They’re an enigma on the scene. They’re fluent in a language no one else can quite speak – but boy, is it beautiful to the ear.
PSYCHIC FEVER are a Japanese ensemble that feels intrinsically unique: a collision of individual talents, vibrant personalities and origin stories that simply couldn’t be replicated by another group in quite the same way. Many of the members have roots in dance, having started learning at single-digit ages, with some even travelling overseas to hone their craft. Between them lies an extraordinary breadth of talents, alongside studies in English, Chinese, Thai and more, all in pursuit of connecting themselves and their music with a wider world. That dedication to their craft hasn’t simply defined their careers; in many ways, it has defined their lives.
Becoming multi-hyphenates wasn’t necessarily a conscious goal for Tsurugi, Ryoga, Ren, Jimmy, Kokoro, Ryushin and Weesa. It’s simply in their nature. And during our exclusive sit-down with the group in London, we wholeheartedly believed them when they told us: “We can do anything.”
Though all hailing from Japan, they’re not without wide international roots. Jimmy, the member with perhaps the most creative direction within the group, has Nigerian heritage, while Moroccan-Korean Weesa, though the youngest, has similar contributions to PSYCHIC FEVER. It’s reflected in the other members; while all seven are a hard-working bunch, they had much praise for the two. Ryoga, who started dancing at merely four years old, had the following to say about his junior bandmate: “When I listened to [“If You’re Mine” for the first time] and heard Weesa’s voice, it was like PSYCHC FEVER’s core.”
That particular track is the leading single off the septet’s second ever full-length album, DIFFERENT: a goldmine of ear-tickling tracks that soars on the waves of sonic magic also to be found in its B-sides, such as the bassy and magical “Masterpiece” – a song that describes itself – and the dripping-with-romance album closer “Glowing”. Lovers of the group’s eclectic musical landscape won’t be disappointed: “If You’re Mine” follows in the footsteps of their hits “Just Like Dat” and “What’s Happenin'”, all produced by JIGG, which, like Ryoga hinted, has become the essence of PSYCHIC FEVER’s sound.
The song is an uptempo dance-pop track, featuring airy synths much like its slightly more chill cousin “What’s Happenin'”, and even without the aeroplane themed music video, you still feel like you’re flying high to this song regardless. The strengths of the various members come to the fore; characterised by rich, distinct vocals from Ren, Kokoro and Weesa, and rap verses shared by multiple members that’ve clearly spent the past years honing their flow and tone. Listening to them altogether is like being gifted a perfectly-mixed icy piña colada on a hot day. It’s truly refreshing, mellifluous, and you can’t help but wanting more.
Yet the creation of such musical magic hasn’t come together by accident. Whilst it would be easy for an artist to lean back and let their team take care of lesser things, these boys get as involved as they can: they’re itching to use their talents. Jimmy, who’s also a bit of a fashion icon, designed himself the matching blue ensembles they’re sporting as they chat to us, all the way down to their undeniably blingy “P” necklaces.
“I really like fashion,” he explained, “And actually I really love the culture of hip-hop and R’n’B. So that’s why I designed this costume with my friend; it’s really inspired by ’90s and 2000s R’n’B and hip-hop. […] I think it really fits with PSYCHIC FEVER’s style and with [all the] members, because each member has roots and [inspiration] from this kind of genre because they were dancers when we were 10 years old or so. We’re big fans of hip hop culture, that’s why it really fits.”
Jimmy’s keen to point out that although they have distinctly different origins, they all found their way to EXPG, a performing arts school situated in multiple regions of Japan, through their shared love of music. Case in point: Ryoga, who spent time in Los Angeles to learn dance, only ended up at EXPG at 18 after failing to win Global Japan Challenge, an audition programme held by the prominent entertainment company LDH Japan to find new talent. Luckily, he still caught the eye of the company, who run both EXPG and the Challenge. To them, he was a diamond in the rough, and now, a decade later, he’s a polished performer alongside his bandmates.
The others have similar stories. Whether it was in Osaka, Nagoya or Okinawa, through trials or wins, the boys each found their orbit around the same sun, and finally, officially debuted as PSYCHIC FEVER in 2022 with “Hotline”: a supernova of a track that garnered them millions of streams across platforms.
While “Hotline” exhibited the very influences they’d come together out of love for, they still delved into more typical J-Pop sounds in their early days, in order to satisfy listeners from all regions of the world. Now, with DIFFERENT, their ascension is clear as day; the album is deliciously cohesive, evidently directed with passion and precision, and delivered by a group who now know exactly who they are.
Weesa feels a lot of pride in his bandmates and how far they’ve truly come. Summarising the ensemble best, he explained: “[In our group] each member has a different personality and different character and different skill. Like [Ren] can do beatbox and [Ryoga] can do DJ and [Jimmy] can design clothes, and then we have a cowboy also. So we have like, so many characters in this group. So it’s like [it’s] gonna make a chemical reaction. That’s maybe the strong point of my group, I think.”
So we have a (possibly real) cowboy, a beatboxer, a DJ, a fashionisto: all lifting one another up in a perfect harmony of various talents. For such an ensemble, finding true synergy has become paramount for their success. For fans worried that their faves might split over a classic boy group bust-up: we don’t think anyone needs to worry about that with PSYCHIC FEVER. The boys have plenty of love to give to one another.
Indeed, they’re excited to raise each other up when asked about their own favourite contributions to the album. Instead of thinking about himself first, Jimmy quickly points it towards a very flabbergasted Ren, much to the amusement of the other members. After much deliberating over his parts, the singer eventually broke out into an incredible live demo of his favourite lines from “Into You”.
The deep appreciation for other came easily from member to member: Ryushin and Weesa also had much praise for Jimmy for his creative hand in the album, particularly in his writing on “Cinderella Pt.2”, prompting another demo, this time from Kokoro. “The concept is kind of fire,” Weesa told us of the song, with admiration in his eyes, “Like [it’s something] I’ve never seen before.”
Ren and Ryoga made sure to bring up Weesa’s unique voice: a tone that sits comfortably on the choruses of their catchiest dance-pop tracks. Tsurugi offered some self-love amidst the shout-outs, and Jimmy made sure to bring up Ryushin’s brave venture into singing territory, especially given that he usually participates as a sub-rapper in the group. Discourse around the manufactured nature of the many boy groups out there on the circuit certainly doesn’t apply here. These seven clearly love to perform and grow together.
After two long years of hard work and preparation for this album, PSYCHIC FEVER certainly deserve the chance to breathe a sigh of relief now it’s all out and done. The boys have been basking in well-earned trip to London: taking a few days to relax and sightsee, meet fans, and even catch Bruno Mars at Wembley. However, for the constantly evolving group, downtime is still a learning opportunity: Kokoro names Mars, Usher and Ne-Yo, as well as their EXILE TRIBE seniors as some of their biggest musical inspirations.
The concert was particularly special given that two years prior, they worked with Mars’ keyboardist John Fossitt, whom they finally got the chance to see in action on UK shores. Though there’s no denying they’re adept performers in their own right, PSYCHIC FEVER are always looking to become even better performers, and pointed to Mars and Fossitt as exemplars from whom they learned a lot.
Yet there was one more artist that Ryoga also wanted to name. “When it comes to our senior groups, we’ve been especially grateful to J SOUL BROTHERS III,” he shared, “Before we debuted, we toured with them as opening acts and support dancers. Watching their live performances taught us a lot about how to perform and express ourselves, and they also gave us advice directly. I think there are many things we learned from them that have helped shape who we are today, so we have a lot of respect for them.”
Though there was no concert date of their own scheduled for this particular trip to the UK, the boys were excited for the chance to still see their fans while they were here. Several days later, the impact of PSYCHIC FEVER’s magic was clear to see at a special listening party for DIFFERENT where they had invited 20 lucky fans to join them at Sokollab London: a cozy event that saw the boys huddled around DJ Ryoga while they performed very exclusive renditions of some of their hits, a generous helping of DIFFERENT tracks (of course), and even one or two songs that they’d never performed outside of Japan before.
On being in such close proximity to their fans, Jimmy mused: “I feel like it’s really natural [for us] to do a release party. If we perform somewhere, we have to prepare a lot, like venues, staff [and] ticket selling, but [a] listening party is so natural. […] [Ryoga] can DJ, I can design apparel, and then everyone can sing.
So it’s really natural. We can do [it] everywhere without preparing: like a random event. […] It’s really hard to hold an event in every single city, but like, we can do anything, at like any place. So the London fan meeting will be the first [time] to do a random event, like a pop-up event, so casually. I really want to expand to other cities as well.”
You heard it from them: put the boys anywhere on the map, give Ryoga a laptop, and they’ll already have everything they need to light up the place. They proved it in that tiny room in London. They’ll prove it in a tiny room anywhere. They’ll prove it even more in a big room.
Kokoro believes in their ever-ascendant journey wholeheartedly: “It may be one step at a time, but I feel like we’re steadily growing together with everyone who supports us, achieving both our big and small goals and dreams one by one. We’ll continue to work hard so that we can share even better music and perform on even bigger stages with all of you.”
In 2024, he made the bold ambition that he hoped they’d get to a point where they could express themselves via their own ‘PSYCHIC FEVER genre’: their own special language. Two years on, they’ve certainly achieved all this and then some. PSYCHIC FEVER’s creative vocabulary is a magical mix of seven voices coming together as one, and making perfect sense when they do.
Only PSYCHIC FEVER can do what PSYCHIC FEVER does: and how we love to witness it all.
PSYCHIC FEVER are on Instagram and all major streaming platforms. You can listen to DIFFERENT here.
Interviewed by Maddie Armstrong and Aimée Kwan.
Features Editor: Aimée Kwan