Autumn Classics: Carefully Selected Exquisite Ballads to Listen to in September

Another SaturdayHamada Shogo

Another Saturday (We are still on the road.)

This is one of Shogo Hamada’s signature songs.

It’s a relaxed ballad known for being deeply moving.

While it isn’t about any particular season, it’s a perfect fit for the chilly days of September.

Thanks to the lyrics near the end, it also became famous as a theme for marriage proposals.

sepiaNanba Shiho

sepia

This is a ballad by Shiho Nanba, whose charm lies in a voice that blends clarity with a sense of weightlessness.

Its emotionally rich melody, perfect for chilly seasons, gently seeps into the heart.

The song portrays a delicate love swaying between ideal and reality.

It evokes a nostalgic, slightly bittersweet feeling, like looking at a faded photograph.

Because Nanba herself wrote the lyrics for the first time, the sincerity of her feelings may come through all the more directly.

The track is included on the mini-album “Dramatic e.p.,” released in December 2016.

Why not savor it on a long autumn night, lost in your thoughts alone?

Shonan SeptemberSazan Ōrusutāzu

Shonan SEPTEMBER [2024 Remaster]

Southern All Stars are often associated with summer, but they also have plenty of masterpieces perfect for autumn listening.

This track is a bittersweet, AOR-style ballad set in Shonan.

Included on the album “Sakura,” released in October 1998, its distinctly ’90s sound stirs a sense of nostalgia.

The lyrics depict memories of a bygone love—not just a beautiful recollection, but an honest portrayal of desires and humiliation, which makes it all the more poignant.

It’s the perfect number for those moments when you want to sink into a slightly sentimental mood by the seaside, with the clamor of summer fading into the distance.

When the magic wears offSaucy Dog

Saucy Dog “When the Magic Wears Off” Music Video

On those increasingly chilly, long autumn nights, Saucy Dog’s love songs gently nestle up to your heart.

It’s a slightly bittersweet mid-tempo number that makes you look back on days spent with a beloved partner.

Everyday scenes—like songs sung in the car or late-night conversations—link with the listener’s own memories and may just make your chest tighten unexpectedly.

This track is included on the mini-album “But Really,” released in July 2023.

It’s a self-cover of a song originally provided in October 2021 to voice actor Gakuto Kajiwara, now imbued with the warmth unique to a full band sound.

It’s a perfect song to sing tenderly and with feeling when you want to sink into a sentimental mood.

coarse sugaraimyon

Aimyon – Zarame [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

A song that makes you want to take a long, quiet look into your own heart on an autumn night.

Crafted by Aimyon, it portrays someone carrying a lingering pain, suppressing their emotions while desperately struggling to find hope.

Written as the theme song for the Yomiuri TV/NTV Sunday drama “Let Lonely Deaths Pile Up,” it’s included on the album “Jealous of the Cat,” released in September 2024.

While the song’s tone carries a suspenseful tension, it also has a certain warmth that is so quintessentially Aimyon.

Anyone wrestling with daily conflicts and worries will likely find it relatable.

It’s a ballad you’ll want to sing carefully, savoring each and every word.

SUMMER ENDiri

SUMMER END

If you want to savor that unique late-summer wistfulness with a mellow sound, iri’s tracks are just right.

They weave together the frustrating feelings of a summer romance nearing its end and the changing seasons, portraying a heart swaying between the lingering desire not to wake from a sweet dream and the pull of reality.

iri’s signature husky vocals and comfortable groove gently embrace those fleeting emotions.

Released in September 2019 following the album “Shade,” this song also drew attention as the theme for a romance reality show.

On nights when you find yourself reminiscing about summers past, why not immerse yourself in the bittersweet beauty of this piece’s world?

All of the Youthsuis from Yorushika

suis from Yorushika “All the Young People” Music Video

This is a song that evokes the fleeting tenderness of the last fireworks of summer fading into the night sky.

The vocalist is suis, known as the singer of Yorushika.

It’s a cover of Fuji Fabric’s classic 2007 track, produced by music producer Seiji Kameda.

Released in June 2024, it also drew attention as the theme song for the Netflix film “I Have One Year Left to Live, and I Met a Girl With Six Months Left.” The nostalgia for passing seasons and days that won’t return is delicately rendered through suis’s voice, which blends clarity with a boyish quality, and it truly hits home.

It’s a piece you’ll want to listen to intently on nights when you’re immersed in summer memories, or as the seasons change and you find yourself lost in thought.