2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! 3.6.5 (from XOXO / Growl – 2013) 3.6.5 feels like a good track to end this (seemingly endless) K-Pop A-Z segment. It’s not a complicated or groundbreaking song, but it’s an unusually potent burst of pop energy within EXO’s discography. The track … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! 24/7 (from Don’t Mess Up My Tempo / Love Shot – 2018) 24/7 rest largely on its titular hook. Even the instrumental revolves around the same melody. Because of this, the song is a little repetitive for my taste, without enough variation … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! XOXO (from Growl – 2013) XOXO lays out a solid groove and sticks with it for three minutes. It has an appealing, throwback charm even if its ambition is generally low. The percussive piano is a nice touch, but like so many … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Wolf (from XOXO / Growl – 2013) I think it’s accurate to call Wolf EXO’s most polarizing title track. The song gets a lot of guff, labeled cheesy or cringey. And yeah, the wolf howls are a bit much. But, when you … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! With You (from Don’t Mess Up My Tempo / Love Shot – 2018) With You fades in with a beautiful tranquility that continues even as more instrumental elements are added to the track. The vaguely trip-hop beat feels unique within their discography, … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Winter Heat (from For Life – 2016) With all the winter songs EXO have recording, I feel like I’ve said all I can say about this kind of track. Winter Heat’s dynamic percussion allows it to stand out a bit, with each … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! White Noise (from Ex’Act / Lotto – 2016) The first thing you’ll notice about White Noise is its odd, herky-jerky percussion that feels as if its constantly fighting to keep up with itself. This helps to forge experimental verses that take a … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! What Is Love (from Mama – 2012) I don’t often highlight vocal phrasing as a song’s greatest strength, but What Is Love is all about how EXO wraps their voices around the instrumental’s icy, alien-like beat. This is without a doubt my … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! What If… (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) As someone who came of age in the 90’s, I have a total soft spot for this kind of r&b slow jam. For those of us who might remember, the vocal hook … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! What I Want For Christmas (from For Life – 2016) Is that a slight jangle of sleigh bells I hear? It must be Christmas. EXO brings us yet another holiday track with What I Want For Christmas, but it’s in the upper … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Walk On Memories (from The War / Power Of Music – 2017) Sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish these mid-tempo EXO r&b tracks from one another. Walk On Memories doesn’t do much that would set it apart from similar efforts. The … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Wait (from Love Shot – 2018) Wait feels like a song that belongs on one of EXO’s holiday albums. Over a subdued, acoustic guitar instrumental, the track brings unique texture to the group’s standard r&b balladry. It suffers from appearing so early … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Unfair (from Sing For You – 2015) Promoted as a sub-title track alongside Sing For You, Unfair finds EXO at their least guarded, offering a loose arrangement perched over a swinging, piano-infused instrumental. The song gives the guys a chance to showcase … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Two Moons (ft. Key) (from Mama – 2012) As EXO’s earliest rap song, Two Moons had a precedent to set. To help accomplish that, the track enlisted SHINee’s Key as a counterpoint to Kai, Chanyeol and Sehun. I’m not sure he was … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Twenty Four (from For Life – 2016) I can tell you right now, I have absolutely zero interest in a trap Christmas song. Twenty Four’s concept feels like the worst of trend-chasing, and it results in a forgettable entry to EXO’s winter … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Trauma (from Love Shot – 2018) Trauma is a slick funk groove in a discography full of them, and could be easily forgotten because of that. And truthfully, EXO has released better songs of this genre before. But Trauma is not to … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Transformer (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) With a militant hip-hop beat and distorted electronics, Transformer stands as one of EXO’s more aggressive tracks. It’s also one of their most fascinating. The verses are phrased with hip-hop flow even when … Continue reading
