Swetty is Japan’s modern emo rock star | Dazed
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This article is partly taken from the summer 2026 issue of Dazed. Buy a copy of the magazine here.
There’s a spiritual connection between 00s emo rock bands like My Chemical Romance and the midwestern hyperpop of artists like Glaive over two decades later – a sort of fatalistic teenage angst that froths over into maximalist instrumentation. Transplant these energies into Japan and you get Osakan singer Swetty’s 2023 debut single “junkie”, an explosive lament of unrequited love that catapulted him to internet fame overnight.
“Honestly, I didn’t really think it would be that successful,” the heavy-hearted singer tells Dazed over email. “I first uploaded it to SoundCloud, and even then, I wondered if I should even post it. Surprisingly, a lot of people listened to it, so without thinking too much about it, I uploaded ‘Junkie’ to streaming services. I’m truly grateful that this is how it turned out.”
But while the deep-seated emotions that underpinned these early releases proved wildly relatable, they also dogged Swetty behind the scenes, leading him to disappear from music completely in 2025. “I was despairing over my own incompleteness,” Swetty says of this period with characteristic melancholy. “I was confused by the gap between how I saw myself and how the numbers made me appear.”
In recent months, however, Swetty has started to tame the visceral anxieties that made his music so compelling to begin with, and last week returned with his long-awaited debut album, the white room in my head. Following a foray into autotune alongside Japanese hyperpop heavyweight Kegøn on recent single “No Damage”, it marks something of an artistic rebirth for the singer, leaning deeper into the electronic pop end of his artistry.
“Over the past year or two, I’ve made more friends and started listening to genres I hadn’t listened to before,” says Swetty of this shift. “I don’t know if this change is good or bad, but this is who I am, so I’m releasing songs without holding back, doing what I like right now.” Clearly, this crippling self-doubt isn’t going away, but it’s equally clear that, once Swetty learns to live with these dark emotions, he’ll be unstoppable.
Below, in his first English-language interview, the newly reborn electronic pop artist unpacks his long-awaited return to releasing new music.
What sorts of feelings and artists inspired you to start making music?
Swetty: I used to skateboard, and I was influenced by the music my seniors were playing back then, which made me want to try it myself. At first, I liked hip-hop, so I was doing hip-hop, but gradually I started to feel like I couldn’t really make that my own, so I shifted to rock and hyperpop.
Where did your artist name come from?
Swetty: I was thinking of an artist name, fell asleep with the Notes app on my iPhone open, and when I woke up, “swetty” was written there, so I went with swetty.
Most of your single artworks depict similar themes – empty cityscapes and country roads at dusk. What about these images inspires you?
Swetty: Most of the photos were taken during walks I took while writing the songs, so there’s no specific meaning behind them. But since I consider the scenery I see to be part of the song’s composition, I guess you could say they’re connected to the themes in that sense.
Photography Shota Kono, Styling Koji Oyamada
Your recent single “I Just” speaks about self-acceptance and embracing your flaws. Did you struggle with fitting in growing up?
Swetty: I’ve recently realized that things I took for granted aren’t actually the norm for everyone, so I think there was a bit of a disconnect. However, since there were many warm-hearted people around me, I didn’t have any particular trouble fitting in.
I don’t remember this myself, but apparently, whenever I went to the park, I wouldn’t play with the other kids – I’d just dig endlessly in the moss and dirt in the cracks of the park tiles or dig in the sandbox the whole time. People were often worried about me, so maybe I was struggling without even realizing it.
I made this album by imagining what kind of music I would create if I were in that white room I used to picture when I closed my eyes during tough times.
You seemed to take a little break from music between 2025 and 2026. What were you up to during that time?
Swetty: My creative direction kept shifting. I had actually finished an album, but I decided it wasn’t what I truly wanted to do, so I scrapped it. I thought that if I was going to do what I really wanted, I had to make my own beats, so I started working on them. But it took way too long, so I ended up asking people I trust and artists I admire for help, and finally managed to complete the album.
What can you tell us about the new album?
Swetty: I want to truly capture who I am right now. Even though my...