So remember back in 2017 Year in Review in Review*, when I said that I was making it a new year’s resolution to do more for idol debuts in 2018? And then I did and 2018 was like the best debut year since … 2014? 2012? It was amazing. So much good stuff, though not all of it panned out. Well, I’m making something of the same commitment for this year; I have a tough time keeping up with news these days, but maybe I can keep up with cool debuts as they happen? Sure.

Which brings us to Night Owl (Twitter)! Who … did not debut anytime near now, but in fact back in August, during the period that we shall always refer to in hushed tones as “Maniac’s Interregnum.” And then I had them on my official radar since, golly, at least November if my tab history is to be believed. But more on that. This is what they got:

Oh that’s interesting! What are they about?

Maybe let’s just have their debut-ish maxi-single-ish thing do the talking:

That was my first exposure to the group — not Twitter activity or somebody sliding into my DMs like a dealer to offer me something I just gotta try, but a silly thing with an oddly black metal-like name showing up in recs for the account that I use to cruise idol stuff. And look at those titles! They’re so threatening! Very like Metallica’s “Of Wolf and Man”. I had to know more, and of course did eventually get around to doing that, elsewise we wouldn’t be doing this now.

What you should know: They’re sisters of Wagamama Rakia! And if you encapsulate all of the relevant idoling activities of the family into one neat silo, you could even look at Night Owl as being like the leveled-up version of Wagamama’s more EDM-centric activities. Or maybe at least the doubled-down version. Like:

Anyway, like I said, I’ve been holding my cards on this group for a little while, a big part of why being that I wanted to see a full MV from them before I did so, and guess what — today’s the day! Night Owl dropped their first official single in the last week of December, and today came the MV for it:

So look, by itself this isn’t the site’s normal cup of tea, but there’s enough promise in the catalog and in their familial relationships to warrant keeping more of an eye on them, so that I will do. And with a number of big shows coming up already this year (including a Tokyo one-man called “Matchless Warrior”) and a rapidly growing fan base, I’m sure that we’ll be seeing more of them whether we want to or not.