Japanese boy band Snow Man has released a new music video today for their latest single ‘W‘.
Interestingly pronounced ‘Double’, it is the official music video for the second half of the Japanese group’s double A-side eighth single, which was kicked off last week with a video for the first half — ‘Tapestry‘ (タペストリー in Japanese).
‘W‘ is also the theme song for the currently ongoing NTV thriller drama series Dai Byoin Senkyo (Hospital Under Siege in English).
Like ‘Tapestry‘, Snow Man’s ‘W‘ has an addictive, driving beat but, this time, with a strong rock influence that gives the song more of an edgy feel.
An edgy feel the men of Snow Man drive home even further with their stellar vocals and bold dance moves.
Snow Man’s ‘W‘ lyrics
The lyrics of ‘W‘ are also interesting in that, while the song is admitting to the girls they like they are “lovers not fighters”, it is also warning those girls, because they love them so much, they will go after them with everything they have and fight to be accepted by them.
After all, even lovers enjoy a challenge, right?
Snow Man’s ‘W‘ music video is stylish and beautifully filmed
Like most idol groups’ videos, Snow Man’s ‘W‘ music video features all nine members of the Johnny & Associates boy band performing high-energy dance moves to the song, while undergoing several costume changes.
In Snow Man’s case, cool dance moves that are also interspersed with close ups of each band member posing in pairs (doubles) as though in a fashion shoot.
Snow Man’s ‘W‘ video is also stylishly designed and choreographed, and beautifully but also quite simply shot, with the group’s members wearing a variety of fashionable outfits against a stark background that do a lovely job of showing off each of their individual looks and styles.
That is also one of the things I like about Snow Man and its members.
Unlike many Korean boy bands, who are often chosen to look so alike that even the South Korean government criticized their “similar appearance” at one point, members of Snow Man (and many other Japanese boy bands) are easily distinguishable from each other.
Sure, they are all good-looking men but, if I was in a room with the guys from Snow Man, I could easily recognize Shota Watanabe, Hikaru Iwamoto, or Daisuke Sakuma.
Each member’s individuality is also nicely shown in the Snow Man ‘W‘ music video, with the men wearing everything from high-fashion pieces that would look superb on a Paris fashion show runway, to trendy suits perfect for taking their favorite girl on a date, or cool looks for a night out clubbing.
Watch Snow Man’s ‘W’ music video at the bottom of this post. The song itself will be officially released later this month.
You can follow the Japanese idol boy band via their Instagram, their YouTube channel. and their official website.
And no, Snow Man’s music isn’t on Spotify
Unfortunately, unlike most Korean boy bands, Snow Man’s music is not available on digital streaming platforms like Spotify.
And that is a shame (and, yes, I am going to complain here) as it is easy to see why, despite their similar looks, so many Korean idol groups become massively successful internationally, while equally talented Japanese groups like Snow Man lag behind in popularity and in song sales.
Especially because most of their songs are not available for sale in digital form either.
Yes, as a talent agency Johnny & Associates is doing much better with their artists than they were even just a couple of years ago when, instead of full music videos, the only thing they released were video snippets of songs that only ran for 90 seconds or so.
But, while the Korean music industry is superb at adapting to the modern world and so has pretty much taken over an enormous part of the international music industry, it is still sad to see Japanese artists like Snow Man not getting the international exposure they, their music and their talents deserve.
Besides, when a boy band like BTS brings an estimated $5 billion a year into the South Korean economy from overseas, much of it due to digital sales, streaming and other promotions many Japanese groups don’t get to do, just imagine how much money the economy of Japan is losing because of it, eh?
Rant over. Now watch Snow Man’s ‘W‘ music video. Because it is as cool as heck.