𝟓 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐞𝐢𝐥

​ 𒄬 Haeil co-wrote a few K-pop tunes I love, such as OEC’s “Lucid” and Billlie’s “Extra-Ordinary”, but he is also one of OnlyOneOf main songwriters. And the sound I associate the boy group with is certainly present on 5 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘢. Everything is here: lush pads, warm synthesisers, relaxed ... read more

gentle winter songs <3 she sounds gorgeous! i really hope she releases an album (at least an EP) next year

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐄

​ 𒄬 I wish I listened to this as soon as it dropped because it is so good. This is my favourite NCT DREAM album, it’s a cohesive collection of synthpop songs with some surprise to diversify the sound a little.
​
​ 𒄬 When an album introduction gets you as much as the one for 𝘋𝘙𝘌𝘈𝘔𝘚𝘊𝘈𝘗𝘌, there’s only two option, either nothing in the projects will be as good, or everything past this, will only add up ... read more

CIX really are an underrated group. I've had many "love at first sight" moment with girl groups, but not so much with boy groups. CIX “Jungle” is one of those songs I'll always remember how it caught my attention, a song that was good enough to make me want to listen to everything else they had to offer, and a song I wish more and more people knew, listened to and enjoyed. So here I am quickly writing about it because I have some other things to say (won't ... read more

𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐘𝐯𝐞𝐬!

​ 𒄬 Hold on, what a step up from 𝘓𝘖𝘖𝘗! 𝘐 𝘋𝘪𝘥 features exactly what her debut lacked of, innovativeness. You can’t allow yourself to let fillers on an EP, and Yves, surrounded by IOAH and Millic, understood that. This comeback is full of catchy moments with enjoyable productions and a cool sound direction.

​ 𒄬 I wasn’t expecting Yves to give a go to bubblegum bass, but it ... read more

𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐲

​ 𒄬 On 𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘋𝘞𝘈𝘠 Purple Kiss blends pop-rock and synthpop to create a nice atmosphere. This new EP is easier to digest and more consistent than 𝘉𝘟𝘟, which sometimes felt messy.

​ 𒄬 The intense intro sets a dark tone, perfect to prepare us for what’s to come. And what’s coming is a punchy pop-rock ... read more

cute little song

𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬' 𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

​ 𒄬 XG’s back to reinforce their position in the K-pop landscape, despite not being a true part of the industry. It seems they are doing exactly what many ”girl boss” K-pop girl groups have been meaning to do, but lacked the strength and boldness to do. While most people, including myself, don’t consider them a K-pop group, it’s hard not to compare them to K-pop. And for obvious ... read more

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲

​ 𒄬 TOMORROW X TOGETHER are back with a new EP, and a new chapter, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳. “Star” was also the name of their debut: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳: 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳. I didn’t immediately like it, but I do like it now and expected to see the group pay a sort of homage to this EP with a similar sound. Unfortunately, it ... read more

𝘛𝘐𝘗𝘐-𝘛𝘈𝘗 is Kep1er’s first comeback with seven members. Mashiro and Yeseo left the group to continue their activities with their company, 143 Entertainment. And it seems like WAKEONE decided to take this new start as a chance to make the girls try out a different style from what they were used to. Used to heavier sound, dance-oriented tracks, and other upfront styles, here the group opts for 2-step and alternative RNB sonorities.

“Sync-Love” and ... read more

This was such an insane and remarkable listen! I especially loved “Philautia” and “Sinner” for the duality you have in the first part, super soft, and the sudden sort of washed out noise wall that comes after. Despite the noise, you still hear somewhat bright melodies that make you feel all sort of emotions. Those two and “Flowerfields” put one after one another got a tear out of me.

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 ... read more

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄?

⋄⋄⋄ Since their debut last year, KISS OF LIFE tickled my interest with their cool songs and excellent vocal performances. 𝘔𝘐𝘋𝘈𝘚 𝘛𝘖𝘜𝘊𝘏 was an amazing single, but unfortunately, 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 fails to meet my expectations. While I like the first three songs a lot, I struggle to find the same pleasure in the second half.

⋄ The title ... read more

𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐒 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐢𝐩 𝐇𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞-𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭

── tripleS enter their new era with their first dance-oriented unit: Visionary Vision (Vision@ry Vision). I like that despite having 24 members and the possibility to make more comebacks, they prefer to give time for each record to grow. This year, instead of putting out ... read more

𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

── Inoffensive, that’s how I would describe ILLIT's second EP. There’s nothing impressive and nothing horrible to point out. The production is clean, it features a handful of catchy melodies with light vocals, but lacks remarkable moments and development.
​
── The biggest issues can be found in the choruses, which often ... read more

𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤

── Everyone’s expectation regarding 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 was pretty high for two reasons. First, as 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢 and 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘰𝘯 (which I still found great) didn’t top 𝘔𝘠 𝘞𝘖𝘙𝘓𝘋, the group has to prove they can still release top tier material without fillers or generic song in the mix – something easier on an EP than a full album due to fewer tracks. Second, which goes with ... read more

𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐬

── I knew my 2024 K-pop top 5 was missing something, and that is Billlie! After a slowed activity due to Moon Sua and Suhyeon’s hiatus, Billlie is back with a project as strong as their previous ones. And this, despite not being a part of any chapter, but simply an “appendix”. This position in the group’s catalogue speaks for itself regarding their amazing discography and constant ... read more

𝐈𝐓𝐙𝐘 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

── I found out about ITZY’s comeback on its release day and this says a lot about how disconnected I am from K-Pop (and SNS in general). There are still a lot of things going on to keep people tuned in but maybe it also became too much for nothing special. Groups that did bring music out of the box disappeared simply for newer ... read more

𝐎 𝐍𝐚 𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐀… 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭

── Unfortunately, HWASA’s second EP, “𝘖”, does nothing for me. And that’s sad because I would love to genuinely enjoy HWASA’s music for the sake of what she represents and stands for in the K-Pop landscape, as well as her charming/warm tone and powerful voice. But everything on here feels like cheap copies of other songs. I do not give bad ratings easily, but it's hard not to do so when a ... read more

5 years, it's been 5 years since Roy Blair's last release. 1 or 2 months ago, I was thinking about him, wondering if he was still making music somewhere or if he stopped. I didn't dig any further and left my question unanswered. At some point, I'm glad I didn't search for anything because it makes this new song even more exciting. It was a great surprise to see this single appear in my Spotify New Release tab.

The track is peak Roy Blair honestly. I loved ... read more

It feels great to see Yena come back with a sound closer to her upbeat and bright debut EP 𝘚𝘔𝘪𝘓𝘌𝘠, than the fake dark Pop-Rock style she tried to deliver since.

“NEMONEMO” is super fun and energetic and its Yakousei colour is undeniable. I get reminded of LOONA’s “HULA HOOP”; if you listened to that banger, you know how much of a compliment it is. “Sugar” follows and even if it’s way calmer, it keeps the same cutesy and fun ... read more