Konya. It’s not overtly grandiose, but conversely that’s exactly what makes it stand out. There’s an effortlessness to how he carries himself vocally on this track that I think really speaks to his background as a gospel singer. You can hear it in the control he has over his runs, and in how surprisingly tremulous his vocals can get.

And funnily enough, that’s something he coincidentally shares with Furui Riho, the artist on the other side of this Exchange/Rate. There’s a similar sense of ease in how both of them approach their singing, where even when they’re doing something technically impressive (at least from a pedestrian listener’s perspective), it just sounds natural. That understated quality is, I think, what makes Konya hit the way it does. It’s not a track that tries to get you on your feet the way something more upbeat like UNDERCOVER might, nor does it immediately latch onto you with a hook like INTO YOU Instead, it slowly unravels the more you listen. In line with that, credit to guest producer Yaffle for laying down this sick track. Bringing in some darker textures while keeping it simple and groovy with the beat and the guitar and bass work respectively really gave SIRUP a lot of breathing room to occupy and fully express himself here (even got a really nice Marvin Gaye homage in there too).

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At the end of the day, I do think OWARI DIARY ends up being one of those albums that, for better or worse, operates very much within the confines of the pop space that it occupies. And by that I mean, there’s only so much you can really say about an album whose primary goal is simply to sound good. Pop, by nature in my opinion, tends to be a bit limiting in that regard. It prioritizes accessibility and replayability, which are things that I think this album does quite well, but at the same time, those very strengths can make it a bit harder to dissect or unpack in the same way you would a more conceptually dense or sonically experimental record. Like, you’re not necessarily meant to sit there and overanalyze it than you’re meant to just have fun letting it play.

In that sense, I think SIRUP understands that better than most. It’s something I touched on in my review of SIRUP EP2, where I talked about how his music feels almost designed to be looped; the kind of release you can throw on and realize you’ve played through multiple times without even noticing . That same philosophy very much carries over here. OWARI DIARY isn’t necessarily trying to reinvent his sound. Instead it maintains that sense of ease that makes his music so easy to come back to. If anything, what ends up carrying the album more than anything else is SIRUP himself. His voice, and more importantly the manner in which he uses it, is what ties everything together, whether the production leans more pop, more dance-oriented, or back toward his usual mellow R&B sensibilities.

And maybe that’s enough. I’m not saying there’s nothing to unpack in this album from a thematic or narratological standpoint (an interview with SIRUP pertaining to the album does have him describing the release as being purposely introspective, hence “diary”). But, not every album needs to be that. Sometimes, it’s okay for an album to just be something you enjoy; something that sounds good, and perhaps more importantly feels good. In that regard, OWARI DIARY succeeds. It’s the kind of album you can put on, let run from front to back, and before you know it, you’re already thinking about running it back again. It may not be the most complex or discussion-heavy release , but in staying true to what he does best; creating danceable chill pop music for the soul. Ultimately, it does exactly what it sets out to do.

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８ ｏｕｔ ｏｆ １０

OWARI DIARY is really easy to pick up and throw on whenever you’re in the mood for something that simply feels good. Much like how I’ve described some of my favorite listens in past reviews, it’s one of those albums that you put on when you just want to be listening to music without having to think to much about how it makes you feel because it does that job for you, if that makes sense. If there’s one thing I’d point to as a slight drawback, though, it’s that I don’t think the album has that one definitive landmark track or a song that immediately jumps out as the standout or the one you’d point to as its centerpiece. There are plenty of solid songs here, don’t get me wrong, but nothing that quite reaches that level where it clearly separates itself from the rest.

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What are your guys’ thoughts on SIRUP’s OWARI DIARY? Let us know in the comments down below! While you’re at it, lemme know what are your favorite orange-colored albums! I think it’s a fairly uncommon color as a far as albums are concerned so I’m curious what y’all come up with 😁

Before I let you guys go, don’t forget to check out Al’s review of Furui Riho’s Green Light over at the Omunibasu Substack if you haven’t yet already.

Happy Listening!