Those lucky enough to have witnessed HANABIE. in the live environment will attest that they’re an experience like no other. Fun, frolicsome, and full of life, they left a trail of slayed stages in their wake during a recent jaunt across Europe and the UK (reviewed here) and stamped an indelible mark on all they encountered. That lightning-in-a-bottle live show for which they are famed is not an easy thing to replicate in the studio, where there is a temptation to polish things to a sheen and inadvertently remove the essence of a band’s chutzpah. Those wishing to know the secret need look no further that HANABIE.’s latest release, HOT TOPIC, a five track affair that uses various studio wizardry to enhance the band’s inherent energy to create an EP that’s going to be on everyone’s lips.

Much of this EP’s charm comes from the arrival of opening track ‘ICONIC’. There’s no time to waste on fancy introductions or elongated preambles, just a beat that weighs down upon the listener with gravitational pull, and then the band are off, delivering a song that flits wildly between the heavy and the lithe. It’s a move that will echo throughout these five songs, the band eternally shapeshifting and taking upon new form like some strange kind of reptilian alien. Cogs turned by cogs and wheels within wheels, the band are in perpetual motion, as they rotate each different facet reflects their sound in an unexpected form, and the result constantly repositions the listener. Just when you think that you have discovered the HANABIE. modus operandi, or when they appear to be locked into a singular groove, then they detour and shoot off on an impossible tangent. While this could result in an eclectic stew, the band have the ability to streamline their disparate influences into a cohesive whole and that renders HOT TOPIC a riotous ball of fun. The result is an EP that never becomes staid; as with the proverbial rolling stone, there’s no chance of this release gathering moss. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that HANABIE. come fully loaded with four metalcore bangers (and a sting in the tail), ‘Spicy Queen’ being particularly feisty and ‘GIRL’S TALK’, a track road tested on their recent UK tour, packing a potent punch.

On an album that serves up razor sharp riffs, pummelling rhythms sections, and caustic vocals, ‘はなびえんちゃん。のテーマ’ makes for a surreal closer, but when approaching a HANABIE. release you should always expect the odd curveball, and in that respect it makes perfect sense. HANABIE’s refusal to be constrained and placed in a box gives this EP a certified freshness and renders HOT TOPIC an unforgettable affair.

• HOT TOPIC is released via Sony Music on 30th January 2026.
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Track List:

1. ICONIC
2. Spicy Queen
3.トキメキAbout you
4. GIRL’S TALK
5. はなびえんちゃん。のテーマ