'm writing this in October and summer's already over but here in LA we're still experiencing pockets of summer. To keep the summer vibes going, I created a new J-pop playlist to called "Endless Summer Vol. 2. It includes thirteen songs that would make the perfect playlist as you drive along the pacific ocean, I also made a custom cover art for this mix and I'm sharing my process down below.
This mix consists of chill R&B, pop, and alternative rock songs that are great to listen to while driving down the pacific coast highway These are songs that I discovered throughout the summer on Spotify and have been listening to on repeat. These songs deserve to be heard by more people outside of Japan, and a lot of them have English verses too so I hope you like it!
FEATURED SONGS
Mixed Emotions - PEARL CENTER X Soulflex
Vacation - DRUDN
Loa - Furui Riho, knoak
Summer Time - KAHOH, Kenya Fujita
たぶん - YOASOBI
Amber Bare Skin - tonun
Moonlight - Yo-Sea
君の手の中に - CHIKA
Every Second - Mina Okabe
波まかせ - AKASAKI
FIVE - YAJICO GIRL
旋律と結晶 - TENBLANK
Nichijo - OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM
Love Like This - Fujii Kaze
STORY BEHIND THE COVER ART
The artwork was inspired by the Malibu beach day I spent with my husband and sister during labor day weekend. The waves were beautiful, the crowd was lively, and it was a wonderful day spent soaking in the sunshine and riding the waves.
Fun fact: The yellow and blue boards in the middle are me and my sister's!
I drew my design on my ipad using Adobe Fresco and followed a similar layout to my ENDLESS SUMMER: J-Pop Summer Hits Vol. 1 cover art. I had a lot of fun incorporating real life objects into my artwork.
Finally I mocked up my illustration with a vinyl record to give it some extra flair. I'm pretty happy with the final results!
Hope you like this playlist and if you'd like to save it or share it, use this link!
And if you have other song recommendations, please send them my way!
Cheers,
Chie