Late last year, Vietnamese pop singer Phung Khanh Linh was mourning the death of a beloved cat. Her pet¡¯s passing came after the loss of other loved ones during a rough stretch of the pandemic. Overcome with grief, she longed for a cure to her sadness and found comfort in the nostalgic funk-pop sounds of Japanese city pop.
¡°I turned to those sounds around the start of this year, and listening to them made me feel really inspired during this time, especially albums from Mariya Takeuchi and Anri,¡± says the 28-year-old performer over video chat from Ho Chi Minh City.
Soon, Linh was binging on the glitzy melancholy of city pop, a genre that epitomizes the ease and exuberance of Japan¡¯s bubble era. She eventually began creating her own sonic metropolis, guided by both the sounds and aesthetics associated with this corner of Japanese music.
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