𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜.

aespa’s first full album 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘰𝘯 is probably one of everyone’s most ... read more

On one hand, the track slaps, on the other, the beat quickly gets too repetitive. This gives the girls more room to display their skills (it's the first all-rap song from them), but I tend to be annoyed by it after a while. If their verses were more playful with the beat and more diverse, it wouldn't be much of an issue, but to me, the track is missing any identity. I usually like the group's production for its colours, but "WOKE UP" sounds too over the surface, too basic.

If only ... read more

𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬.

It seems, with “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum”, we're finally getting songs that make it past the 3-minute timestamp. “How Sweet” with a repetitive Miami Bass beat, and “Bubble Gum” with a light-hearted Synth Funk ... read more

everyday i want to thank claire cottrill for existing and making music during both our lifetimes

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐣𝐢𝐧

After a first very good project, I was excited for its follow-up. I was expecting another rather light and fresh project, and I was served! I can't tell if I enjoy 𝘙𝘐𝘡𝘡 more than 아가씨 yet, but I appreciate it a lot, despite its name. Her debut might touch more styles and take – slightly – more risks, but the production on ... read more

That’s a cool mini-album from 82MAJOR right here, with clear Hip Hop influences. The group might be the boy version of YOUNG POSSE, but while the girl group touched on many styles, 82MAJOR sticks to organic Trap beat with a light use of synths. This lets the members showcase their rap skills on well-written verses, and that’s a big thing for a K-Pop release. All six members (Seongil, Yechan, Seongmo, Seongbin, Seokjoon, Dogyun) have two 2 or more lyrics, which is always cool and ... read more

Sick song! The production is a bit hypnotic due to the repetitive pattern and Lola Young's engaging delivery. I love the aggressive beat that comes midway through the track, it's perfect to bring some surprise. Later on, the sort of psychedelic guitar riff perfectly ends the piece.

Super entertaining project! I find the blending of diverse influences like Bossa Nova and Acid Jazz super interesting. They're used in a fun way on top of the simpler and chill nature of Lounge. Of course, Shibuya-Kei's best projects remain the Japanese ones, but this one has nothing to be shy about and sort of brings something new to it.

Thank you @AnywhereButHome for sending me this!

With 시치미 (𝘚𝘐𝘊𝘏𝘐𝘔𝘐), SUMIN drops another bag full of cool, mellow and interesting little jams. Considering her other works, the singer doesn’t take many risks with this EP, but that doesn’t remove any quality from it. She proves you can create a safe project, all while keeping it unique and fresh.

It starts softly with the piano of “Late Morning” and songs like “Human Theater” and “Airplane” are pretty laid ... read more

DXMON has a cool concept right here, they bring attention thanks to their looks, but the music struggles to keep that interest. Apart from the average blending of Trap Edm and Pop Rap (if you’re into that), there’s nothing much to see in 𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦.

The first song “N.W.B” does things differently as the beat is pretty atmospheric and sparse. But “Burn Up” is literally the average noisy K-Pop song, and doesn’t add anything ... read more

I came into this song after I saw @haeccia's review mentioning NewJeans' “Ditto”. I was expecting some lushy and light synth over a dnb or 2-step beat, but little did I know I would catch myself hoping my head to 90s Atlanta Bass.

The best about this discovery isn't the music itself. It's the connections I made upon my first listen. While the chorus played, I was reminded of something I heard before, but what? I wasn't sure. I looked up on Genius the songs that samples/interpolates ... read more

𝘒𝘦𝘱1𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 sums up Kep1er’s Japanese releases and throws a bunch of new songs as well, as the group is getting close to the end of their contract. We’ll get 𝘒𝘦𝘱1𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘯 next month, which is the Korean version. It’s pretty hard to review this properly as almost all songs were previously released in other projects and were all randomly put together to create an album with all their Japanese tracks. I even copied the tracklist ... read more

To be honest, I don't find either of those songs bad and don't get the 57% user score. Of course, there are better 2-step and Breakbeat tunes out here, even in the K-Pop landscape, but “Algorhythm” and “No Biggie” are far from awful. Japanese releases can be a great way to diversify a group's sound without affecting their main colours much. Which is what is happening here. But given the context ITZY finds itself, this single also confirms that the group doesn't have a ... read more

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊

Oh boy, what a disappointment. With their debut 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘛𝘏 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘋𝘌, ZEROBASEONE released one of my favourite boy group’s debut in a while, 𝘔𝘌𝘓𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘗𝘖𝘐𝘕𝘛 wasn’t as good but still has its share of good tunes. However, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘌𝘓𝘓𝘖 fails to spark real joy in ... read more

𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐱𝟑

I will always be amazed by the music Dayeon has been putting out. She seems to stay in the company of good songwriters and producers who get her vibe and can bring the best out of her. She remains in a comfortable area but goes out to try something new every time, like Breakbeat and Baltimore Club here. It's catchy, easy on the ear, and her voice flows effortlessly on the instrumental. What can I ask more? Something more ... read more

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫

This brand-new single makes me think that aespa's upcoming album, will confirm their release pattern: 1 great (𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦) → 1 average (𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴) → 1 great (𝘔𝘠 𝘞𝘖𝘓𝘙𝘋) → 1 average (𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢) etc. Therefore, the next thing we're getting, besides being great, will be a full album (10 tracks, which became the norm for K-Pop LP).

“Supernova” is perfect to get everyone ... read more

It isn’t very reassuring to see someone like Solar and her amazing vocals, not make use of her talent fully. If even the vocal powerhouses aren't showing off their skills anymore, then who will?

No song catches my ear, she offers a diverse range of sounds, from the bold party banger “Color” to the Blues influenced “Blues”. We can appreciate her voice more in “But I” and “Empy” but it still doesn’t feel enough. It’s not cohesive ... read more

𝐀 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐢𝐫

“Air” confirms the splendid quality of ARTMS' music, and mind you, this is the worst single so far. I used the term “worst” to show some exaggeration and emphasise how the group's releases sits way higher than their counterparts. Because using the word “worst” in the review of such a great song is crazy. “least favourite” would be more appropriate.

As expected, the song ... read more

𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐒 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐒-𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜

tripleS is a group I have been interested in since its debut, due to the people behind them. Not that I like or dislike Jaden Jeong (that’s a whole other topic). But as the group is handled by him, I knew there were chances that the music would appeal to me. I was right as I love each of their mini-album, from their first project 𝘈𝘊𝘊𝘌𝘚𝘚 (my favourite) to their ... read more

If you have watched anything related to MNET’s latest survival show 𝘉𝘖𝘠𝘚 𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘕𝘌𝘛, chances are that at least one of the 4 members of TOZ looks familiar. The group consists of Anthonny (who also was on 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 101 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯), Hart (better known as Haruto), Yuto, and Takuto, all Japanese contestants from the show. Unfortunately, even with the little additional visibility that having members from such a show could bring, I found out ... read more