Mrs. GREEN APPLE New Album Drops September 30 on EMI

Mrs. GREEN APPLE is heading into its most ambitious chapter yet. The Japanese pop-rock trio has confirmed that its sixth studio album arrives September 30 on EMI, the first full-length of what the band is calling Phase III. The announcement comes on the heels of a six-show stadium tour that made them the first band to book four dates at Tokyo's MUFG Stadium, drawing 70,000 fans per night.

If you haven't been tracking this band, now is the time. Mrs. GREEN APPLE finished 2025 as the only Japanese act on IFPI's Global Artist chart, landing at No. 13 between Tyler, the Creator and SEVENTEEN. That's not a typo. Their anniversary compilation, 10, hit No. 10 on IFPI's Global Album chart, the only Japanese release to crack that ranking's top 10. They also became the first J-pop act to reach 10 billion streams in Japan, and they swept Billboard Japan's year-end Hot 100 and Artist 100 charts.

What Is Mrs. GREEN APPLE and Why Does Their New Album Matter?

The band has been building quietly since 2013, when vocalist and guitarist Motoki Ohmori recruited his friends and launched the group out of Tokyo. They signed to EMI in 2015 and spent their first phase releasing an album every year through 2019 before going on hiatus. Two founding members departed during that break, and the current trio of Ohmori, guitarist Hiloto Wakai, and keyboardist Ryoka Fujisawa emerged leaner and sharper.

Their sound is genuinely hard to pin down, which is part of the appeal. Think 90s American punk-rock filtered through Japanese idol structure, layered with orchestral production and dance-forward arrangements. Live, the band reportedly comes across as something between Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, and Coldplay, complete with pyrotechnics, drone shows, costume changes, and a setlist that runs nearly three hours. Their song "Lulu," a melodic opener for the anime series Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, gave them their third No. 1 on the weekly Billboard Japan Hot 100 in January.

The upcoming album is the first release of Phase III, which the band officially launched January 1. Ohmori has described it as cinematic in scope. "We imagined lots of scenes when making this music. It's like a movie," he told Billboard. The band has submitted five possible album titles to their team, saying only that the chosen word "means something massive."

What Phase III Means and Where Mrs. GREEN APPLE Could Go Next

Ohmori frames the three phases of the band's career with real clarity. Phase I was formation and prolific output. Phase II, which launched in 2021 after the hiatus, was about reach: getting the music to as many people as possible. Phase III is something different. "It's not about gaining something or winning or receiving something," Ohmori says. "It's not about where we're going but where we are now."

That mindset is worth paying attention to. Bands that operate from that kind of creative confidence tend to make their best records.

Universal Music Japan president and CEO Naoshi Fujikura, whose company manages and books the band, told Billboard he is watching closely for what comes next on a global scale. The infrastructure is already in place. Japanese music companies including Avex and ASOBISYSTEM are deepening their U.S. presence, and the country's physical music market, built around exclusives and collectibles, gives Japanese acts leverage that most Western streaming-native artists don't have. Mrs. GREEN APPLE could realistically be the first Japanese act to achieve the kind of Western crossover that K-pop and Latin music have already pulled off.

For independent artists and creators tracking how global music scenes expand, this band is a clear case study. They built a massive domestic audience over a decade before any international conversation started, and now the international conversation is coming to them. That's a different playbook than chasing global playlists from day one, and it's working.

The sixth album arrives September 30. No title confirmed yet, but given the band's track record, the rollout will be worth watching. Keep an eye on Billboard Japan and Mrs. GREEN APPLE's official channels as the release date approaches. If their Phase II momentum is any indication, the first week of Phase III is going to be loud.