One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Love Me Right (from Love Me Right – 2015) Released at the height of EXO’s funk-pop era, Love Me Right is a dynamo of a comeback. Right from the start, the instrumental deposits us into the groove, like a warp portal to … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Lights Out (from Universe – 2017) Ending EXO’s 2017 winter album in theatrical fashion, Lights Out is as close to a torch song as the group has given us. Its impassioned melody rises and falls over a piano instrumental. Lights Out is … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Let Out The Beast (from XOXO / Growl – 2013) Let Out The Beast is the kind of track that screams “dance performance.” Built around a high-energy r&b beat with tense strings and insistent chirps of synth, Beast is as much a … Continue reading
More than any other year so far, 2019 has seen SM Entertainment’s NCT project expand its tentacles toward foreign markets. Chief among these initiatives is WayV, the Chinese branch of the NCT Universe. C-pop has its own musical preferences, but WayV’s discography has acted as a pretty seamless extension of SM’s Korean work. This proved … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Lady Luck (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) Opening with distorted vocals that sound like the pop song version of blowing a raspberry, Lady Luck retains this unconventional bass even as additional elements are added to the instrumental. Its production … Continue reading
It’s been over two years since Taeyeon’s last full-length album, and in that time her discography has grown in drips and drabs — a holiday album here, a Japanese mini album there. Judging from her concerts, she’s been sitting on a lot of her new material for awhile, making the release of Purpose highly anticipated. … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Into My World (from Countdown – 2018) Taken from EXO’s excellent Japanese album, Into My World feels like the soundtrack to some neon-hued sci-fi epic. Its electronic backbone pulses loud and proud, giving the track an immense energy. The production even throws … Continue reading
Though TVXQ are one of my all-time favorite K-pop acts, most of their post-enlistment music hasn’t hit me in the same way as their classic material. However, new Japanese album XV is a strong collection of work, touching on many of the aspects that have made them such a musical force. The guys seem to … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Hurt (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) Even when EXO tracks brood, they usually do so over an interesting hodgepodge of instrumental elements. Hurt perches itself atop an aggressive stomp and sweeping, distorted synth. It opens like a dark carnival … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! History (from Mama – 2012) Though their discography boasts more ambitious material, History has always felt like a flawless distillation of EXO’s sound. Its effortlessly funky groove combines a bhangra-inspired beat with icy, stuttering electronics and a strong kick that anchors the … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Heaven (from Ex’Act / Lotto – 2016) Sandwiched between more experimental tracks on EXO’s underrated 2016 album, Heaven’s exuberant, laid-back funk pop offers a welcome respite. The song is nothing unusual, but its piano-fueled production has a engagingly old-school aesthetic, augmented with … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Heart Attack (from XOXO / Growl – 2013) Heart Attack draws that amorphous line between dance track and mid-tempo. Its energy isn’t particularly high, but its fast-paced vocal delivery gives it a loose, playful appeal that slots it nicely alongside superior tracks … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Good Night (from Universe – 2017) Good Night’s gentle, electronic piano-infused balladry is what special winter albums are meant for. As its title suggests, this plays as a smooth r&b lullaby. So, saying that it might put you to sleep isn’t necessarily … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Going Crazy (from The War / The Power Of Music – 2017) Opening with a frantic synth loop and dramatic sweeps of strings, Going Crazy promises drama to come. And though the track never fully lives up to that mood, its creeping … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Girl x Friend (from Sing For You – 2015) Looking at its title alone, you can probably guess that this is going to be one of EXO’s more lighthearted efforts. And as a special holiday release, that amiable energy is well-targeted. A … Continue reading
In every concert, there are those few songs that the audience waits for with bated breath. They’re showstoppers — amazing on their own but enhanced exponentially when paired with a live performance. Most of my all-time favorite K-pop tracks have this kind of larger-than-life intensity, as if the song itself isn’t enough to contain all … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Forever (from The War / The Power Of Music – 2017) Forever is the kind of lumbering, almost industrial beast that SM boy groups do so well. Its arrangement has a tense energy, constantly on the build without ever reaching a sense … Continue reading
I’ve always considered Into The New World (다시 만난 세계) as the unofficial dawn of K-pop’s second generation. Yes, there were plenty of second-gen stalwarts who debuted earlier (TVXQ, Wonder Girls, Bigbang, Super Junior, etc), but World just feels like the turning of a page. Back in 2007, K-pop had a much stronger Japanese influence … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! The First Snow (from Miracles In December – 2013) It’s hard to beat acoustic guitar and sleigh bells during the holidays, and The First Snow knows this. EXO’s vocals are taken full advantage of here, offering a warm bed of harmonies over … Continue reading
Most of the time, a k-pop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. What a week for a Super Junior release. Seriously, this week … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 