someone over at belift has to be plotting their demise, there's no way they're giving them something this uninspired thinking it's good

While I was commuting to uni, just a couple of hours before this release, I started to listen to their discography on shuffle because I couldn’t stop thinking about listening to the new songs, and I came to realize just how much improvement there is between their older and newer songs. Listen to their first EP and then come back to this. There’s a world of difference. They themselves have talked about how they feel like they’ve massively grown as artists, and how, as their ... read more

I haven’t been following NCT closely for a while, so I didn’t even know YUTA was releasing a solo album until the Off The Mask MV appeared on my YT recommended, and I’m very glad I decided to click on it and check out the full EP.

The one thing I loved the most is that from the songs, to the lyrics, to the styling and visual motifs, everything is so unapologetically J-rock. Prechorus sounds straight out of a DMC5 character theme. There’s a Danganronpa-esque line about ... read more

Genuinely surreal seeing idols drop something like this, really REALLY hope XH continue experimenting with their sound and keep this intensity for some of their future releases.

Cinema Paradise starts out with the biggest highlight of the album. The main track GOOD SO BAD is a feel-good structurally diverse song elevated by a beautiful composition of synths, which particularly stand out in Hanbin’s part in the bridge. Everything about this song comes together to create, in my opinion, the best title track we have gotten all year from the k-pop scene, and one of (if not the best) from ZEROBASEONE. Absolutely fantastic opening.

However, with KILL THE ROMEO the ... read more

After listening to (and greatly enjoying) Thornapple’s last album, I was very excited about checking their other work out. After doing so, I have to say I have mixed feelings about this record.

Like I said in my review of Enlightenment, Yoon Sung Hyun is a truly impressive vocalist, he’s versatile and great at setting a tone and building atmosphere, providing a dreamlike quality to their songs. In addition, this album has also proved to me how amazing of a lyricist he is.

Two of ... read more

I would take this with a grain of salt, since I’m not sure if the translation is correct or not, but I read that Kwon Sunwook, the band’s vocalist (and I think songwriter), said the theme of the album was “the end of the world”. Also tried to scavenge IZM to find more stuff about them but I was unsuccessful.

Ultimately, this work seems to be laced with irony, being filled with sentiments of pessimism and uncertainty about the world, but expressing them in an overly ... read more

SUPER REAL ME manages to stablish ILLIT’s musical identity perfectly, sadly, this identity is nothing particularly interesting. While all the songs are well produced and the title track, Magnetic, is extremely catchy, this EP feels weightless and overly derivative. NewJeans is the easiest comparison to make, however I’d say this debut also draws heavy inspiration from other artists such as LOONA (and post-LOONA), tripleS and fromis_9. Not to say their debut is bad, not at all, the ... read more

Refreshing and well produced, I think MUHAN stands as tripleS’ best release to date.

This EP is the most cohesive they have put out, and every song has something new to offer. Girls’ Capitalism is extremely catchy and follows the trend of adding la-la-las in their title tracks, which I surprisingly don’t hate. Complexity offers layered vocals and a slightly dark but hazy tone to accompany the contradicting feelings portrayed in the lyrics. Black Soul Dress steps into funk, ... read more

Came across this band when a song of theirs appeared in my youtube recommended not long ago when I was on a Silica Gel run and I decided to check out this album and I’m so glad I did. The biggest highlight of the experience was how great THRONAPPLE are at building atmosphere in their tracks, partially thanks to the unique tone of their vocalist Yoon Sung Hyun. In a way, this aspect of their music very distantly reminded me of some of Bôa’s work, which is obviously a huge ... read more

genuinely why would you release this

I’m pained to say this, since I had high hopes for TEN’s venture into his first big solo release, but sadly, I find this EP to be quite a lacklustre debut on his part. The production on all the tracks is good, however, it overall lacks a strong identity, jumping to very different inspirations on each track but never daring to do something truly unique with any of them. Nightwalker is by far the standout of the album, a dark and theatrical song with a bass heavy abrasive sound, ... read more

After her work under LOONA, HeeJin’s solo debut EP does a wonderful job at stablishing an independent musical identity from projects such as ViViD and LOONA 1/3’s albums, choosing a direction that is more on par with MODHAUS other artists. HeeJin is an impressive vocalist, and this EP allows her to show her adaptability through songs that range from synth heavy pieces to slow, simplistic tracks. The EP has a very strong start, with a beautiful intro and a catchy title track, and ... read more

A cohesive but rather underwhelming experience. Part of my slight disappointment for this is definitely due to the fact that I was hoping so much more for her solo debut EP. Chuu is one of the best vocalists to come out of the fourth generation, however this EP fails to truly showcase her abilities to their fullest. Nonetheless, the listening experience was overall nice, there are some clear standout tracks (Howl and Aliens) and there’s some really solid work on the lyrics.

Absolutely nothing noteworthy about this EP except for how boring the whole experience felt to me. The songs rang from unbearable like Good Bones, to decent but overtly repetitive like Swan Song. This is a huge step down from their other projects. The endless EPTBW remixes were a sign that their company was starting to care less and less about the quality of their discography but for them to drop an EP this uninteresting is disappointing nonetheless.