M八七
米津玄師
"M八七" by 米津玄師 arrives like a natural phenomenon — something that builds pressure before it strikes rather than announcing itself. Written as the theme for Shin Ultraman, the track opens with measured orchestral tension before releasing into a thundering collision of strings, electric guitar, and percussion that functions less as a song than as a controlled detonation. Yonezu's vocal performance here is among his most committed: he pushes into his upper register with an urgency that feels physical, as though the act of singing is itself a form of exertion. The title references the M87 galaxy, home of the black hole captured in the famous 2019 telescope image, and that cosmological scale informs the song's emotional register — this is music about something incomprehensibly large, and the human impulse to reach toward it anyway. Lyrically, it circles themes of self-transcendence and the courage to act in the face of inevitable smallness, which fits its source material precisely: Ultraman has always been a myth about ordinary beings carrying extraordinary burdens. The production is cinematic in the truest sense, designed for a screen but functioning equally well in isolation, particularly through quality speakers where the low-end orchestration can make itself felt. This is music for moments that require scale — running toward something, or away from something, or simply standing still while the world moves around you at tremendous speed.
fast
2020s
thunderous, cinematic, cosmic
Japan
J-Pop, Orchestral Rock. Cinematic orchestral rock. epic, transcendent. Opens with building orchestral tension before releasing into a thundering detonation, escalating through themes of self-transcendence against cosmological scale. energy 9. fast. danceability 5. valence 7. vocals: committed, urgent, physical, upper-register pushing, powerful. production: orchestral strings, electric guitar, heavy percussion, cinematic, maximalist. texture: thunderous, cinematic, cosmic. acousticness 2. era: 2020s. Japan. Running toward or away from something, or standing still while the world moves at tremendous speed.