Category: Reviews

[Review] Marvelous – MIRAE

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Returning today is MIRAE, with their new single and third mini-album, Marvelous. The new release comes after MIRAE wrapped up 2021 with their debut single KILLA and first comeback single, Splash. The group have been receiving nominations for Best New Male Group or Best Rookie Group throughout the current award season, with them also receiving a nomination for the equivalent award in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. I will be announcing the winners in the near future. But until then, here are my thoughts on Marvelous (the title track).

Marvelous is a bold dance track that just really jumps right out at me. The boldness and ‘jumps right out at me’ part can be attributed to the catchy hook at the song begins with (i.e. the ‘Ma Ma Ma Mars‘ and the ‘Na Na Na Now‘). And this alone is quite addictive. Otherwise, Marvelous is a strong dance pop genre song. It is on the more typical side, but it is still a clean and upbeat dance track. The catchiness of the hook adds a vibrant tone to Marvelous and takes the song to the next level. The verses were pretty good, with solid vocals/rapping from the members and an intense instrumental buildup paired with some slightly monotonous yet powerful rapping for the pre-choruses. Said pre-choruses were actually another highlight in Marvelous for me. As for the bridge, it was the most interesting part of the song. There are two halves to it. The first half features vocals that seemingly adds a bit of flirty attitude and flair to the song. I quite enjoyed it. The second half of the bridge is more so an EDM break, where a shrilling texture is added to the song. Some vocals remain here, but the melody is lost in favour for the instrumental. This was a more dynamic change, but it added a different flavour to the song. Overall, I appreciated how the bridge kept the charge and momentum of the song, despite changing Marvelous a bit. It also added excitement to the song, which is a common theme across the board throughout Marvelous.

I am not entirely sure what is happening the video, but I might have a theory. It opens up with Dongpyo running away from someone. He is also coming from the direction of Mars based on the ‘To Mars’ sign on the door, which might indicate his origin as Mars. Anyhow, he later wakes up and looks into the space via his telescope, before donning an astronaut’s helmet and appearing in front of the other members (which I am guessing are on Earth). His presence intrigues the other members (and also felt slightly creepy during certain parts) and they follow him to the room with the big telescope and planets around them. I am not entirely sure what the significance of this big room is, but my big guess is that the room awakens everyone (they had no idea who he was at first, but at the end seemed to know him quite well). It appears like the entire mission was Dongpyo to reunite with his friends who also used to be on Mars as well (based the scene we get of them on Mars and the existence of the photograph), but they were somehow taken to Earth and their memories were wiped. In the end, the friends reunite. A slightly confusing storyline, but overall a good concept.

The routine looks dynamic and energetic, fitting the song quite well. The bridge section of the routine also adds to the powerfulness of the choreography. It is a bit hard for me to make further comments as we are limited based on what we got in the music video. But for now, I think what we saw is good enough for a 8/10 rating.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Unforgettable – Kim Jae Hwan

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One of the comebacks that occurred whilst I was on break for Christmas and New Years was made by Kim Jae Hwan. The soloist wraps up the year with his fourth mini-album (The Letter), which was released as soon as the Christmas holidays had passed and we were in that limbo awaiting the new year. Leading the charge on this mini-album is the title track Unforgettable. This is Kim Jae Hwan’s second comeback in 2021, with the first being April’s I Wouldn’t Look For You.

Unforgettable is a ballad that captivates me. And I am sure the song has captivated a lot more people as well. Without a doubt, the standout element of Unforgettable is Kim Jae Hwan’s vocals, who really portrays the heartfelt emotions and sadness behind the lyrics so well. I really enjoyed how powerful and piercing the vocals are during the chorus, with this really pulling your attention right into his vocals and helps with captivating me. The instrumental for Unforgettable is more on the typical side of ballads, with an orchestral backdrop to Kim Jae Hwan’s vocals. But this doesn’t weaken the song. In fact, I feel that the orchestral elements help build Unforgettable, allowing Kim Jae Hwan’s vocals to reach its powerful nature in a balanced and regulated manner. And like other ballads that captivate me, Unforgettable gets me closing my eyes to take the entire song in and swaying along to the melody – signs of a great ballad. To me, there is nothing wrong with Unforgettable, earning the second 10/10 of the year!

In addition to the emotional vocals we get from Kim Jae Hwan, the music video brings an additional emotional layer that really gets to you. Well, it did for me, at least. Kim Jae Hwan sings about unforgettable memories, which the music video shows he shares with the female character. The pair appears to be quite close, donning matching wooden rings. However, we do see that there is a bit of hesitancy in the relationship from both parties. Soon, we are lead to believe that the couple breaks up and we see Kim Jae Hwan adjust to the lack of his companion. However, I think the ending reveals that she in fact had passed on (this was a bit of a hazy detail in the story, and I wished it was better clarified) and that he was laying flowers at the site where she died, with the flowers bounded to one another with the same wooden ring in which the pair had exchanged with one another. While this wasn’t a plot twist, it just made the story incredibly sadder to watch and made the song more emotional upon reflection. Kim Jae Hwan’s acting in the video was also very good in this video.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10

[Review] Blessed-Cursed – ENHYPEN

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Also beginning the week off is ENHYPEN, who is back with their latest single, Blessed-Cursed. The new single is the title track from the newly released repackaged version of the group’s first studio album, once titled Dimension: Dilemma and now retitled as Dimension: Answer (both of which I will be fast-tracking/reviewing as one album review post this coming weekend!). Previously, the title track for Dimension: Dilemma was Tamed-Dashed, which was released back in October 2021.

Blessed-Cursed in a mix of hip-hop and rock. which is an interesting blend of styles. The electrifying rock was more so in the background, coming through underneath the trap elements. Both blended well with one another, brought on great energy and were a satisfying combination that ENHYPEN pulled off well. Naturally, I feel that the two genres do go hand-in-hand with one another, as intensity is something I associate with both genres of music. And no surprises here, I feel like this intensity was a common thread that pulled the two sides together to form Blessed-Cursed. It was quite a tense track to listen to, and for some reason I felt wrong to pause the song half way while listening to it. You could also feel the intensity in Blessed-Cursed via the vocals and rapping. I do wish that the ENHYPEN members were more ‘in-your-face’ with their delivery. They seemed to come to us in that direction, but as usual, I wanted more. Blessed-Cursed also ends in an unsatisfying manner, and I wished the song had better closure. Overall, I feel like Blessed-Cursed was a pleasant track, with a few minor improvements to make it even better. But I do feel like it is a bit safe. I wished Blessed-Cursed was more experimental. While staying safe seems to be the way to go with newer groups, I do feel like ENHYPEN’s in a position to try something new and stand out (with their success thus far and their company to back them up if it the experimentation were to backfire).

The music video goes back in time to the moment in which the world ticked over to the new century and millennium (i.e. the countdown between 1999 and 2000). Concept-wise, it was fun to see cinematography and outfits from that era. Only people in 1990s could pull off wide ankle pants like what we saw in the video, and make it not be a terrible look. Well, with a few exceptions – ENHYPEN now falls into that group. But other than that, the crispness of the quality of the video and the vibrant colours we did get (blue, white and red) are all definitely from a modern era. It was a good video overall that showed off visual and choreography. Fun fact: I found it funny that the concept went back to 1999/2000, given that none of the members were born then (the oldest member, Heeseung, was born in 2001).

The choreography for this comeback incorporates that intensity that I mentioned earlier in the review really well. It is a strong performance from the group, as always, but powerful in a subtle manner. I really like the various hand work in the performance, particularly the vibrating hand movements we saw when the members sing ‘Don’t Stop‘ in the pre-chorus.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] DESSERT – Kim Yo Han (WEi)

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Kickstarting the new week is Kim Yo Han’s solo comeback. For those who don’t know Kim Yo Han, he currently the leader of WEi (a six member male group under Oui Entertainment) and is a former member of the short-lived X1 project group formed via Produce X 101. He is also an actor, currently known for the recently ended School 2021 drama. On the music front, Kim Yo Han made his solo debut a month prior to his debut as part of WEi with No More back in 2020. Today, Kim Yo Han returns with the mini-album Illusion and title track, DESSERT.

Kim Yo Han’s return is a more track when compared to No More. That one I was not much of a fan of. As for DESSERT, I feel that it fairs a bit better. However, reading over my review of No More, I can’t help but notice that a few elements of his solo debut track were also brought over into DESSERT, namely his vocals. I still find them dry and bland in DESSERT as per my main gripe about his solo debut track. They just don’t excite me, nor provide much expression or character to the song. There was a bit of amplification for the chorus. And while I did enjoy the pop melody here, I am still of the opinion that more can be done on the vocal front for this song. The bridge was interesting, with Kim Yo Han playing towards his strength here. Instead of a usual high note as per most KPOP songs, he instead opts to fade his vocals out. It isn’t spectacular, but it different aspect to other songs which I had noticed, and made the relaunch into the final chorus satisfying. As for DESSERT‘s instrumentation, I felt that it was too mainstream and safe – not really offering more than other KPOP dance tracks. However, I do appreciate the funky touch it had, which helped make the song a bit more appealing to my ears. This really helped pull me through the song and made DESSERT‘s centrepiece a bit more enjoyable. Once again, Kim Yo Han’s rapping was the song’s best part and pairing it with the funky nature of the instrumental was wonderful. Overall, DESSERT is a step in the right direction but still doesn’t show Kim Yo Han off as much.

Like the song itself, the music video and overall concept for this comeback takes on a much darker concept than when we last saw him as a solo artist. The mysterious vibes at the start of the video really pulled me, and I naturally wanted to find out what happens in the video. In the music video, we see Kim Yo Han tied up and undergo a transformation from pure to dark. At one point in the music video, we see Kim Yo Han take a bite of an apple, representation of the forbidden fruit, which caused the transformation. The forbidden fruit in this video represents the irresistible love in which Kim Yo Han likens to dessert in the lyrics. It is a topic that has been approached by many concepts in the past, but it is interesting to see how different companies and groups portray the story. And I feel like this music video did it clearly and well, whilst also using a lot of red.

The performance has a sensual tinge to it, which made the performance interesting and kept me around for the whole performance. Some of Kim Yo Han’s facial expressions were also on point. I also liked the laidback vibes that I also got from the performance, which were well incorporated and helps makes it more alluring.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] Universe_ – ONEWE

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Returning earlier in the week was ONEWE, with their new lead single, Universe_. And yes, the underscore is purposely present in the title of the song for whatever reason. Universe_ is featured on the band’s second mini-album, Planet Nine: Voyager, which dropped on Tuesday. This comeback follows the June 2021 release of Planet Nine: Alter Ego and Rain To Be, the release of single STAR (which I will review at a later date), and the release of the collaboration single with their brother group ONEUS, STAY (which I will also review at a later date).

I found Universe_ to be a stunning and beautiful track. The new song is a ballad for the most part, though the song develops more into a rock ballad as the song builds. Universe_ starts off as a very delicate piece with soothing and warm keyboard melody and soft vocals from both Yonghoon and Dongmyeong. This lasts for all of the first verse, before Yonghoon takes us into the chorus. I love the breathtaking nature of Yonghoon’s part. The instrumental is stripped to its bare minimum (i.e. the sparse use of keyboard once again) before the band instrumentation comes into play. His vocals were also so delicate and soft like how the song started, but ended up escalating in such a satisfying manner as the band instrumentation comes into play. The second verse was a lot shorter, given that it didn’t need to build as much as it maintained the band instrumentation. However, I thought the melody to be so beautiful in this part of the song. Not sure why, given it was the same melody throughout the song, but it just felt so pleasant and neat here. After the second chorus, ONEWE brought to us a relatively powerful electric guitar solo that just has the right punch of energy for Universe_, after which the final chorus is played out with the energy from the guitar solo also being maintained throughout via the presence of some high notes from the band’s two vocalists. To really reiterate Universe_‘s roots as a ballad, the song slows down for its outro, bringing back the song’s delicate and soothing start to close out the song. Overall, Universe_ delivers a great song and addition to ONEWE’s discography.

The emotions didn’t really hit me as much when I listened to the song alone. But it definitely hit me when I listened to the song in tandem with the music video. I liked the homey vibes of the first half of the video. We see the members individually, and then with their love ones. Not entirely sure if they are really the members actual love ones, but I assume the additional characters represent either siblings, friends, lovers, mothers, grandmothers and pets. The members then go on a road trip to bury a time capsule-like object. At first, this part threw me off. It was such a warm vibe video, but then they switched it a industrial mining site in the night time. It was a random change in scenery that I wished wasn’t the case. Maybe something closer to home would have been approriate (i.e. trip down to the beach, for example). Anyhow, after burying the capsule, the members start running around in like a celebratory manner as the song reaches it peak. Those additional characters run alongside them, making it look like whatever is buried in the capsule is actually a piece of those additional characters that the ONEWE members hold dear to their hearts. This got to me (just loved the beauty of this final set of scenes) and it brought a tear to my eyes.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10

[Review] Do It Like This – P1Harmony

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Next up is P1Harmony’s comeback single, Do It Like This, which is featured on the group’s third mini-album since debut, Disharmony: Find Out. This release is their first comeback in eight months, following the likes of Scared, which earned them a nomination in the Best Rap & Hip-Hop Song and is one of my picks for Best Song in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. I will be announcing the official winners of the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards (voted by the fans) later this month, so you will need to wait and see if P1Harmony emerges victorious. In the meanwhile, check out their latest song!

From the get-go, Do It Like This steps back into a more generic territory of hip-hop dance music. This thought registers even before I started comparing the new song with Scared (which holds onto its title as P1Harmony’s best song). Compared to Scared, Do It Like This is definitely less innovative and individualistic. But even though I describe it as ‘generic’ simply because Do It Like This is exactly what I think of when I think of hip-hop and dance together, it isn’t a terrible song whatsoever. Do It Like This is a fun, energetic and party-anthem like song that feels just right. Nothing in the song did not disappoint. The vocals and rapping were nailed perfectly by the members, delivering as much energy and drive to the song as the instrumental had. And while on the topic of the hip-hop dance instrumental, there was a nice sense of groove to the song that made Do It Like This so much more appealing to me (and that is saying a lot given that I am not too much of a hip-hop fan). The hooks make Do It Like This lively and memorable, which adds an additional layer of appeal and catchiness to the song. Furthermore, I think the hooks and overall energy to the song are growing on me, so I see myself diving deeper into the song in the coming days and weeks. The vocal bridge is the section with the biggest question mark for me. I find it doesn’t fit the rest of the song’s hip-hop vibes and would have liked if they went with something more appropriate sounding/fitting. Overall, while a step in a generic direction might have been the case here, Do It Like This still manages to deliver.

I am not entirely sure what the story line for this video is, but it seems like it has something to do with the start of a new age. Piecing the music video and the prologue together, it appears the members finding the place where ‘the light divided from the darkness’, which is where the group ‘resets’ their watches to realign them with the ‘first day’. In other scenes of the video, it appears that the members are partying it up prior to finding that location (based on the dusk like lighting we get) and the night time scenes. And there seems to be some celebration after finding the location, based on the scenes in the day time with the dancers.

The synchronisation is insane in the stage performance for this comeback. It is definitely a highlight for me. Other parts of the choreography that also stood out to me was the platform (made up of the dancers legs) at the start of the performance, the lead member at the start of the chorus rejoining the rest of the members/dancers after having a mini solo moment (again, insane timing and synchonisation here) and the airplane formation we get in the second verse.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.2/10

[Review] Crazy About You – UP10TION

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The next comeback from yesterday to be reviewed is UP10TION, who returned with their 10th mini-album, Novella, which is lead by the title track Crazy About You. This is the group’s first comeback since the release of CONNECTION and SPIN OFF back in June of last year. As per their last comeback and since their 2020 Light comeback, UP10TION continues to promote as an seven member group, with no news of Lee Jin Hyuk or Kim Woo Seok returning to the group any time soon and leader Jinhoo is still serving in the military.

Crazy About You is another decent song, though it might be another forgettable release from the group. Personally, I don’t find anything special or innovative with the song. It just feels like a standard release with a sentimental tone and EDM/orchestral blend instrumentation. Nothing memorable pings me from Crazy About You, which is bit of a disappointment since I think the song is a good indication of UP10TION’s abilities. Following the likes of SPIN OFF, which was a lot more vibrant and punchy with its vocals and instrumentation (though this may be attributed to the Summery season in which it was released), Crazy About You feels like a meh and boring release. But that being said, KPOP has delivered vibrant and punchy dance tracks in the Winter season in the past, and so I think this shouldn’t have limited the song. Anyhow, while Crazy About You does falter in comparison on their previous comeback and is a lot safer in terms sound, there was enough within the song to like still. And well, the entire package was quite enjoyable to listen to. The vocals and rapping from the members were solid work, and the EDM/orchestral blend instrumentation was fine as well. Once again, I reiterate that Crazy About You was not innovative, but as mentioned earlier on, it is still a strong showing overall. I think a strong melody or hook would have made Crazy About You stand out more.

It appears that the UP10TION members have taken on board a more mature look for this comeback. While Crazy About You does take on an undeniable sentimental tone, the members looked sensual and sophisticated look in their choreography scenes and the art gallery scenes. It does sound like a bit of a mismatch in terms of sound and visuals, but I think it works. On the flip side, the members also show boyfriend or boy next door visuals during their flashback scenes, which comes about when they inspect the artworks within the gallery.

I think the main reason to why those outfit works with the sentimental tone is that the choreography takes on the sentimental side of the song. The moves weren’t crazy powerful to match the instrumental, nor sexy as per their outfits. Rather, the moves were more so on the delicate side of things. Like the song, nothing original. But it was a good performance overall. I particularly like the backwards walking in the chorus, and how that helped make the chorus feel fresh each time.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.3/10

[Review] WA DA DA – Kep1er

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Kickstarting what is already shaping to be a busy 2022 is a very long list of comebacks and debuts. The first release that I have selected to be the first review of the year is Kep1er’s debut single, WA DA DA, which officially dropped yesterday. For those who don’t know, Kep1er is a nine-member project group under WAKEONE and Swing Entertainment, formed through the survival show Girls Planet 999. The final lineup of the group consist of Choi Yujin (former CLC member), Shen Xiaoting, Sakamoto Mashiro, Kim Chaehyun, Kim Dayeon, Ezaki Hikaru, Huening Bahiyyih (sister of Heungkai from TXT), Seo Youngeun, Kang Yeseo (former member of Busters). The group was originally meant to debut back in December 2020, but some of the members contracted COVID which resulted in the postponement of their debut to yesterday.

WA DA DA definitely has potential as a debut song. For the most part, I quite enjoyed the song. But there were some parts that I did not like and created holes in an otherwise decent track. I would personally put WA DA DA into the ‘girl crush’ style of music. I know it is a generic sound in KPOP, but I just wished the producers of WA DA DA kept to just that. There seemed to be a desire to capitalise on the member’s youth, and so there are all these cutesy elements inserted into WA DA DA that I believe do not fit in with the the ‘girl crush’ concept. A prime example of this occurring is the two halves of the chorus. I really enjoyed the sassy attitude of the first half of the chorus. This felt great following the promise from the verses and rapping elements in WA DA DA. The second half of the chorus disrupted this energy and diverted the song into a more cutesy direction with high-pitched vocals, which I felt was a wrong move. The producers of the song could have just picked one direction and done that one extremely well, with my obvious preference being the girl crush sound. In other promising areas, the bold and strong vocals in the pre-chorus stood out for me. The other part of WA DA DA which I am a bit torn about is the song’s title and main hook. Looking back, it has its merits and is catchy. But I feel WA DA DA is a bit elementary and childish. It didn’t really fit in with the intense moments of the song, and hence I felt that it brought down the quality of the song. For a debut track and all the hype behind Kep1er, I expected something more solid for WA DA DA and not as flawed.

The music video was definitely going towards that girl crush concept direction, which I didn’t mind. Generic as it is, it isn’t a terrible concept/idea. Just unoriginal. I did like the post-production effects on this video, like how the members kept on disappearing and reappearing during the bridge/first half of the final chorus. Plus all the mini lightnings that were coming from their hands. It added a much cooler vibe to the video.

The performance overall was quite good. Again, I wished the performance went in one of the two directions (i.e. girl crush vs. cutesy). We get a mix of both here. I understand that the performance would need to conform to the song, so they did fine in this department for the WA DA DA that we got. I did like the different ways the members got into formation throughout this performance. I am, however, unsure of the various hand movements they had in the choreography, not sure what what they were to represent, if anything.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 6.9/10

[Review] Poison – Pink Fantasy

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Poison is nominated for Best Rock Song in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support Poison by clicking here to vote today!

The final song that I am reviewing from the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Song which I have yet to review is PinkFantasy’s Poison, which I have nominated as part of the Best Rock Song category. Poison was released way back in June of this year, and is the title track of the group’s first mini-album since their debut, Alice In Wonderland. This is also my first time reviewing PinkFantasy, which is currently eight member female group under MyDoll Entertainment. The group has undergone extensive lineup changes since their 2018 debut and the current lineup consist of Daewang (the unknown masked member – to be revealed in the future), SeeA, Yechan, Harin, Momoka, Arang, Miku and Heesun.

Personally, I have not followed PinkFantasy that much since their debut. My exposure to the group has mainly been their more cutesy and cringy music. Some of them were flagged for review in the past, but never went forward with a review for them due to priorisation of other releases. As a result, Poison also went under the radar initially. I only gained knowledge of the song’s existence after reading many reviews for it. And I am glad I did read those reviews, as Poison is purely an underrated rock song this year. It is an intense dance track that taps into the rock genre for some of its instrumentation. After the first chorus of the song, Poison concentrates this rock sound into screamo rock, which aligns with the intense feeling that the dance part of the song exudes. It also makes Poison a unique track in KPOP, as screamo rock isn’t really explored that much (based on my memory, which is already on holiday mode for your information!). Based on what I read, PinkFantasy has explored rock before, but Poison really shows a different of the group from what I gather. And based on my initial thoughts on PinkFantasy, that is also my personal impression. Poison also featured strong vocals from the members, complimenting the mature vibes of the rock influence song. I got J-POP vibes from Poison when the members sing in unison with one another for the chorus. Definitely a satisfying section of the song that I find extremely memorable. But the peak of these strong vocals have to be the vocals (courtesy of Seeya and Yechan) during the bridge and high notes that we get at the end. It gave Poison a wow factor and amazes me each time I listen to the song. Overall, Poison is a highly recommended rock song to check out from 2021 if you have yet to do so.

Amazing visuals throughout this music video. It definitely gave me the creeps and had me on the edge of my seat, even though the storyline wasn’t as developed as I hoped it to be. As a horror movie lover, I find this incredibly disappointing. I would have loved for the video to explore something scarier and I feel that the music video definitely has the set up for this direction. The video opens up with this cult-like ritual. I would have loved for the director/producers to really explore this in depth, as there is so much potential behind such a concept. I also feel like the video can be creepier. For example, the choreography scenes had a hallway off to the side with curtains blowing about. You can see a bit behind the curtains, and this would have been a great opportunity to have a ghost (perhaps some related to the ritual) stand behind those curtains intensely staring at the camera. Anyhow, that’s just my imagination running wild. What we got is also fine and worked well enough.

The performance for Poison took on a mature and sensual route. It definitely gives me a different vibe and impression from what I personally associated to the name PinkFantasy. I find their facial expressions to be fitting for the concept of the comeback and really helped made the stage more captivating to watch. Their live performance was impressive, especially considering how tiring the choreography looks. I also like the dance breaks we get during the screamo part of the song, and at the very end. Definitely intensifying.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10

[Album Review] Rumination (10th Mini Album) – SF9

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SF9 is nominated for Best Male Choreography (Group) for Tear Drop in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support SF9 by clicking here to vote today!

Next up on the album review agenda is SF9’s 10th mini-album since their debut, RUMINATION, which was released at the end of November. RUMINATION is headlined by the title track TRAUMA, and also wraps up their 9lory series that has spanned two years now. Alongside TRAUMA, the mini-album also consist of six other sides tracks, all of which will be reviewed in this post today. RUMINATION and TRAUMA follows the release of TURN OVER and Tear Drop earlier on in the year.

RUMINATION Album Cover

1. TRAUMA (Title Track) – Click here for TRAUMA’s full review. (8/10)

2. Memory – I really enjoyed the minimalist vibes of Memory. There was a bit of a beat to the R&B track, but it does not get in the way of the piano that plays eloquently throughout the background. The rapping in Memory is superb, delivered in a manner that was quite airy, breezy and ballad-like in a way. The vocals were also really nice, with the melodies and hook being quite catchy. Dawon’s ‘Faded Love’ was quite a showstopper from the vocal department as well. (9/10)

3. Dreams – Dreams takes it up to notch with a more upbeat and heavier dance instrumentation. While the electronic parts of Dreams are very typical, it is still quite a dynamic and robust piece, and I can imagine a very strong performance from the group if they had chosen this as a side promotion track. The vocals stand out in this song, thanks to the melodies and hooks we get from Dreams. Their technique was quite good. The rappers had a nice bite in their parts and the song satisfyingly edgy. (8.5/10)

4. Gentlemen – Gentlemen takes on that sophisticated style that I have grown to associate with SF9 following the likes of their previous title tracks such as Good Guy, Summer Breeze and Tear Drop. There is a bit more energy out of this song thanks it the instrumentation, however, which makes Gentlemen a bit punchier and livelier. I also like the violins in the song. Both the vocals and rapping were quite strong and well-executed in this track. (9/10)

5. On and On (잠시) (Youngbin, Inseong) – On and On is a track from Youngbin (one of SF9’s rappers) and Inseong (SF9’s main vocal), taking on R&B genre. I liked the elegance of the instrumentation of On and On, which felt sensual and felt appropriate for a classy club at the same time. I really like the pairing of the two members, with Inseong bringing the emotions in his vocals and really nice ad-libs, and Youngbin provided fitting rapping that added a nice intensity to the R&B song. (8/10)

6. Scenario – Scenario seems to follow a similar thread as Dreams. It is a very upbeat and fast-paced dance track that I think SF9 would have nailed on stage, as well. The percussion that followed the first chorus was quite playful and gave the song an interesting notion. Great and smooth vocals in this song, as well. That high note at the end was amazing, and I liked the jaggered entrance to the final chorus. Once again, the rappers of SF9 nailed their sections. The rapping in the second verse felt classy, while the sequence at the end threw in a last-minute punch. Overall, Scenario was a highly dynamic track and would be a song that I recommend you check out. (9/10)

7. For Fantasy (오늘이라서) – Based on the title alone, you can tell that this is a fan-service song. Its tone brought a smile to my face, and I am sure SF9’s fans would find this song touching, wholesome and lovely. Objectively, I find For Fantasy to have nice melodies and nice pop ballad orchestral instrumentation. The members also sound really nice. Overall, a nice ender to the album and this era of SF9 releases. (8.5/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8.6/10

RUMINATION Teaser Image

[Review] Good Night MY LOVE – Soyou

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Good Night MY LOVE is nominated for Best Ballad in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support Good Night MY LOVE by clicking here to vote today!

The second of the two ballads to review from the Best Ballad category from the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards is Good Night MY LOVE by former Sistar member Soyou. Good Night MY LOVE was released back in March of this year and is her final release with Starship Entertainment (her company for 11 years, which she officially left in September).

Good Night MY LOVE falls into the ballad and R&B category of KPOP. But is much softer than your typical, and can be passed off as a lullaby. And I feel that lullabies are more ballads and I listed it as a nominee for Best Ballad in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards, as specified above. However, don’t let the ‘lullaby’ deter you from listening to Good Night MY LOVE. It is not boring or a dry song that puts you to sleep. Instead, I found it captivating and a beautiful track. Good Night MY LOVE is warmly instrumented, with an instrumental made predominately of acoustic guitars and piano. To me, the instrumental was a bit sparse and almost like a blank canvas. But this paired with Soyou’s husky and soulful vocals, you get a soothing and calming number that acts in a similar sense to a lullaby. Soyou’s touching vocals are the pure focus of the song, due to the sparse nature of the instrumental, and this really helps make the song captivating as her vocals carry you away. I also get a really touching vibe from her vocals. Now, the following might put you off the song, but I am intrigued by it and would like to hear some thoughts if you have any. I had to relisten to Good Night MY LOVE a few times to really make sure about this next point though. Within the background of the song, I heard snippets of a male voice. It felt like an echo and they were very brief. Personally, I am not too sure about them since it could have been a mistake or possibly even intentional. You don’t really pick up on them if you are listening to the ballad in a casual sense. They are masked well and are very very minute. But if you really pay attention (like I have for this review), they kind of stick out. Maybe my mind is paying tricks on me and there is nothing there or I have mistaken something else for a male’s echoey voice. Hopefully, I haven’t deter you from listening to Good Night MY LOVE.

The artsy music video features four characters (though one of them – the assistant – doesn’t get enough screen time). Each of these characters are struggling in one way or another. The female character is looking for a job. She is happy to hear her friends managed to find one, but is sadden that she is left behind once again. The male character who works at the pet shop that sells only fishes is an aspiring actor who is stressed over an audition and insecure about his skills. The second male character is the director, who is struggling to put together a story for his next project. Each of these characters are struggling, but they all put on a brave face and push on. The lyrics of the song talk about a star that is looking over them and ‘protecting them’ from the struggle. At the end of the video, we see the four characters come together. The director has put together a story to work with, the second male character lands his audition and the female character finds a job. They look happy with their struggles out of their way. Soyou also appears in the video, singing. Her high position in the video make her seem like that star looking down on the characters. My only issue about the music video is the lack of English subtitles at the end. We had them at the start, but they were omitted from the ending which doesn’t make sense to me. But overall, an artistic and aesthetic music video.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10

[Review] Moving On – Kyuhyun (Super Junior)

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Moving On is nominated for Best Ballad in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Super Junior is also nominated for Best Return To Industry. Support Kyuhyun and Super Junior by clicking here to vote today!

The next category I am focusing on reviewing from the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards is Best Ballad. Of the six nominees, I have not reviewed two releases). The first is Kyuhyun’s January release of Moving On. Moving On is part of a series of songs that focuses on each season, 2021 Project: 季, with the song in question representing the season of Winter. Throughout 2021, Kyuhyun has also returned with the singles Coffee (representing Spring), Together (representing Summer). A similar previous project, Project: 季, came about in 2020 and included Daystar (Autumn) and Dreaming (Summer).

The Best Ballad category was on the last categories for me to finalise as it turned out that I didn’t know of many ballads from this year. So I spent a lot of time in the lead up to the announcement of nominees in October sifting through many ballads to see which one was worthy of a nomination. I stumbled across Moving On during this period and was in awe. Moving On is actually a remake single of Hong Seok Min’s 2015 release of the same name. What really took hold of me was the buildup of this ballad. As it progressed, Kyuhyun continually pushed out what I thought were the fixed boundaries of the song with his vocals. They started off soft, but they ended up soaring at the end. These are the type of ballads that I like, where the song itself aren’t just linear or consistent. It makes the ballad more appealing, captivating and dynamic in a balladry sense. On top of pushing out the boundaries, Kyuhyun portray the emotions behind Moving On extremely well, especially when the song builds. Maintaining that emotional heft has to be commended with Moving On, as that was the main driver to why I became attracted to Moving On. To accompanying the building vocals was a classically orchestral instrumented background. It definitely added to that captivation and dynamic sense that I had mentioned. And per usual, everything in Moving On came together to elicit that swaying effect that I used to gauge the effectiveness of a ballad.

Alongside Kyuhyun who sings in this music video, there are Gong Myung and Chae Soo Bin, who are the main characters of the story and are in a relationship. This is a continuation of Coffee and Together‘s music video, where the pair are seen in their younger years developing feelings for one another and making a move on the other. In this video, we see further happy memories of the couple in flashbacks. In present day however, Gong Myung’s character is moving on knowing that the relationship was not going anywhere. Chae Soo Bin’s character is unaware of these developments in her relationship, but did spend some time wondering why Gong Myung’s character was not getting in touch with her. When he does, he proposes for them to meet up and go on a date. It was a nice date, with the pair smiling throughout. Over dinner, it appears like he mentions his feelings and ends the relationship. Gong Myung walks away with a sad face on, but he isn’t devastated like Chae Soo Bin was (showing us that he had indeed moved on), while Chae Soo Bin was in tears at the table and as she walks away. The end shows Chae Soo Bin waking up, thinking her partner was still around. But it becomes a reality that their relationship is no more as she gets up alone and realizes that it was just her imagination. I liked the golden glow from the music video’s lighting for majority of the video, which gives the video a warmer and comforting tone which compensates for the emotional and heartfelt story that we got.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.6/10

[Double Review] Spit It Out + Rain On Me – MAJORS

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MAJORS is nominated for Best New Female Group in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support MAJORS by clicking here to vote today!

Today’s focus will be on the remaining artist whom I have not reviewed yet from the Best New Female Group category from the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. I am talking about none other than MAJORS, who scored their nomination for their constant activeness in the industry year since their debut in March of this year. MAJORS is a six-member female group under ANS Entertainment (the home of the now disbanded ANS), and its lineup consist of Ida, Vita, Aki, Bian (the sole former member of ANS who stayed on board with the company), Suzy and Shinye. 2021 saw the group debut with the single Spit It Out (will be the focus of this review). They also release single Rain On Me (which will be reviewed in this post as well) and Shining Star.

MAJORS releases never stuck out at me at the time of release. Maybe that is why I hadn’t posted a review for them. However, I have noted myself to pay attention to their songs many weeks after (coincidently as I am removing them from the Weekly KPOP Charts that I post every Sunday). Their debut track, Spit It Out, sounds good. I thought the ‘Spit It Out‘ hook was catchy enough and the song’s main whiny instrumental synth hook, though annoying at first, ended up charming me. I will admit that the song isn’t perfect and it is one of those that feels under-polished and could have been much better had the mixing of the song been better. For example, Spit It Out would have been more impressive had the chorus hit harder, the beat wasn’t as sluggish and the instrumental had not been as dull. It would have been nice to hear something with a bit more liveliness, vibrancy and colour, and with a sharper beat. I feel like their vocals could have seen a bit more oomph, but I felt like we didn’t get much from than due to the constricting nature of the song. But there was some good moments, such as the members as backing ‘Ooh‘ in the final chorus and the bridge overall. Overall, there is a need for a lot of improvement in Spit It Out. However, it is only their first track. In an over-saturated market, it is beneficial to stand out in some manner with your first foot in the door and Spit It Out did not do that. But that didn’t deter me from picking up their next release.

Rain On Me is the title of their first comeback following Spit It Out. It is a definite improvement from Spit It Out and actually ticks some of the boxes on what I wanted from their debut track. The instrumental was not dull or sluggish. The EDM (even though typical) and the brass elements in Rain On Me really helped bring up the liveliness, vibrancy and colour of the song. That alone is already a strong appealing factor for me. Sure, the generic EDM didn’t innovate and it basically reinvented the wheel. But I think the instrumental of Rain On Me enabled the group to showcase a more vibrant vocal performance with a bit more of that oomph and energy that I wanted in the previous song, And this showcase promised potential. That is a sure positive for a group starting out. On the topic of vocals, I liked the addition of rapping and variety in tones throughout Rain On Me. It definitely bumped up the dynamic nature of the song. I also felt the instrumental break we got for the dance break also helped with that. The bridge was also nailed, in my opinion. Overall, Rain On Me had almost everything I wanted from the debut track, and frankly, they should have debuted with this song. But regardless, it is a step in the right direction for the group’s career.

The music video for Spit It Out is undeniably under funded and low budget. Everything looked pretty cheap and their outs did not fit the concept of the song whatsoever. Based on the background, I felt a club or casual type of outfit concept would have been more appropriate. The video also seemed awkward at times, especially during the close of the members. They either looked lost or emotionless. Can I blame the members? Not really. The budget is beyond their control, and I felt the producer should have picked on the other flaws of the video. For Rain On Me, the more vibrant colours and brighter lighting helped make the video feel so much more fitting for the song. I feel the sets for this video were a lot cooler and gave off a bolder look, relative to Spit It Out. The idea of a low budget still lingers when I watch Rain On Me, but it also a definite improvement and this pays off heap for the comeback.

The most positive aspect of Spit It Out‘s release was the choreography. It didn’t seem so if you watched the music video only, but they were in sync throughout and the moves were pretty decent. I would have liked it more had the facial expressions showed off a bit of charisma and attitude for this particular routine. The synchronization is maintained for the Rain On Me choreography. In better news, the facial expression definitely improved for Rain On Me. The dance break also looked cool. But it isn’t a smash out of the park. Unfortunately, the routine attached to the chorus was boring to watch.

Spit It Out
Song – 6/10
Music Video – 4/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 5.7/10

Rain On Me
Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.7/10

[Review] WHY DON’T WE – RAIN ft. CHUNG HA

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WHY DON’T WE is nominated for Best Collaboration in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. CHUNG HA is also nominated for Best Female Solo Artist, Best Outfits, Best Female Choreography (Solo) and Best International Song by a Korean Artist (Western). Support WHY DON’T WE and CHUNG HA by clicking here to vote for the song today!

RAIN returned with the mini-album Pieces By Rain back in March of this year. The mini-album features the title track, WHY DON’T WE, a collaboration between RAIN himself and CHUNG HA. Based on the title of this post, it is obviously the focus of this review. Pieces By Rain also features other collaborations, such as RAIN & JYP’s collaboration from the end of last year – Switch to Me (which was originally considered for a nomination for the Best Collaboration category), a collaboration with some members of Ciipher (Come Over), Jackson Wang (Magnetic) and a solo song, Aurora. WHY DON’T ME is the final song I will be reviewing from the Best Collaboration category for the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards.

What stands out at me in WHY DON’T WE is the song’s flair and style. It is ultimately the reason why I nominated it for Best Collaboration in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. It is incredibly stylish, trendy and modern, all of which are impressions that you would want a song to tick off in this current age. And I personally feel that ever since its release in March of this year, these same descriptions would have applied (and they still do!). I really enjoyed the harsh piano that we get as an instrumental hook in this song, which had the added benefit of being memorable. I also really enjoyed the upbeatness of the song and the subtle intensity that the background captures (which also enables a cool and sharp performance – more on that later). WHY DON’T WE also has vibrancy and never really had a dull moment when you consider the instrumentation. It is the vocals and singing that weakens the song. Not by much and I personally don’t mind it, in retrospect. But sitting down to review WHY DON’T WE made me think long and hard about the song, and I just have to be honest. RAIN is excessively autotuned in this song. It is a bit odd when you look at the song as ‘bigger picture’, as CHUNG HA didn’t have much autotune on her one section of the song. I wished the producers toned down on the autotune, simply to balance and be on par with CHUNG HA’s section. Talking about CHUNG HA, she sounds great in this song. However, I do wish we heard more of her in WHY DON’T ME. I am not satisfied enough! With the hooks and lines, I do feel that WHY DON’T WE was stuck in a loop and a bit repetitive. Overall, WHY DON’T WE shines because of its instrumental, but the glow isn’t as strong thanks to the vocal aspects of the song.

One of the things RAIN is known for in KPOP is his style, and I feel that the music video does a wonderful job of capturing that style. I also felt that having CHUNG HA in the music video, even though her part in the song was limited, also helped with making the video more stylish. I liked the mysterious vibe of the video, courtesy of the closeup shots of RAIN himself. I don’t know if they form a story, or are there just to be mysterious for style only. But I don’t mind whichever was the intention of the video’s producer. Black and greys are stylish tones and I liked how they was used throughout the video to bring forth that visual effect. The odd presence of colour (mainly shades of red), such as CHUNG HA’s outfits, the red sand during the second chorus, the red piece of fabric that was twisted around the dancer in the air etc. added a refined touch to the video.

On top of the stylishness of the music video, the choreography was also the other heavy aspect of the music video. Another thing RAIN and CHUNG HA are known for is their choreographies and performances, and a collaboration between the pair on this front, logically, would be amazing. Well, spoiler alert – it was. I really like the footwork in the performance, along with the sexiness and charisma that the pair brings to the stage. Again, I wished CHUNG HA made an appearance towards the end of the performance to really wrap it up. But what we got was also fine.

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

[Review] My Universe – Coldplay & BTS

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My Universe is nominated for Best Collaboration and Best International Song By A Korean Artist (Western) categories in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Award. BTS is also nominated in the Best International Song by a Korean Artist (Western) for Butter. Support either My Universe or Butter by clicking here to vote today!

Today’s reviews will be focused on the songs that I have not reviewed yet from the Best Collaboration category from the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. One of the songs that I will be covering is a very big release that I should have reviewed when it was first released (end of September 2021), but haven’t gotten around to it. Until today! I am obviously talking about My Universe, a collaborative single between Coldplay and BTS. My Universe ended up being a single on Coldplay’s most recent album release, Music of the Spheres.

My Universe is one of those tracks that I found myself singing along to and that is thanks to its simple melody. When you consider the melody side of the song, you find it very straight-forward, simple (as already mentioned) and extremely pleasant. While these are limiting factors in some songs, I find these aspects to be big wins for My Universe. I also find this to be vital and clever, as My Universe draws together English and Korean lyrics. It may not be a mind-blowing idea, especially since we get a lot of English in Korean songs in KPOP on a day to day basis now. But I feel the execution of the two languages in this song in particular to be a substantial effort. And having the one singular melody throughout manages to pull the two languages together and creates a seamless song to enjoy. I also find the same melody to work with the message of the song, which is about bringing us all together no matter what world we are in. This is such a relevant message to give today. As mention before, My Universe is pleasant to listen to. Part of this comes from the melodies, but the other part comes from the vocal work. Both Chris Martin and the members of BTS pretty much maintain a soft approach. Even when the music hits hard for the chorus, they don’t really stray away from this idea and keep it fairly consistent throughout. Even the rapping from the members of BTS had that pleasant vibe and kept a low profile. The band and synth instrumentation was also a nice combination and enable My Universe‘s pleasant vibe. We get a slightly heavier, rougher and more intense synths in the final sequence of the song, which definitely helps complete the song (based on how the song supposedly finished off) in a fun celebratory manner, which I guess wraps up the song’s message nicely. Overall, I quite enjoyed My Universe, and found it to be a collaboration that I did not think I needed in 2021.

I quite like the premise of this music video. Coldplay, BTS, robots and aliens are all on different planets and seem to have a smashing time together, vibing to the music in hologram form. I will admit some scenes looks a bit cringy, but it definitely all relayed the same message of how much everyone enjoyed their time with one another. At the supposed end of the song, silencers came through to stop the music and everyone was forced to stop their jam session. But the final instrumental sequence proved that they can’t be stopped, and even though we might be apart from one another in current times, we can always still have a good time as ‘we are all in the universe’. That’s my take on the video, I wonder if there are any others out there? Other than that, I quite enjoyed the production side of the video. The CGI looked super cool and very detailed (like movie budget style).

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.4/10

[Review] Happen – Heize

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Happening is nominated for Best R&B Song in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support Happening by clicking here to vote today!

Next up from the Best R&B Song category is Heize’s Happen, which was released back in September this year. Heize’s nomination in the category comes as no surprise, given that she has is one of the females soloists at the very forefront of the genre. Despite that, it has been a while since I have have reviewed a track from Heize, with the last one being First Sight from the end of 2018.

As mentioned in the above paragraph, Heize is one of the biggest names in the Korean R&B industry, which is thanks to her unique voice that is so made for the genre. And I feel that Happen is such a good introduction to Heize, if you haven’t really paid attention to her before or are listening to one of her songs for the first time. One of the drawing points to this song is Heize’s nasally voice. It gave Happen such an interesting colour, texture, tone and maturity. To assist with all of that, Happen has such strong melodies that make the song so memorable and stand out. I found myself repeating the song a few times thanks to the combination of both her voice and Happen‘s melodies. It actually got Happen onto the review list for a brief period, but it ended up getting sidelined for other reviews when it was first released. What I also really liked about Happen was the groovy instrumentation. The instrumental draws upon mellow acoustic sounds for the verses, and a combination of funky electric guitar and house beats to create that groovy chorus instrumental. It definitely helped Happen standout a lot had the producers went with something more typical or jazzy. I also enjoyed the upbeatness it provided the song, which isn’t something I tend to think of when I think of R&B or Heize. Overall, Happen is a great piece that utlislise and presents Heize extremely well.

Happen poses the question of ‘what if’ two people are destined to be lovers, but because they don’t pay attention or miss each other by mere second, they are unable to act upon that fate. That is exactly what we get in this music video. The music video features both Heize and Song Joong Ki as the two people who brush past each other on the daily without much thought or just miss each other by a second in some circumstances. There is definitely potential for them, as we see at the end of the video when the ‘what if’ scenarios resulted in the pair interacting with one another. But unfortunately, it doesn’t eventuate as both don’t really notice each other or talk to one another. I find the concept quite thought-provoking and interesting. I also like the style of the video and the sets. I also find it to be quite aesthetics. The colour palette chosen for this video seems to be influenced by one of the shots, which resembles the Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks painting. Both Heize and Song Joong Ki’s acting was quite good as well.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.8/10