Listening to this album, I must admit that on first impression, I struggled to fully immerse myself in Gen Hoshino’s new vision, presented as it is as bold, never-before-seen strokes over a fresh white canvas. While I wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with the new sound he had been progressively exploring in recent years, it seemed that the overwhelming influence that five or six years of his command over Japanese music through his mix of Black and Japanese musical styles has had was as significant as ever. What’s certain is that he drew a clear line separating his earlier career from after the massive success of his album “POP VIRUS” (2018) and the accompanying stadium tour. He had become one of Japan’s most notable pop stars before he even knew it, but it came to him as something filled with pressure and a sense of loss that he had to grapple with. And just when he felt he needed to distance himself from music for a while, a wave of inspiration washed over him—from the people around him.

Try to trace the origins of “Gen,” Hoshino’s first studio album in seven years, and you’ll end up at “Same Thing” (2019), a mini album born out of a serendipitous collaboration during his hiatus. With a beat-laden soundscape where the artist shifts between rapping and singing, the twist was enough to make listeners ask whether this was truly the same Hoshino who had released “POP VIRUS” just 10 months prior. He mentioned before that making the EP helped him rediscover the joys of creation. His collaborations with Superorganism, PUNPEE, and Tom Misch—artists whose styles couldn’t feel further from Hoshino’s—became the catalyst for exploring new sounds, steering his musical ship in an entirely new direction.

The truth is, Gen Hoshino wears countless hats—he’s an accomplished vocalist, actor, author, radio DJ, guitarist, and singer-songwriter. Even before becoming popular across age groups with “Koi,” the closing theme for the TV series “The Full-Time Wife Escapist,” he was already a widely sought-after artist thanks to his long list of skills. Of course, he faced numerous ups and downs in the early days of his career, but it’s no exaggeration to say that he built a tower by stacking stones, each so unique that the whole structure looks different from every angle. As for his career in music, he got his start in 2000 as the guitarist for the instrumental band SAKEROCK. As the serendipitous “Gen” makes a conscious break from his earlier work, the album demands a closer look.

While collaborating with other musicians represented an important turning point for Hoshino, another major catalyst was COVID-19. Stunted by the sudden slew of limitations, he finally put his mind to properly learning how to work with a DAW (digital audio workstation), leading to the release of “Create” with drummer and producer mabanua in 2021. The song, a celebration of the 35th anniversary of Nintendo’s Super Mario series, marked a significant departure from his previous work in several ways. First, instead of real instruments, the song was built on MIDI beats. Second, the track is bursting at the seams with new twists drawing from Hoshino’s musical interests. And finally, there was no demo version—instead, he snipped here and tweaked there as he went along, with the final product bearing traces of his touch. Considering he’s talked about how he got lost in how fun the whole process was, it’s easy to feel how he set out to make a song that didn’t hide the process of trial and error and to entertain himself as a listener with a song that’s full of unbridled joy. That he could transform such a complex structure into an approachable pop song is undoubtedly a testament to his innate talent.

“Gen,” his seventh studio album, was born of that long, labor-intensive journey. The album gives the impression that Hoshino has taken the pop music scene that he once saw as a battleground and transformed it into a massive playground instead. While his earlier work carried clear messages or musical intentions, this time it feels as though he’s completely let go of any desire to get something like that across here and focused himself more on leaving behind traces of himself as he was immersed in the creative process.

The result documents Hoshino’s evolution from a singer-songwriter to a songwriter-singer, a change evident in “Create” but in other tracks as well. With “Glitch,” Louis Cole’s drums are heavily processed to create a dynamic, almost big beat energy. “Eureka,” a song that underwent five years of revisions and layering, practically serves as a requiem for melodies he had no choice but to abandon during his guitar days. There’s also “Why,” where he works in some softness to the blunt new jack swing in the intro. These tracks magically evoke an image of Hoshino sitting in front of his Mac—at times lost in thought, at times smiling contentedly. And it’s terribly satisfying to feel the kindness built into these songs thanks to all the traces of the meticulous work that went into them.

Another notable aspect of the new album is the way it completely transcends all geographic and genre borders thanks to collaborations with musicians from across the globe. Hoshino’s music is no longer strictly confined to the label “Japanese music”—not because of lyrics written in other languages or the music trends borrowed from Western artists, but because his music has reached a point where it being in Japanese, English, or any other language has become irrelevant. The song “2,” which got people talking for featuring Lee Youngji, is a prime example. Much like in “Koi” (“Go beyond two people”), the lyrics to “2” describe two becoming one in three different languages, but what makes the song so alluring is how its essence isn’t conveyed through language but through the sweet harmony shared between the two singers. Meanwhile, “Memories” (feat. UMI, Camilo), sung in English, Japanese, and Spanish, is unflinching proof of how unrestrained and flexible Hoshino’s music really is. Likewise, “Mad Hope” (feat. Louis Cole, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes)—with its multilayered jazz fusion sound, dazzling wind instrument section, and dynamic beat—is another standout example of a track that unites forces to break down barriers between nations.

For anyone wondering whether there’s any connection between this album and Hoshino’s previous work, I would strongly recommend listening to “Comedy.” Musically speaking, it’s perhaps the song that best showcases his determination to defy being shelved under a single label. It’s an undeniable dismantling of the conventional framework of Japanese music, from the falsetto in the chorus and the many layered synthesizers to the beat borrowed from Black music. Still, the reason this track became the closing theme for the universally loved anime “SPY x FAMILY” is the message, which resonates so profoundly with the mundane yet poignant reality of both his and our everyday lives: one about the inevitable encounters with despair and hope. “Koi” shares a similar message (“There is no meaning / But just people simply living a life”) and so does “Why Don’t You Play in Hell,” which tells us that life rarely goes as planned.

A collection of songs made for fun, not out of any sense of pressure—no wonder it feels so liberating. The album reminds me of the game “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” At first you wander aimlessly, overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the world, but there’s delight in discovering that it’s brimming with endlessly fascinating things as you continue to explore. The new album stands apart in a world of pop music where walking the well-trodden path is typical and instead guides the listener down countless different alleyways. It’s the kind of release that rewards repeat listens, be it in the melody, the lyrics, or the very texture of the music.

Facing himself for who he really is sent Gen Hoshino into an endless cycle of often contradictory feelings, like solitude, anxiety, hell and hope, despair and joy. And he embraced it all. So what might we make of music created just for its creator—one who never denies and always embraces every one of his own ideas? Maybe it’s like medicine for a fever—something that helps the audience accept themselves just the way they are, allowing them to speak their truth openly, soothing the pessimistic fever burning inside. I feel that realizing who you are and what you love might come as an unforeseen event in life. Gen Hoshino has returned once again to the start, diving deeper than ever into his own emotions to explore his personal tastes—in search of that gateway in life that brings us to the depths of our own souls.