It’s Sunday, which means it’s time to end the week with an open discussion post!
To keep things civil, there are a few rules:
- Be kind and respectful to one another. Any harassing language will be deleted.
- This is not a place to state what you don’t like about me and/or my blog. Move elsewhere, trolls.
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Each week, I’ll open with a question to get the conversation going. Feel free to chat about anything, but if you’re not sure what to write you can use this question as a starting point.
This week’s question:
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
For me, a “song of summer” isn’t necessarily my favorite song of the season but the one that most exemplifies it. This year has been weird because most of my favorite K-pop songs have come from the summer months but hardly any of them are explicitly summer-themed.
Because of this, no song (or songs) scream “song of summer” to me in 2022. If I had to pick one, it would probably be TO1’s Drummin’. WJSN, NewJeans and NCT Dream are also contenders.
If I were to include J-pop in the mix, Sexy Zone’s Forever Gold and Desideria are easy choices, along with Snow Man’s Orange Kiss.
I’ll drop this here for those who might not have heard this summer masterpiece:
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Thanks to boygroup music being so lousy in the summer for the Japanese dance pop entries on the following non-ranked list. I also like a sultry slow jam for summer as well.
* Tangerine – Ayumu Imazu
* Lightsign – Kareki and Dino Jr.
* Sugar Shock – TO1
* Forever Only – Jaehyun
* Teddy Bear – NCT Muppet Babies
* Scream – SF9 hobos
* On and On – Gwanjil Jo and Fana (gotta have something that sounds sick on big speakers)
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Scream was great! The level of stupid fun was quite awesome.
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iv been a silent reader for a WHILEEEE now but anyways:
beatbox definitely, that song sounds so much better live actually… then snsd’s forever 1, then nayeon’s pop, love countdown and no problem for sure
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If we could count album tracks, then it’s easily Golden Child’s 3! 6! 5!
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Good choice!
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Unfortunately, I can’t come up with any song released in 2022 which I can genuinely call a “song of summer”. Recently, there have been more high-rated comebacks, but, alas, there was more shouting and posturing this summer than real summer-themed tunes, especially regarding boy groups.
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Hype Boy and Be Free. 🙂
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Close call between Beatbox and Heart Burn. Both work for different moods I suppose 🙂
Off topic – Nick, how do you feel about Love Dive vs After Like?
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Do you mean which one I prefer? After Like is very much to my taste and I adore it. I like Love Dive as well, but I’m not immediately biased toward its sound in the same way.
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I think this may be an unpopular opinion based on the comment section from this song’s review, but seventeen’s _World has been on repeat for me since it came out. It’s just such a fun, chill summery vibe! So that and the album track ’bout you from face the sun have been my songs of the summer. And also Beatbox! That grew on me a lot and has also been on heavy rotation. Such a fun song
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Here in the US South, summer gets old real fast. I’m envious of y’all up North!
But still, I was able to sneak some pleasure out of it with the help of bangers like IVE’s After Like and SNSD’s Forever 1!! Also Jessi’s Zoom, which makes me feel like a badass for some reason 🙂
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ALSO Junny and Chung Ha’s Color Me!!! Underrated bop
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Same dude, I am not from the US, but I always dread summer because it’s just so damn hot.
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After a quick look at my playlists:
5. Cix – 458: that’s the melancholic upcoming autumn vibe which I’m looking for at the end of the summer
4. Chungha – California dream: heated beginning of July vibe
3. Twice – Celebrate: July has ended, but August is just around the corner
2. Sf9 – Driver: for every heated summer night spent outside roaming in the city
1. SNSD – Forever 1: brightness taken to an emotional level, Kenzie magic enchanting summer 2022
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(Sorry for the misplaced comment, I should stop trying to use wordpress with my broken cellphone)
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Zoom is just meant to be heard out of a car with its windows rolled down.
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No Problem by Nayeon ft. Felix is the summer song for me. Her whole mini album was the best summer Kpop release I heard, and was the only project I had on repeat until Beyonce dropped Renaissance (that has just consumed my playlist for the last month lol).
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WJSN Last Sequence, Sunmi Heart Burn, and NewJeans Hype Boy!
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I have Ulala Session “I am fine” for my summer song.
These guys are like an indie Super Junior bright quasi-funk song.
Straight ahead uncomplicated fun, with bleep.
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Just listened to this and it’s great!
How did you find them? I love their voices.
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I’ll always have a soft spot for Ulala Session. Good pick! 😀
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I listened to a lot of music the past couple of months, but “summer songs” specifically? Well, some of these are a stretch of that class, but…
Summer/ish (or not):
ADORA “Trouble? TRAVEL!”
Nayeon “No Problem”
VIVIZ “Loveade”/”#FLASHBACK”
STAYC “LOVE”
Lightsum “i”
YuA “I Like That”
NewJeans “Attention”
IVE “After LIKE”
If I had to pick one? I don’t know. I guess VIVIZ “Loveade”? It’s the most “summer-y” song of the lot; but not necessarily my favorite drop in the past couple of months.
Purple Kiss “Can’t Stop Dreamin'” **
** Special Note (not a summer song): When Purple Kiss dropped the Geekyland mini-album, I did an assessment of each track. I gushed over “FireFlower” and “Love is Dead”, but only made a passing comment on “Can’t Stop Dreamin'”. In truth, “Can’t Stop Dreamin'” had a bigger meaning for me, but I didn’t want to get into it at the time. When Purple Kiss was about to debut, they did a member introduction where each girl did a 1 minute demi-song. The first up was Ireh with “Can’t Stop Dreamin'”, followed by Swan with “Fill & Feel”. Both of those two initial songlets were what built up my anticipation for this new group. I went back and listened to both of those a few times, wishing both would be released as full songs. I happily got the first one; now awaiting the second.
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VIVIZ Love Love Love and California Dream by Chungha! I had Love Love Love on loop for a solid week when I had to quarantine in July so it’s very embedded in my summer 2022 memories… and California Dream is very much a California coastal drive song for me (which I actually did last month lol).
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Be Free was mine! It felt really breezy and euphoric, which is something a lot of recent K-pop has been missing. I’m about ready to proclaim it my SOTY and only holding back because there’s a few months of songs left yet.
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H1-Key Run and Sf9 Scream are probably my most “summery” picks for 2022 I guess! 😄❤ And I’m thinking summery as in the whole sunshine vibes and not as a song released in the summer 🙂
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I almost forgot about H1_key. I think I preferred heart light a bit more
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Loveade – Viviz (can´t believe i like it this so much, but i do)
No problem – Nayeon ft Felix
Heart Burn – Sunmi
Louder – Chungha
Btw, Youha is back (this woman has no bad song, could you check it out?
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Chi mat Baram
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Real talk this time lol, Chungha’s sparkling (I’m not sure if many would consider it a summer song) was a huge grower for me and that chorus comes up every now and again. Sf9’s “scream” has also enjoyed a lot of replays by me.
“After like” by IVE would be my pick if I perceived it as definitively summer. In my mind it straddles the line a bit too much (the video probably adds to that too)
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Hmmmmm…..This is tough. Tbh, apart from rains, I am unable to connect songs with seasons much. Only the rainy weather makes me listen to moody songs, otherwise song of the summer or winter songs do not really conjure up any particular genre. So my answer would probably be songs that I have enjoyed a lot recently. New Jeans’ entire album has really grown on me, particularly Hype Boy, so I have been listening to that a lot. I have also really liked Twice’s new song – its such a banger, especially Sana’s post chorus.
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currently, i’d say it’d be wjsn’s “last sequence” and csr’s “pop? pop!” if i were to throw non-kpop songs into the mix, i would pick the midnight’s “change your heart or die” (i know it was released in april but idfc)
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Probably either Wonho – “Don’t Hesitate” for a fun, dance summer song, or Sunmi – “Heart Burn” for a chill, dreamy summer song! ^_^
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It didn’t come out in the summer, but Onew’s “Sunshine” was definitely my song of summer for 2022 as far as “this song sounds like summer” goes.
If I were to throw in the song that’s been kicking around in my head the most this summer, it’s Super Junior’s “Mango.” It’s for sure a summery song, but it doesn’t scream ‘summer’ to me quite as loudly as “Sunshine” does.
Honorable mentions go to “Forever 1”, which made a significant run for it, and Super Junior’s “Everyday”, which is a year-round song for me but also spent a significant portion of the summer lodged in my brain. Not that I’m complaining – I love it!
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I’ve been wondering this for a while. We have what a summer song sounds like but what exactly are the sounds of the other seasons? I think that’s worth digging into because they also have their own aesthetics and we have different associations with them
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Usually in kpop, spring brings coffee house music season. December has schmaltzy fan service “holiday” song season.
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I think Fall helps brings forth “left of center” songs that wouldn’t fit on a bubbly, summer playlist like EXO’s Obsession, Red Velvet’s Peekaboo, or CIX’s Jungle. Also, I think it’s a natural space for straightforward songs like Monsta X’s Love Killa or Twice’s Can’t Stop Me that are mature without coming off as if a company is making a random, dramatic shift towards mature concepts (if that makes sense).
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I would agree, in Kpop, typical releases are coffee house music, and winter usually gives the holiday songs. I feel like ballads tend to drop more often in fall/winter, too? Maybe?
It is really interesting to think about what defines a season’s sound to different listeners though! For me, if I can hear it being played while driving with the windows down or while hanging out on the beach, it’s a summer song. Typically pretty upbeat music only, but slower “sippin’ a drink by the pool” music slips in there. Spring is coffee house vibes, or rainy day music; occasionally brighter stuff that speaks of the return of the sun (as I live in a part of the US with well-defined seasons) – think “Mr. Blue Sky.” Fall music for me is really acoustic heavy – lots of acoustic guitar but some piano-led tracks as well. Slow or fast, doesn’t really matter, as long as it feels acoustic. And winter tends to be moody, atmospheric, and sometimes muted. Music for the hush that accompanies a nighttime snowfall. Or sitting inside by a fire. And of course anything with sleigh bells. I’m always curious about what types of music evoke certain moods, places, or situations to others.
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I always feel like R&B and midtempos are fall music. Bubblegum pop or a GFriend/lovelyz sound evoke spring to me. Holiday music, ballads, and (this might be weird) music with huge band instrumentation not rock (that’s all year baby)
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Not weird at all! I can see how huge band instrumentation would evoke winter. Maybe it’s because I listen to more big band or full orchestra-sounding stuff (all the classic Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, etc.) around the holidays?
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A-T-T-E-N-T-I-O-N by NewJeans! My favorite song off their debut EP as well. This song changed my perspective about k-pop being tiring, stale, and formulaic.
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It’s definitely LAST SEQUENCE by WJSN (COSMIC GIRLS). THE SONG IS FIRE.
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for me, there are quite a few summer K-bops i like this year (2022), but the song that is constantly on repeat in my mind is UIU’s “Starlit”….that song is not only a certified K-pop bop – in my opinion – but it is also from a relatively unknown group that looks to have a lot of potential to be a success in the excessively-overcrowded K-pop industry….i want to see a lot more of UIU!
t gumbo
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I’ll just few a few songs for each month of summer because I’m indecisive:
June: Move Like This by Yujin, Kim Yuna, and Kang Daniel
July: Last Sequence, Love Love Love, Be Free, and California Dream
August: Golden Child’s and The Boyz’s last album:)
Also can’t wait for Key’s comeback today!
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Oop Key’s comeback is on Tuesday. Mixed up with Tempest’s because I’m excited for their comeback too.
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I know I’m way behind on Kpop trends because it’s only been around a year and a half since I’ve found Kpop music, but this summer I have been living off of G-Dragon’s Coup D’etat. Lol, and when it comes to new songs, I played Seventeen’s Hot multiple times a day. Well, that song even convinced me to go to their concert, which was a blast.
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I’m jealous that you get to discover Coup D’etat for the first time. Such a great album!!
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I don’t really have a “Summer Song” but I would have to say it would be ‘View’ by SHINee and ‘Why So Lonely’ by Wonder Girls. There is just something about those two.
From recent times it would have to be ‘Popping’ by ONF and ‘Pump It Up’ by Golden Child.
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