City pop singer / songwriter EPO pulls up to the Tiny Desk

Tiny Desk Japan brought an artist to the desk that surprised the shit out of me. Japanese pop singer EPO.

Tiny Desk manages a great balance of featuring really popular acts, known acts and underdogs. So I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that EPO pulled up to the Tiny Desk. I guess I just expected that we would have gotten a more known city pop act before her. Because whilst EPO was very much known in her heyday of the 70s and 80s, and is also an artist who has been caught in the the city pop resurgence wave — she is not a name you will see pop up with the frequency of say Mariya Takeuchi, Anri, Junko Yagami or Taeko Ohnuki. Also, while the aforementioned all continued to release music and stay in the business through the years — EPO went on to become a hypnotherapist and spirituality counselor, with music becoming an occasional side gig for her. So to see her on a Tiny Desk caught me by surprise. But as somebody who listens to EPO more than the usual suspects of city pop, it was a pleasant surprise.

But trust Japan to take something like Tiny Desk which lives exclusively on YouTube and for them to lock it to another platform. Mess. But at least the site / platform they’ve locked it to is available to watch worldwide and for free without signing up to anything. Although, under the video in small text, there is the message that this Tiny Desk will be yanked from the Internet on May 2027. So, Japan. ‘Fuck digital preservation’, I guess.

📺 Watch the full thing: EPO - Tiny Desk Concerts Japan

EPO - Tiny Desk Concerts Japan | NHK World Japan

She’s still got it y’all. Some of these songs sound better with her singing them now than when they first released. The band was incredible. And having Shimizu Nobuyuki — the guy who played keyboard on several of EPO’s songs in the 80s in addition to producing and arranging on some of them — play as part of the band was pretty amazing.

It was also really cool to see EPO use her Tiny Desk to platform another band and have them perform a song. I had never heard of Good Bye April before. But watching this Tiny Desk and hearing their song made me go right on ahead and check their shit out. And it’s pretty damn good.

And shout-outs to the Tiny Desk brand and their quality control team. Because something which is always consistent with Tiny Desks is how good the sets are mic’d up and mixed. And it’s no different in Japan.

EPO - Tiny Desk Concerts Japan | NHK World Japan

I enjoyed this Tiny Desk. But not a single one of the EPO songs I listen to regularly was included. I knew they wouldn’t be though, as none of them were singles or became hugely popular later on. But, MAN. I would have really liked to have heard her perform “Escape”.

I’ve been saying for the past year that I will review some of EPO’s albums and I have not reviewed a single one. But I’mma still kid myself that one day I will actually post one. Because whilst she is in the mix when it comes to city pop talk, there is a different energy to her music and her branding which feels a bit different and unique and a couple of her albums were concept style albums, which I also find cool. So, watch this empty space.