There are a number of acts who have debuted in the past few decades and have dozens of song ratings on this blog. I thought it would be fun to lay these ratings out in chronological order, line-graph style, and take a macro view of their careers so far. Then, similar to my “Underrated K-pop” … Continue reading
A sleepy duet between Crush and IU? Was this song designed in a lab for chart dominance? It would have been an instant number one in the 2010s and both artists maintain enough public affection to likely make it almost as big in 2026. After all, we’re fast approaching winter where the desire for slower, … Continue reading
YUHZ didn’t reinvent the wheel with their May debut, but they filled a bright boy group niche quite well. Oftentimes, groups like this exhaust their quota of upbeat pop music within the first few comebacks before moving into something more “mature” (read: “boring”). But at least for now, YUHZ feel especially suited to more upbeat … Continue reading
LNGSHOT garnered a ton of attention with a string of releases during the first quarter of this year, but have been relatively quiet since. Apart from a collaboration record with Jay Park, it’s taken them quite a few months to schedule an official comeback. That new album is slated to release next month and is … Continue reading
There are a number of acts who have debuted in the past few decades and have dozens of song ratings on this blog. I thought it would be fun to lay these ratings out in chronological order, line-graph style, and take a macro view of their careers so far. Then, similar to my “Underrated K-pop” … Continue reading
This year, it feels like I’m writing about more bands than ever before. There’s been a deluge of new acts in this genre, with most offering youthful, OST-adjacent material. Catch The Young was somewhat ahead of the trend, debuting back in 2023. They first caught my eye due to their prominent use of 80s synth … Continue reading
Ahead of new title track Illusion (착각) today, Onew has been releasing digital tracks over the past few weeks. These have come in the form of duets with Yuju and Zico. Both songs did very little for me and without proper music videos to back them up I didn’t feel they warranted a full review. … Continue reading
WOODZ has been an interesting case study in an artist refusing to make concessions. K-pop is all about chasing the next trend, which often involves cycling back to whatever hit big recently. WOODZ’s big success happened to occur when he was out of the picture serving in the military. It would have been easy for … Continue reading
As if this day wasn’t already stuffed with enough new K-pop releases, NCT Dream have surprise released a teaser for their upcoming album due out next month. The Sun acts as their first new music since Mark left the group and paints a sentimental vibe that that seems to point toward a more mature presentation … Continue reading
There are a number of acts who have debuted in the past few decades and have dozens of song ratings on this blog. I thought it would be fun to lay these ratings out in chronological order, line-graph style, and take a macro view of their careers so far. Then, similar to my “Underrated K-pop” … Continue reading
Rookie band V01D debuted earlier this year but, for whatever reason, I never got around to writing about their music. My Youth was meant to come out a week ago but got pushed back. They compete with a surprising number of new, young K-bands who occupy a space that artists like DAY6 and N.Flying re-popularized … Continue reading
The guys from TVXQ grace us with their musical presence every now and then, releasing singles and albums tailored toward their comfortable place in K-pop legacy rather than attempting to break through with a new generation. This has resulted in a few great tracks, but more often than not this approach feels like it’s simply … Continue reading
To me, EVNNE has always felt like a group with an identity crisis. They’ve tried on many boy group styles over the past few years. Some have been more successful than others, but few have pointed toward any sort of signature sound for the guys. After hearing this spring’s Backtalk, I was eager for them … Continue reading
It’s the year of Seventeen sub-units, as the group has been unable to make a full comeback while members serve their mandatory military enlistment. So far, we’ve had DxS (DK & Seungkwan) and V8 (Vernon & The8). Now, it’s time for Jeonghan and Joshua to make their sub-unit debut as JxJ. While the previous two … Continue reading
Around this time last year, NMIXX scored the biggest hit of their career. The mammoth Blue Valentine and its accompanying album seemed to point toward a period of chart dominance for the group. This spring’s Heavy Serenade has stuck around the charts as well, but never felt nearly as buzzy as its predecessor. Now, the … Continue reading
IVE has developed a pattern of pre-releases prior to their title tracks, and these songs are often more successful on the charts than the actual comeback. That was the case with both Bang Bang and Rebel Heart, and we’ll soon see if new pre-release Looks Can Kill will continue the trend. They’re certainly playing to … Continue reading
There are a number of acts who have debuted in the past few decades and have dozens of song ratings on this blog. I thought it would be fun to lay these ratings out in chronological order, line-graph style, and take a macro view of their careers so far. Then, similar to my “Underrated K-pop” … Continue reading
The emergence of Lee Soo-man’s A2O groups has been the most exciting thing to happen to K-pop in awhile. Both A2O Lite and A2O Soul released killer tracks this week, each of which only grew on me as the days went on. Global group A2O May have been releasing singles for a couple of years … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. But each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And even more than that, I’ll attempt to rank them from my least-to-most-liked. I invite you to share … Continue reading
In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in … Continue reading
