Young K’s let it be summer is nominated for Best Rock Song in the 2023 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support let it be summer and your other favourite acts by clicking here to vote today.

Young K from DAY6 made his solo debut back in 2021 with the single Guard You. Following that, he carried out his military enlistment until April of this year. In September, he returned as a solo artist, bringing his first studio album Letters with Notes, the pre-release single let it be summer (which I have already reviewed) and the title track nothing but (the latter being the focus of this review).

While let it be summer was an energetic rock track, nothing but goes down the balladry path. The rock/band elements do remain in the instrumentation and the backing is also rather simplistic. These elements and its simplistic approach tones down the energy quite a bit to fit that balladry approach. But it is obvious to me that the execution of the backing remained passionate to enable nothing but to be an effective carrier of Young K’s vocals, which is so damn emotive. You can feel the heartbreak and pain behind his voice, which made the song so impactful to me when I first heard it. And it still remains that way every time I play the song again and again. Aside from that, I found the jerky piano at the start made for a stilling opening and a good beginning. But I would have liked more striking piano work elsewhere in nothing but to complement the beginning somehow. As it is, nothing but is still an emotive rock ballad that serves as a strong addition to Young K’s solo work.

The music video features both Young K and DAHYUN from TWICE, who we see are going through a break up. From Young K’s perspective (based on the lyrics of nothing but), he could feel that the breakup was coming. But he tries to hold onto what is left, as much as he can. We see him lose the ring in a car that is going to be dropped from up high. But no matter way, he tries to find it. DAHYUN drinks all of the water in the glass, and he goes to fill it back up as a way to keep her at the table. We see her hand back the presents that he once bought her – later shown to be frozen in ice (a metaphor for their relationship). But he still smashes his way through the ice to free the items. But no matter what he does, the video shows ultimately ends in their breakup. It is a really abstract yet interesting music video to watch. I also thought the acting of both Young K and DAHYUN was exceptional in this video.  

Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.7/10