Category: Reviews

[Review] Nonfiction – K.Will

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K.Will has made his long-awaited return to the stage with a brand new album, titled as Nonfiction, which is also the same name as his title track. This album is the first part of his 4th full-length album. It has been a while since he last promoted on stage. The last being in 2015 with Growing, though he has released singles and collaborations since then.

Nonfiction takes the ballad route with K.Will’s signature husky vocals. The instrumental, along with his vocals, make the song extremely soothing to listen to. I love it when he finishes the lines on a higher note, in the verses. It gives the ballad some variety and colour, which goes nicely with the emotional message in which is trying to convey to us. The song does build up, starting from a soft introduction to a climatic ending using just the same instruments that he started off with. Personally, ballads hit a soft spot for me. And this one does the job perfectly. The only thing that I may say about the song is that there isn’t anything mindblowing or spectacular about it. Instead, it is like every other ballad out there. But if you want a good old ballad, this is the recent release your need to check out.

The music video tells an emotional story, which goes nicely with the K.Will’s singing style. Essentially, the guy works as a tour guide at this old Korean palace and it is the place where he and his former girlfriend used to go out on dates. And while he still remains there, his former girlfriend has moved on. They reunite for a very brief moment when her current boyfriend asks him to take a photo of them. The main guy complies with the request and returns home, only to become more heartbroken. The last few scenes were probably the hardest to get to, as he relives his favourite pastime with his ex (where they dance with each other) but he instead dances alone in his bedroom. I thought it was a very deep and impactful video to watch. And the acting is quite good.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9/10

[Review] Change Up – SEVENTEEN

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Recently, Seventeen announced their future plans for the rest of the year, which continues on from their previous comeback, Don’t Wanna Cry. The group kicks off the rest of the year with the release of a track, Change Up, that features the leaders of the group’s 3 units, which is this review. Each unit will be releasing a song in the near future and the entire group will then make their official comeback as a whole.

What I expected the track to be was not what it turned out as. While the song pinches the leaders of the 3 units (Hip-Hop, Performance, Vocal) that make up Seventeen, the song felt heavy handed on the hip-hop side. I honestly expected to see a little flare from each unit, but when I think about it now, it would be hard to combine the three units together.  The blaring instrumental literally grabs your attention from the get-go. This is the first time I have heard Hoshi rap and he sounds equally as good as S.Coups. Woozi’s high-pitched vocal parts seem to showcase some contrast with the hip-hop vibe, which I thought had the song more interesting and appealing to listen to. As the song progresses, it seems to hype you up, which leaves you feeling a little empty once the song ends and there is that awkward silence before the next song. Change Up is undeniably catchy, but it could be its downfall as well. While the repetition of the words “Change Up” is keyed into your head by the time the song ends (along with the rhythm), I do see it becoming annoying if the song is blasted on repeat. But that is my personal opinion only. For the time being however, it is definitely on my playlist of songs to put on repeat.

Like the song’s instrumental, the bold colours grab your attention from the very start. From the colour of their tracksuit to the colour of the background, it appeals to everyone’s eyes. There isn’t much to the video. The most I can comment on are the camera angles and the shots of the guys grooving with each other or by themselves. But despite that, I like the video.

Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Rollin’ – B1A4

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B1A4 has made their return to the stage with their latest mini-album and title track, which are both titled as Rollin’. The group made their last comeback in December of last year with A Lie and since then, they have been going at solo promotions.

Rollin’ is a totally great song. It does take a few listens to get into but it easily turns into a song that I can rock out to. The song joins the long list of other tropical house based songs but mixes it with what is described as a ‘band sound’. And that is exactly what we get. The ‘band sound’ takes the song to a new level and I find that very interesting. My favourite parts were the crashing of the cymbals, which gives the song that extra burst of energy. The buildup to the chorus and the drop into the chorus was definitely the best bits of the song. The song, overall, is quite catchy and as mentioned previously, addictive. The “Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ in the deep” gets stuck in your head quite easily and is incredibly hard to shake off. Vocally, I am on the fence. They sound good but I am not exactly sure if that is would be the right word to describe their vocals. Overall, if you want a song that packs a punch, then this is the song for you.

Apparently, they shot the video in Australia and I have to admit, I want to live wherever they shot the video. Look at the clear blue skies and the sun! But where I live, the sky (until just a few days ago) was very gloomy and dark. The cinematography in this video is pretty good, especially how the camera circles around the members during various sections of the video. The shot where they are jamming out to the song looks a little awkward. But overall, the video is quite good and compliments the song quite nicely.

[Updated] The choreography seemed fitting but I thought it lacked quite a bit. They could have gone down a more impressive route for the performance, given the song style. I liked how they let CNU and Sanduel have their solo moments during the beat drops.

Song –  9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance –  7/10 [Updated]
Overall Rating – 9/10 [Updated]

 

 

[Double Review] Something Special + Smile – SECHSKIES

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I know I am a few days late but here is my SECHSKIES review for their latest comeback. The 90s boy group is back with an album full of new songs by the boy group, a first for the group since their disbandment in 2000. Last year, they made their highly anticipated return and the group’s performance in the past year so far has proven that they still have what it takes! The two lead title tracks for their album are Something Special and Smile.

Something Special seems to lack that ‘Something Special’. The song is quite nice, let me just say that. It is a mid-tempo Summer ballad-like song that seems to be nice and easy to the ears. The guitar strumming along gave the song a very wholesome feel. The vocals were great. The main issue about the song is that it just didn’t stand out in the crowd.  It didn’t have that level of appeal that other groups (at this very moment) are delivering. The song felt like that flat line analogy that I used to speak about. When I listen to the track by itself, I don’t really remember much from it. To sum up, the song just didn’t get anywhere and that left me disappointed.

Smile takes the ballad feels from the previous song a step further by making it a full-on ballad. Unlike the previous song, however, Smile did end going there and it felt like a stronger title track. The instrumental had a nice build up and their voices reflected the buildup quite nicely. But as crazy as it sounds, I couldn’t find that much interest in me to listen to the song. Multiple times, I end up skipping the song before it finished up and I guess it could be because the song didn’t do a good enough job of making it appealing.

Something Special‘s music video was a lot more appealing than the song. The imagery within the song is quite interesting and like many of the shots due to the cinematography. However, some shots looked incredibly plain, mainly the solo shots throughout the video. They felt like last minute additions and incredibly awkward in compared to the rest of the video. Smile‘s music video felt just right for a ballad of that nature. The speed and the fading of the group/people in the video felt perfect and it reflected the atmosphere quite nicely. 

The choreography for Something Special was okay but it also felt very awkward. I don’t know why I feel that way, but every time I rewatch the performance, I just can’t seem to shake that feeling off.

Something Special
Song – 7/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 5/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10

Smile
Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7/10 

[Review] Take My Hand – APRIL

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April has returned during the week with their third comeback of 2017. The girls made their first comeback at the start of the year with April Story and in May with Mayday. Their third comeback is in the form of their 4th mini-album, titled as Eternity and the title track is Take My Hand.

Take My Hand has one powerful instrumental. From the very start to the end, the instrumental has been the standout aspect of the entire song. The mix of classical with the electronic synths sounds really cool. Their vocal work in this song is pretty good. But the song is far from perfect. The first major observation is that the song didn’t have that catchiness that makes many KPOP songs addictive. Going hand-in-hand with that observation is that the song does really peak as well. It remains relatively neutral and it would have been better to have it kicked into a more addictive gear with a hook. The next thing I noticed was that the song seemed to be jammed together. Rather than having small breaks along the way, it felt more like a blur and in combination with the idea that the song doesn’t have any catchy moments, the song does fall behind its competition and the girl’s previous tracks. While there are aspects that I like, the song does fall short.

The few times I have watched the video, I thought it was boring. But after looking into it in detail, it actually became quite interesting. Essentially, the plotline is that the girls are shy and are hesitant when it comes to confessing to their crush. Their crush just seems to brush things off and goes on with his day. Wanting a second wish, they find this prayer that allows them to have a second chance at confessing to the guy, which in the end, they manage to get. Quite an interesting storyline, considering how it fits in nicely with the accompanying English lyrics. The choreography scenes look great but I am not a major fan of their outfits this time around. Not one to mention it, but it was one of the first things to pop into my head when I watched the video the first time around.

The performance is quite nice, but it doesn’t have a memorable move or sequence. I did like their jammed-packed chorus because there was a mix of elegance but also a little abstract from what I can see.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7/10

[Review] DNA – BTS

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BTS has made their return to the stage with their latest mini-album release, titled as Love Yourself: Her. The lead title track from Love Yourself: Her is DNA. Ths is their first major release since winning the Billboard’s Top Social Artist award and Internation Artist at the Teen Choice Awards. Congratulations to BTS once again for their wins but for also representing KPOP at the big stage!

Once again, BTS has put out a great song. It is their most upbeat song, in my opinion. You can tell from the song’s brighter start with the guitar and pop-based instrumental. The whistles at the very start capture your attention and give a little mysterious vibe to the song. Interestingly, the song takes a turn and becomes EDM based, with a pretty good drop only after the chorus. I personally thought the mix between the two was quite nice and refreshing even though it seems a little mainstream nowadays. Per usual, the vocals and raps were quite good but they don’t seem as captivating as their previous songs. I am in love with the bridge where V, Jin, Jungkook and Jimin slide in for their parts and that jaggered instrumental that followed for the final chorus was amazing. Overall, I liked the direction in which the song was going, up until that point. The “La La La‘  that followed was the most awkward part and didn’t fit in with the rest of the song. But minus the disappointing ending, the song was amazing overall.

This is their most colourful video to date. The colours that they used in the background popped out to grab your attention, which was like the song. I also liked the member’s interactions with the camera, which I thought was pretty cool. Even Suga smiled for a second in the video. The camera work was definitely another wow factor, especially the tricks used to film the V to J-Hope transitions at the start. And while I have only watched the video a few times so far, I wonder how they told the story this time. A part of me like BTS releases because of their concepts and storylines. And the fan theories, which make the video different each time you view them. So if you know cool ones, pop a link in the comments below so I can read about them!

[Updated] The performance for DNA is exactly as we all expected. All very cool moves and quite sophisticated in some parts. My favourite part was when they tangled their arms together and moved their arms as if an electric wave was passed through their arms.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10 [Updated]
Overall Rating – 9/10 [Updated]

[Double Review] Runaway + I Love You – Bobby (iKON)

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Bobby from iKON is finally making his solo comeback. Runaway and I Love You are the two title tracks off his self-composed full-length album, which is a surprisingly amazing feat from a solo artist. The album itself is titled as Love and Fall and consist of 10 tracks in total. He previously promoted as a solo artist with Holup!, just before debuting with Mino from Winner as MOBB.

Let’s take a moment and give Bobby an applause for Runaway. Just by reading the title of the song, you can tell that this song is going to go deep. The lyrics are just proof of that. But moving to the song, the main reason to why I asked for an applause because it ticks all the right boxes. The instrumental/melody/ beat was intense and built up to be quite epic. His delivery of his lines and his vocals just fit the song so well, channeling the emotions of the lyrics soundly. I really liked the roughness his voice added, which contributed to that intensity that the song had. Bobby nails this one perfectly.

As for I Love You, the song is more upbeat and less serious compared to Runaway. But it stands out for its own reason. The tropical house sound goes nicely with Bobby’s vocals, which he has turned the roughness down a bit for this song. The song is quite catchy and has a nice drop. I like his changes in tempos, especially during the bridge of the song where he goes from fast to slow and then back to fast. It makes sense and feels right. I do like the song quite a bit, but don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t sound as spectacular and epic as Runaway.

Runaway‘s music video consists of a lot running. Just in case if that wasn’t obvious. But the video, overall, left a deep impression on me. Along with the lyrics, the video is something that I  relate to. Sometimes, you just want to run away from everything that surrounds you. The literal meaning of the quoted Bible verse seems to go well with the video as well. The music video for I Love You is a complete turnaround. Like the song’s sound, it reflects the Summer season nicely. Watching it makes me miss Summer. But honestly, it felt like a standard Summer video, with nothing else to offer.

Hopefully, there will be some performances of these songs. Ideally, Runaway won’t have one and I Love You demands one. I won’t include the numbers for now (because things do look a little bleak with the music shows) but shall return if he does get around to performing them!

Runaway
Song – 10/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 10/10

I Love You
Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9/10

[Review] Summer Rain – GFriend

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GFriend has made their return with their repackaged album for Parallel, which has been titled as Rainbow. The girls were last on stage a month ago promoting Love Whisper. This time around, their lead title track is Summer Rain.

Summer Rain, in my opinion, takes a step back from the girl’s usual style. I say that because the song lacks intensity and focuses on a more ‘innocent’ sound. Why do I think that way? The lack of electric guitar is one the one thing that got me from thinking that. Despite the group already mastering the innocent concept, the infamous electric guitar has always been featured in their title tracks and that provided a blast of intensity. Instead, for this song, the intensity seems to be spread evenly throughout the song through the more orchestral based instrumental. Their vocals, which is quite good here, also lends a hand in that aspect. That is just my rough analysis/thoughts and comparison to their past songs (and by no means am I an expert in music, so that could all be wrong). Overall, I like the song because it is different (though the electric guitar will be missed). I think the sample that they used gave a bitter- sweet sound that almost reminds you of rain droplets, which matches the song quite nicely.

The music video, like the song, was captivating. I felt drawn to the music video due to the music. While it doesn’t seem that different compared to other GFriend music videos out there, their concept was quite nice. The pairing of the two could be described as refreshing almost. The video features the girls waiting for their special someone to come but towards the end of the video, each of them realizes that special someone isn’t going to come for them, leaving the girls standing in the rain alone. I think it is a video done right for the song.

The choreography is quite nice. The music calls for a softer side of their choreography and that is exactly what you get. Some of the moves, from the music video, (what I think) were ballerina moves. You can also tell that they elegance is portrayed through to the dance as well. The ‘flower ending’ looks very nice and has become my favourite part so far (and I haven’t seen a full performance yet!).

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9/10

[Review] Rolly – Good Day

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Good Day made their official debut at the end of August with Rolly. Given their debut date, I should have endeavoured to release an earlier review for it, but due to certain reasons, it had to sit on the sidelines for the past two weeks, until today. Good Day is a group under C9 Entertainment, consisting of 10 members!

Like the name of their group, listening to the song will put you in a good mood, because it will make it into a Good Day. Hahaha… The song centres itself within the retro world that KPOP always gets right. It is dominated by brass and mostly anything else that you would consider retro. The song is really catchy, especially that “Rolly Rolly” repetition post chorus. My favourite parts are the rap sequence in the pre-chorus. It gave the song something extra, to prevent it from getting too repetitive. Their vocals are great, matching the retro style. The weakest moment of the song is definitely the slowed down bridge. It literally cuts the song’s strong retro and catchy melody then and there. It just didn’t feel right and after 2 weeks of listening, I can say that it still doesn’t grow on me. Overall, I think it is a great debut song.

The smart thing with this video is that it features Bae Jinyoung, who is currently promoting as part of Wanna One. It drags the attention of fans to Good Day’s music video. It is a tactic that has been used an infinite amount of times by many Korean companies. And it seemed to do the trick, I think. But besides that, the video is pretty much boring. It is your typical KPOP video and it doesn’t really set it a part from the rest of the competition.

The performance is okay. Many famous retro performances in KPOP have a key dance move. This one doesn’t really have one or I really cannot identify it. The intensity of the performance which they deliver was good, but I feel if they could find a marketable key dance move, I am sure they could have earned some recognition along the way.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 5/10
Performance – 6/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

[Review] I’m The One – MXM

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MXM is a brand new duo from Brand New Music to enter the music scene. The duo is made up of Im Young Min and Kim Dong Hyun. Both of them participated in the recent show Produce 101 Season 2. And while I’m The One is their official debut title track, they released Good Day and I Just Do in July this year, kicking off their careers.

I’m The One starts off pretty standard and I initially thought it was just going to be an okay song. But once we hit the chorus, the song ended up being much better. I like the direction the song went and how catchy it became especially with their ‘I’m The One’ repetition. I like the freshness of the song, fitting in nicely with the now gone Summer season. Favourite part was the bridge. The raps and the vocals were quite good. But they weren’t great. And that leads me onto the main issue with the track. It could have been kicked up a notch and make into a more epic song. But it seemed like they played it safe. It ended up being a little predictable and a little experimentation to give it some flare or make it stand out of the crowd. But I am not to trouble by it and I just can’t help but go back for some more.

Fitting in with that Summer vibe, the duo’s music video does the job perfectly. It isn’t the most interesting video out there but the brightness literally makes the video pop out. I don’t have much else to say about the video though.

The performance that accompanied this song was spectacular. And it is not only them but they were in-sync for the entirety of the video, along side their back dancers. Even though it is something that is seen commonly, the presence of a group in sync with each other looks amazing, regardless of the moves pulled off.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

 

[Review] Like A Flower – BLACK6IX

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I try to keep up with the releases but sometimes I fall behind. BLACK6IX’s latest comeback was actually released on Sunday that had just passed. Like A Flower is the group’s first comeback since their debut earlier in the year with Please.

The song itself is quite good. Like A Flower is an EDM based song that sounds very standard for the most part. However, the song seems to change up a bit when it comes to the chorus. You hear strings being plucked throughout the chorus which gives it an intriguing feel.. I am not exactly sure what the exact instrument is (since Asian countries have similar instruments) but it reminds me of an Asian zither. And by using that, it made the chorus quite ear-catching. The vocals are quite good but at times, it felt like there was little to no energy behind them. I think that was the only thing in the entire song that could have been enhanced. But what stood out the most, to me, were the rappers. It was dynamic and added a level of intensity to the song. However, I do feel that a rougher and intense song could have given an even better platform for the raps to shine even brighter. While I didn’t actually sit down and review their debut song, there is clearly potential behind the group given the releases of both songs.

The music video could have been better on so many levels. The entire video was slowed down a notch and it didn’t match with the music. It was painfully obvious. Not sure if it was an editing issue but I am sure they could have done better. Some of the members couldn’t lip sync properly and it too didn’t fare well. But besides those details, the rest of the video managed to pair well with the song. The dark and tough vibes you can hear throughout the song were displayed nicely throughout the video, such as the lighting and haziness caused by the smoke.

Have they had a comeback stage yet? I tried searching for one but can’t seem to find one. From what I can see in the music video, the dance is good. There were a few moves that I liked, such as the ‘Flower’ move (seen it before but it still looks cool).  It doesn’t really feel impressive though, which made it feel less captivating.

Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 510
Performance –  7/10
Overall Rating – 7/10

[Review] Like This – Pentagon

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Pentagon has made their return to the stage once again this year with Like This. They previous promoted Pretty Pretty and Critical Beauty earlier this year. Currently, Pentagon is in the spotlight due to Hui, who has also produced some popular songs currently circulating the industry at the moment, such as Wanna One’s Energetic.

Like This has a more serious tone compared to any of Pentagon’s songs. And with that serious tone, there is a lot more angst within the song, which makes it an interesting aspect of the song. The instrumental has been stripped back quite. It isn’t heavy in terms of sound, which I actually like. It did have a very dull feel to it but the other aspects (i.e. vocals and raps) gave some the song that angst and character. Vocally, I think this is their best effort yet. It doesn’t really present us with anything new, but rather the vocal style fits the more serious side of the song. But to me, the best and worst part of the song was the rapping. The raps, for sure, felt perfect for this song in my opinion. When they needed a little intensity to keep the song intriguing, the raps came in at the right moments. But that rap sequence right after the first chorus was, what I would deem, as the weakest moment of the entire track. It was good but the way they connected it to the slow verse felt awkward and too sudden. But besides that, great song.

The darker concept went well with the song and I personally thought they would continue with the concept throughout the song. But that ending when they have fun and throw E-Dawn up into the air didn’t feel just doesn’t carry that same momentum. But besides that, each member’s individual scenes, where some showed angst, complimented well with the song.

The performance was quite good. It might be due to the slower music tempo, but I didn’t find it as captivating as their other performances. The moves weren’t that groundbreaking but they seemed to fit the song.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Review] I Loved You – DAY6

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Today is the 6th day of the month.  So naturally, it is time for the monthly DAY6 review. Last month, they returned with What Can I Do? and now this month the song is titled I Loved You (and the continuation of last month’s video).

The song marks the band’s return to their emotional side. The rock ballad song actually sounds nice. That being said, there isn’t anything groundbreaking or new about the song. It does sound pretty standard from the start to the end of the song. But I like it that way.  The instrumental isn’t too heavy and compliments the softer vocals and emotional side of the song as well. Talking about the vocals, they sound quite nice but it isn’t amazing like so of their other works. While we know DAY6 for their versatility, the group played it safe with a very neutral song for this month.  I am not too troubled by that though but it does dampen my expectations for something different from the band. It wont be my go-to DAY6 song but it will easily satisfy my ballad craving that I habe periodically.

The music video is the continuation of the same before from last month. Here we see a lot more character development. Young K is cocky, hence why no one wanted to be around him the previous video. Dowoon is popular due to his good looks and intelligence. Jae is in love with another girl, while Sungjin makes his moves after mustering enough courage to talk to his crush. Poor Wonpil, who was left on the bus and looking at Sungjin in a heartbroken manner. The most interesting friendship from this video has to be Young K and Dowoon’s. The latter defends the other but gets bashed in the process. However Dowoon stays close by and help his new friend out by buying medication for him.  The connections between the videos make it very interesting to watch. Furthermore, the band scenes in the dash look awesome and very fitting. 

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Review] Power – EXO

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The return of the superpowers that EXO debuted with! Per tradition, EXO has made their return with the repackaged album of The War, which has been renamed to The War: The Power of Music. This repackaged album features all the songs from The War (such as Ko Ko Bop) and it also features 3 new songs, one of which is Power.

EXO went with a totally new sound with Power. From their reggae influenced Ko Ko Bop, Power centres itself within the genre of Pop. I personally like this. It is right up my alley. Sure, it isn’t a brand new sound nor does it experiment with anything. But sometimes, you just need to return to the good old days and listen to some pure pop (like what I grew up with). What I initially thought was the song felt like your typical EXO side-track that you would find on the album, not a title track. But don’t get me wrong, this is one really good title track. The intensity from the instrumental was just right and paired well with the other elements of the song. I like the bright atmosphere, which suits the exiting Summer season which just ended in South Korea. The song itself is catchy. The “We Got The Power” line rings in my head even after the song ends, which is indicative that it is going to be one catchy song. Vocally, this is an amazing effort from the group. I felt everyone shined equally and it was definitely one of their best (in my opinion).

But I don’t think the song is the main focus of the comeback. It has to be the music video. I watched 5 minutes of what? I don’t know. No one knows. I personally thought that they despised their superpower debut. But it seemed to return in this comeback. Just it is hard to decide whether this is a recovery from that debut or if it adds to the shame that I believed they expressed in the past in regards to it. The acting was cringy. I’ll say that. And the way they posed for their individual shots. But it all adds to the humorous side of the video which I thought was an aspect of the video that was appealing. I personally felt the robot invasion theme was more suitable for an album titled as The War. Sighs. It has come to the point where I am going to say I like this video quite a bit. It is better than saying I want to roll up into a ball and cringe on their behalf.

[Updated] The performance was not what I expected for some odd reason but I like it. I am actually slightly addicted to it. My favourite part was the slow motion stepping at the end of the song. Besides Kai’s winks going viral, Power gave them room to be a little carefree and that is what I enjoyed the most about it.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10 [Updated]
Overall Rating – 9.5/10 [Updated]

[Review] Honeymoon – B.A.P

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B.A.P has made their return to the stage with a brand new single album, titled as Blue. Honeymoon, the title track for their 7th single album, marks their first comeback since Wake Me Up earlier this year.

Honeymoon is one awesome song. Let me just it out there. The song starts with some intriguing whistles. It then leads into an electronic based dance song, which I thought sounded amazing. The instrumental felt very Western and it could easily have been released in America and attracted some attention for its easy going sounds and beats. It kind of builds up but it isn’t as noticeable compared to other songs. The first verse/chorus felt quite slow and underwhelming. That was probably the biggest letdown of the song. However, from Zelo’s rap onwards, the song manages to kick it up a notch and sound more energetic and impactful. Jongup’s section in the second chorus was phenomenal and everyone else contributed towards an intense ending, which makes it so much more different compared to what I felt at the start. The ending did feel abrupt but it felt right for this song and Himchan’s vocals were on point to the song. It is not a perfect song but it is going to get a lot of replays in the weeks to come.

The music video was quite aesthetic in nature. And the cinematography of the video was quite nice, which allows us to take in beautiful landscape and seascape fully. The scenes must come together somehow and tell a story. Not exactly sure what the story is and I don’t think there are any fan theories about the video. But there has to be a connection between smashing a baseball bat into a computer screen, releasing goldfish into the sea and pouring a bottle of wine down into a grassy field. And I liked watching the video. Just someone cut the mullets and remove them, please? I don’t get this trend that is going on but I thought mullets were the shameful past of the 80s, not the new decade.

[Updated] The performances waits for the chorus to kick before blowing the viewers away. Especially that first chorus, where they had the cascading effect with Jongup in front. That was fluid and amazing. They did do some standing around, which took away that amazingness but they made up in their vocals/raps each time.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10 [Updated]
Overall Rating – 9/10 [Updated]

[Review] What U Like – Lee Gikwang (HIGHLIGHT)

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Lee Gikwang, who is commonly known to be part of HIGHLIGHT (formerly Beast), was actually previously a solo artist under the stage name of AJ before he debuted with the group. However, his solo career was put on hold for the debut of Beast and has not promoted as a solo artist since his debut in 2009. Until today, where he dropped his track What U Like and 2nd mini album, One.

The track is underwhelming. It doesn’t appeal to my taste and it just doesn’t have the energy that I sought. I can see why some people would like it. It has some nice hooks and the overall sound contributes to a nice atmosphere. The track is easy on the ears and seems to separate itself from the competition for its combination of styles. The song is a mashup between that ongoing tropical style trend that KPOP has been experiencing and that minimalistic style of music. But the two doesn’t really go together. Tropical based music is meant to be energetic and the minimalistic nature just kills those vibes. And the same can be said the other way around. The vocals were great. They actually have this smoothness to them, which I thought was cool. This is just my personal opinion at the time of writing. It may or may not change with even more listens in the coming weeks and months. Gikwang’s solo return is definitely much appreciated but his song doesn’t do the job for me. (There is actually another song on the album which drew my attention: Misunderstand. Check it out here!).

The same can be said about his music video. I liked the setting (some urban place in Korea that keeps popping in music videos) and the cinematography was pretty good. The use of those coloured clouds looks amazing, as well.  But I found the video a tad boring to watch. Besides some solo shots and choreography, there isn’t anything else in the video to talk about. So I am going to poke at something that I usually don’t speak about. His outfits in the video look really good. I would never be able to pull off his style and it makes me slightly jealous.

Gikwang is known for his dancing. From his solo stages to his group work, there is a lot of expectations for his comeback in terms of choreography. There hasn’t been a full performance yet. However, from what I see in the music video, I think it looks like it is going to be a nice performance to look out for.

Song – 5/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 6/10