ILLIT’s music has grown more gimmicky with time, often on the hunt for the best TikTok challenge rather than the best songwriting. This is more of an observation than a judgment because there have been plenty of great K-pop groups who built their careers around gimmicks in the past. But every once and awhile, it’s … Continue reading
Over the past few weeks, ARTMS have payed around with expectations. Rather than simply debut a video and song as normal, they first dropped pre-release track Born Stunner via an unexpected Instagram reaction video. This is a great way to build buzz and conversation, but at the end of the day the actual music must … Continue reading
For every exciting sonic statement of intent from Jennie, we seem to get at least two dull tracks that attempt to shoehorn her into current pop trends. The trouble is, “current pop trends” tend to be incredibly beige these days. I recently had a revelation about the pop industry as a whole. Rather than take … Continue reading
Fresh off the aural hell that was Iconic By Mistake, Katseye are continuing their new EP rollout with Animal. Thus far, the group has pinballed between gimmicky ragebait and ultra-generic pop, making their overall identity a mystery. Their sweet spot likely lies somewhere between both extremes, but their producers have struggled to find it. Animals‘s … Continue reading
It’s been awhile since I’ve connected with a new aespa single, but as they move their attention to the Japanese market with Kiss N Tell, there’s an opportunity to switch things up and offer a different sound. This isn’t a complete reinvention, but takes the banging electro influence of songs like Lemonade and merges it … Continue reading
One Pact have been swimming upstream since debut, fighting against an increasingly monolithic agency system that doesn’t afford many chances for acts from small-to-mid companies. Any residual Boys Planet buzz has long since faded and they’re left to fend for themselves. To their credit, they’re a largely self-produced group, making it easier to take matters … Continue reading
Fresh off a funny little foray into country music last year, J.Y. Park has returned to his bread and butter. New single Wet acts as a theme to this year’s Waterbomb Festival and also pulls him back to the dancefloor, recalling vinyl pants of days gone by. Of course, this is an artist now well … Continue reading
It’s the battle of the 8s this week, with 8TURN coming back yesterday and LUN8 waiting in the wings today. I don’t think these two groups have anything in common beyond the number in their name, yet I link them together because both feel completely malleable in sound. If you asked me what a LUN8 … Continue reading
Last week, Seventeen’s Dino delivered his first work as alter-ego Picheolin. A few days ago, the tracklist for his album was revealed and I became most interested in its title track produced by the elusive K-pop genius Hitchhiker. Hopefully that song is more than a simple schtick, because today’s pre-release Micheo Micheo (미쳐 미쳐) feels … Continue reading
Hyolyn has become synonymous with summer, first as a member of Sistar and then as a solo act. She’s leveraged that position once again for a new mid-summer album but isn’t playing into obvious summer tropes. New single ChecK could be played year round as long as you’re in the mood for some more Y2K … Continue reading
OURBIRTHDAY will eventually be a seven member group under JYP subsidiary INNIT Entertainment, but they’re rolling out their members in waves. The first three (Hyejin, Achiraya and Baby — yes, you read that last one right) have made their debut today with pre-release single Hungry (Side A). If this were truly my birthday, I’d be … Continue reading
I featured Superstar on my J-pop round-up a few days ago, but I know only a sliver of readers regularly check that out and the song has since become a staple on my playlist so I thought I’d give it a longer write-up. PG are a co-ed, very young group from Avex that first hit … Continue reading
It’s a big week for the number 8. Today, 8TURN are making their comeback. Tomorrow, LUN8 are following suit. Based on the names alone, it would be easy to get these two groups mixed up, but so far 8TURN have released more songs that I’ve enjoyed. However, they’ve yet to find (and stick with) a … Continue reading
After a few years of releasing very solid material, Wonho turned his attention to global markets and his music began to suffer. With his new album Core, he seems to have returned to the sounds most central to him. For title track Don’t Wake Me Up!, that means a re-embrace of big dance beats. Of … Continue reading
Recently, fromis_9 have made their bid for K-pop’s beloved “summer queens” title, releasing their past few albums during this season. That title used to come along with a killer Duble Sidekick, Brave Brothers or Black Eyed Pilseung track, but in the era of song camps we just don’t get those idiosyncratic sounds any more. However, … Continue reading
U-Know is one of a handful of idols now working in his third decade as a performer. That’s rarefied air and a huge achievement for any pop star. He didn’t make his “official” solo debut until 2019, but has steadily been releasing material since then. Time’s Tickin’ is his new single album and continues to … Continue reading
BTS have been drip-feeding music videos from their comeback album Arirang, releasing the most recent ones as Spotify premium exclusives. This limits their audience to paying Spotify listeners (which I am not), but they’ve also uploaded the new mv for Normal on YouTube, thus earning them a write-up here. I can’t say I’m excited for … Continue reading
I’ve resisted writing about JYP Entertainment’s GIRLSET until now because they only have the slightest connection to K-pop and I haven’t cared enough about their music to have much to say. However, it’s a slow day/month/year and the group is set to promote this new song on Korean music shows, so it feels like the … Continue reading
Over the next few weeks, there are a number of female acts scheduled for comebacks who have reliably delivered summer bangers in the past. This raised my hopes for a big summer hit this year, but judging by teasers and full releases I’m striking out so far. BBGirls (formerly Brave Girls) owned summer of 2021 … Continue reading
It’s been awhile since I’ve watched any of INI’s content, but Ozaki Takumi was always a favorite member of mine. His good-hearted nature and willingness to be the butt of a joke made him come across as amiable and relatable. With that persona in mind, I never would have imagined he had something like Sonzai … Continue reading
