It's like I'm hearing a scrapped track from Number 1 Angel. Feels very well done but could have been tuned and paced a little better; kinda tries to be "super out there unique pop SOPHIE core" without understanding what made some SOPHIE-composed tracks so truly incredible and derivative. Definetly not her best release but with a few tweaks it could be incredible.

There's a concept of an album here, but it doesn't pan out properly and feels like it's just trying to bait into being "for the arts" and "better than other music" without actually understanding what makes music sound good. This album was definetly better than I thought it would be, with the album having easily the worst lead single choices I've ever seen in Bag Bad Back (a cheap copy of NCT 127's infinitely better Gas) and Fly Up (what year do they ... read more

Such an incredible song that relistening to it makes me understand why they instantly ruined their sound trying to recreate it for the rest of the year. This is one of the few K-pop songs that feels like it embodies a specific experience in every way. The instrumental is so powerful and peppy and it manages to set the tone for the song, with it being near magical during the dance break parts. The vocals are tuned just right, especially the background vocals, in a way that makes them complement ... read more

The first half of this album is like, okay. Only End of the World is a standout incredible song, and putting 2 interludes in between Easy Lover was a confusing choice. However, the second half of this album is absolutely incredible, and saves this album immediately.

Walk of Fame (feat. Brittany Howard) is the first standout hit in this album, being a full 6 minutes of just total pop perfection. It's incredible how well she uses her voice in combination with Howard's voice here. The ... read more

Possibly Yves' best song EVER. An incredible experience that feels so simple but so powerful at the same time and a quintessential song for K-pop this year. This shows that she needs to stay in the room when it comes to writing and composing music because the fact her music quality jumped up this high after she simply got to touch her own music incredible. The second chorus with the overlaying vocals is actually as moving as Fear, Sex by Magdalena Bay in a way that K-pop simply hasn't ... read more

He's got a concept of a song here. There's a skeleton that could be expanded upon to be great but right now it's just... boring. It feels like they were trying to do an anti-drop but didn't commit all the way so the chorus just blends in and makes the song feel uninteresting. I was hoping for more from him but it was kinda expected that it was going to be boring with how little SM even cares about him. There is potential, but it's not realized.

I like ZEROBASEONE's dedication to releasing absolutely incredible tracks and then supplementing it with total and utter bullshit. ICONIK and Long Way Back are the only ones worth talking about here, barring the re-release of Now or Never as that song is also good but doesn't really count. I'll quickly go over the rest here; SLAM DUNK is absolutely horrible, Lovesick Game is clearly made for people that like writing the members pleasuring themselves, Goosebumps is very wholesome ... read more

I used to hate this EP. I still do. However, Scared and End It have changed my opinion on this EP being total dogwater a lot. I originally wrote it off as their boygroup noise music phase that every 4th gen boy group seemed to fall into, but I later went back as a more experienced music listener and realized that there was SOPHIE influence all over these two tracks. It's less obvious in End It but the backing beat that sticks around the whole song is definetly influenced in some form by ... read more

Definetly a debut. Intro: Breakthrough eventually got a full version later that made it truly a top 5 P1Harmony song, but in this form it's just good here—doesn't really finish on a strong note like the bridge and final chorus in the extended version. SIREN was a great debut in 2020 when the big thing was sounding powerful and big, and it doesn't really age the best nowadays but it isn't a bad song. Nemonade is cute and fun and I love that. There's nothing else to ... read more

I wish this was 2 albums released in succession, because the full 17 track run can tend to mix together and muddle the full experience. However, each of these songs are absolutely incredible and especially the first few songs are just masterpieces (specifically Ladida, Sum, and The Boy). The second half does get weaker and more unoriginal but it's very hard to put 17 songs out at this quality and I have to respect how well she did it.

Just really, *really* cannot exaggerate how much I ... read more

It's objectively a well-produced and good EP considering their sound. But I can't help but be disappointed that they didn't end up going with the dance pop more and instead went fully towards the dreamy sound. I think Heart Drop is for sure my favorite by a longshot and I think it's exactly how I want Rescene to sound, like this, UhUh, YoYo, and Deja Vu.

I understand why they went towards the more dreamy out there direction but I feel like a lot of these songs are just ... read more

This EP really shows ILLIT's dreamy sound and concept perfectly immediately. I have to give my props where they're deserved because ILLIT's been absolutely debuted to their dancey dreamcore concept since they debuted and they stick to it stronger than basically any other K-pop group recently. The only group I can think in the past 5 years that has been this dedicated to their musical concept is probably NMIXX's powerful music blurring MIXXpop stuff.

My World is a lovely ... read more

I don’t really dabble in pop culture ever so I only found out WILLOW was the whip my hair person after listening to this full album (and the deluxe), and I was pretty shocked to find out! This is such a lovely album that uses her perfect voice really well and it feels like 1 smooth song the whole time with how lovely and well done it is.

My favorite tracks and definetly home, false self, and the fear is not real, but most of them stand on their own and are incredibly lovely and clearly ... read more

I think the original Mercurial World has the better songs, but I think an album is supposed to be a full experience, which Mercurial World (Deluxe) NAILS and feels completely different from the original in a way that makes this my favorite Magdalena Bay release ever despite having some strange remix decisions on it. Unconditional being on this album also puts it pretty high as it's easily the best song on both albums combined, with Secrets (Your Fire) and The Beginning as the easy 2nd and ... read more

Is it basic dream pop? Yes, but I think we're lacking that nowadays. Everyone wants to do something unique and be the next big change that sometimes you just lose the original thing, something simple and easy. Considering the fact this is a debut album meant to setup the sound and concept they're going for, I think Melt is a great album to do so.

The album does tend to get a little same-y overtime, but I think it's easy to overlook when all the songs are as well done and as ... read more

I have spent months and months trashing on this album because of how incredible the concept was only to be boring and uninspired, so before I wrote this review, I wanted to see if I was biased against it. I sat down and listened front-to-back and I can still fairly confidently say that this is not a good album that is basically only saved by the absolute breakout hit IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU.

BOYNEXTDOOR had a pretty good discography around February 2025. IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU was the cherry on ... read more

Star Eyes is a bit too strange with the vocals for me but I understand where the concept for it came from and I think it could be fine tuned into something I'd really love. Maybe it'll grow on me in the future but for now it's like good but not great. Second Sleep is an absolute masterpiece though and would have been one of the quintessential tracks for Magdalena Bay introduction if Human Happens didn't come around and narrowly push it out of the best. Overall great ... read more

I'm sorry I just cannot really vibe with either of these songs. I can see the immaculate production of each and I understand why it could be seen as good to others but I really cannot get behind the instrumentation being so country-like. I don't think it meshes well with Mica's voice either but I would love to be proven wrong in another song. This song is what stopped me from buying the Nice Day: Collection of Singles LP because it just hasn't grown on me at all.

A really pretty album where the artist perfectly matches her voice tone to the music. Ends up feeling not same-y and instead like one full experience and was incredibly moving during a nightly walk around campus. Felt like a true escape from the real world for a bit.

Beep-Boop-Beep-Boop and Ah, are the highlights, and Meaningful Stone really does well in more upbeat slow songs like this. Really just pushing the envelope farther from basic dreamy pop and becoming and something you’d hear ... read more

Fairly solid EP with a bunch of songs but I’m glad they ended up moving towards the sound of ARE WE THERE YET?, as it’s much more unique and seems like something they could do really well. Nothing much to say cause most of the songs are fairly samey besides that they’re lovely songs and it’s a pretty great debut EP.