Category: Reviews

[Review] SO BAD – STAYC

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It is time for another review for a newly debut group. This time, we are covering a female group who is garnering a lot of attention. According to Wikipedia, this six-member female group received 2.4 million views within 24 hours of their music video release on the 12th of November. And their single album, Star To A Young Culture, sold over 10,000 albums within the first week – the first female debut to do so this year. Massive feats for a newcomer. STAYC, for those who don’t know, is the first female group to be produced by Black Eyed Pilseung under High Up Entertainment, who is extremely well known in the KPOP community for the many chart topping hits they have produced previously (TT and Roller Coaster to name a few). The member lineup consist of Sieun, Seeun, Sumin, J, Isa and Yoon.

STAYC’s debut single is titled SO BAD. But the song isn’t so bad itself. My first impression of the song was that I noticed the song had a recent APINK (I’m So Sick era onwards) vibe. To make sense of this, I did some research and STAYC’s producer, Black Eyed Pilseung, actually was the producer of those APINK songs. Go figure! It will be interesting to hear if this song was previously directed to APINK’s discography (but was rejected), as this is a common event that occurs in the music industry. Though the more I listen to SO BAD, the more I get the impression that this song was reserved just for STAYC. Firstly, I felt the instrumental was more relentless compared to APINK’s work. The retro instrumental’s bubbly effect just felt like it was continually coming at us and never felt like it took a breather. Secondly, I feel the members really do a good job of putting their own spin. It felt like there was a fair bit of attitude in the song, which is courtesy of their vocals. I quite like this, as it is this element that gives the song some oomph and drive, which really helps strengthens the song. I particularly like the pre-chorus and chorus sections of the song, which had the most energy and colour in the song. I also really enjoyed the whole bridge section, which had really satisfying high notes and showed off more vocal power. The group’s rappers’ voices are surprisingly deep, but I was totally digging their parts. I would love to hear more of them in their songs Overall, SO BAD lives up to the hype that they have generated. I just wonder if they can continue it with their subsequent comebacks.

I personally am not a fan of the video. While the editing was good and the quality was amazing for a small company, I just felt the sets were a bit typical. It looks like a mash up of different music videos put together. That aside, the group’s visual game is evidently strong, with their closeups blowing me away. They looked really stunning.

Their choreography was actually quite good. There isn’t really a killer move, however, though I was impressed with their introductory sequence that opened the song. It was different, but there was a nice formation and had this interesting aura to it.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10

[Review] Tears of Chaos – E’LAST

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E’LAST’s Tears of Chaos is one of the many songs I have yet to get around to reviewing. But with the reduced number of releases coming out at the moment, I thought it would a great time to tap into that growing barrel of songs and pick a few to review. Tears of Chaos follows their debut single Swear, which perked my interest back in June. Released mid-November, E’LAST have been actively promoting the new song since. For this promotional run, Wonjun is not participating due to conflicting schedules and hence the group is left with a temporary seven member lineup.

Tears of Chaos is another gripping song from the group. The start is purely chilling. There is a stillness to this section (thanks to the piano) that I find so captivating. The start is further enhanced by the remarkable rap-speak sequence brought to us by Wonhyuk, which infuses all of this intensity into the song that just really pulls you in. The soft vocals that follow adds to that chilling vibe and brings it a whole new level. To me, these parts felt like the ‘calm before the storm’, with the clanging beat in the background of the verse allude to the dramatic flairs to come. When more of the beat kicks in soon after, you can hear more of the incline in momentum, which makes the promise that the chorus was going to be epic. Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed with the chorus. I wanted something more dynamic and had more power channeling through it. What we got was a melodic take on a classical mashup with heavy dramatic synths, which definitely an interesting route to take. It works well with the rest of the song, but I guess I am hungry for more. But the song isn’t over yet. What came after the first chorus was the rapping and that blew me way. To me, Tears of Chaos peaked with intensity during the second verses and Rano and Wonhyuk showed us that they can be really extremely passionate and dynamic. Similarly, that little section just before we go back into the ‘calm before the storm’ mode (or is not ‘calm after the storm’ mode?) showed us an extension of that dynamism, with the members providing us more kicked up vocals and raps despite the music ending. Overall, Tears of Chaos impresses as a whole. I may be have been let down slightly with the chorus, but the rest of the song compensated.

While I really like the aesthetics for this music video and the overall imagery throughout, I cannot figure out the story that they were telling in the video. And I am not going to even try to attempt to make sense of the video. But I would like to hear any theories you may have about the video. I particularly like the idea of the zoetrope set, which made the video appear cooler. I also really like the vibrancy of the blue in the sets and the dominance of a colour in the other sets. Definitely aesthetic and visually appealing to watch.

I really liked how eerie the performance was. The music lends extremely well to this description. Their facial expressions were really well thought out. I wished the moves a little more dynamic. They felt quite flowy and loose, which I didn’t feel suited the song. Similarly, the formation felt very spacious and I wished things were a bit tighter. However, the flying member we see towards the end was an epic moment for this choreography.

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

[Review] Amusement Park – Baekhyun (EXO)

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Baekhyun is nominated for Best Male Soloist in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Vote for Baekhyun and your other favourite artists now by clicking here.

Baekhyun has made a surprise comeback with Amusement Park. No one saw this release coming, with news of a comeback dropping out of the blue. This follows Baekhyun’s first studio album Delight, and the title track, Candy, which both dropped earlier this year. Both the album and title track landed him a nomination in this year’s KPOPREVIEWED Awards for Best Male Soloist, so make sure you go vote for Baekhyun if he is your favourite male soloist by clicking the link above. And after you do that, come back to continue reading the review.

Amusement Park falls into the genre of R&B, a style of music that we know Baekhyun for fondly when it comes to his solo works. It is a nice, warm and soothing track that really highlights his vocal ability once again. There was this huskiness to Baekhyun’s vocals that enhanced the smooth texture of the song. It also sounded like he went into a falsetto mode for certain parts, which further showed off his ability. The song has this very melodic flow, one that makes me sway along to the song and drove it forward in a graceful manner. The instrumental was quite soothing and keeps true to the R&B genre all throughout. That warm feeling I mentioned before was very apparent, especially thanks to the classical instrumentation that was also present in the song. I would have liked a hint of something more in the song, like stronger ad-libs to give the song a bit more oomph. But what Baekhyun presents us in Amusement Park is already quite fantastic and touching.

We don’t actually have a music video for this release. The accompanying video for Amusement Park was a live video, which featured Baekhyun singing live to the camera. He was appropriately positioned in front of a merry-go-round in an amusement park, fitting with the lyrics of the song in which he compares love to an amusement park. I love the golden hue that the lights from the merry-go-round gives the video, which goes really well with his skin tone and the warming feelings of the song I mentioned earlier. My only complaint with the video is that he looked somewhat distracted. But honestly, that could have been just me being distracted from trying to find something to nitpick in this video.

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

[Review] I Just Can’t Stop Loving You – Jang Hyunseung

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A name that we haven’t heard from for a while now is Jang Hyunseung. Fans of KPOP back in the early 2010s should know who this person is. But in the off chance that you don’t remember who he is (or if you are new KPOP fan), then I got you with a brief recap of who Jang Hyunseung is. Jang Hyunseung is a soloist currently signed to Cube Entertainment and was a former member of Beast (now HIGHLIGHT) and (formerly) one half of the Trouble Maker duo. Most recently, he has been one of the many KPOP idols who had to enlist and was released from the military earlier this year. He kicked off his solo career back in 2015 with Ma First (which I personally was never a fan of) but has since not released any new music. That is, until last Thursday when he made his long awaited solo comeback with I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.

I Just Can’t Stop Loving You is a definite and solid improvement from Ma First by a long way. The song tethers between pop via the verses and synthpop for the chorus. It was a nice mix (my favourite part has to be the drums at the start of the song), though not very interesting in practice or in words for this review. However, anymore elements or robustness to the instrumentation would have taken away from the song. Judging based on the title of the song (and confirmed with an English translation), I Just Can’t Stop Loving You‘s driving force is emotions of heartbreak and yearning to be with a former lover. I feel that if the song was a tad more dynamic, the emotions would have overshadowed or missed. For the vocal side of the song, Jang Hyunseung did extremely well. Personally, I never really enjoyed his vocals even during the time he was part of Beast. There was always this hoarseness that placed him behind the other members of his former group. But in this song, his vocals were quite clear and you can feel that level of emotion in his voice. The hoarseness was still there, but it wasn’t distracting me. I also really liked how that hoarseness was used during the ‘rap-sing’ moment of the second verse. It was definitely interesting and added a new colour to the pop/synthpop combination. Overall, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You was a nice comeback for and reintroduction to Jang Hyunseung.

Jang Hyunseung drinks and wanders around for the music video. That is literally 99% of the music video. The other 1% was an image of a female that he was drawing, presumably to be the person he is missing. It all makes sense though. He simply wants to forget about her, but he just cannot do it. The only time where he isn’t wandering or drinking was when he was trying to fall asleep. And I am guess when he closes his mind, he finds himself remember her. So he ends up seeking solace in drinking and wandering the streets. I liked how the video was shot, making it look like we are seeing him from his perspective. Unfocused and rocky, but not excessively (which was nice).

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

[Double Review] Parting + A Book In Memories – ONEWE

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ONEWE is nominated for Best Band in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Click here to support ONEWE and your other favorite artists if you haven’t done so yet.

Over the last few months now, I have been promising to write multiple reviews for many songs that I have been holding onto for quite some time. One of the notable songs on the list that I keep on pushing back for some reason is ONEWE’s Parting, which was released back in September of this year. However, I am now pushing out the review out alongside ONEWE’s latest song release A Book In Memory in a double song review format. A Book In Memory is also ONEWE’s fourth comeback of the year, following the release of Q, End of Spring and Parting.

Let’s start off with the older song. Parting is a moody but straightforward rock ballad track. I will be honest that I do still find the start of the song to be quite slow and sluggish. But the rest of the song (i.e. from when the energy starts trinkling in as the first verse moved along and then the rush of energy we get in the first verse) was definitely worthwhile listening to. Everything sounded better as Parting progressed along, peaking at the instrumental break where we got rock angst incorporated into the mix, which definitely was what I had hoped for when I first heard the song (I made notes for a few of the song I have been holding back reviews for). ONEWE’s vocal work throughout the song was pretty good, but the scene stealing member had to be Cya with his dynamic rap sequence. It gave Parting a bit of edge and transformed a typical rock ballad track into something a little more unconventional.

A Book In Memories continues the rock ballad style from their previous song. I do find that the song is more balanced between the two styles of music, with the verses being more balladry and the choruses honing into that rock influence. The ‘glue’ that binds the two two sides of the song was quite well done. The rock influences were slowly introduced via the use of drums and then electric guitars. That being said, there was still a moment of a sudden change. But it wasn’t as sudden as you expected, with the slow introduction and ease into the rock influences paying off. And I liked that once we got to that point in the song where the rock was the prevalent style of music, they didn’t hold back. Vocally, the ONEWE members do another really good job. But the group’s main vocalist, Younghoon, definitely shined the most with his husky tone and that stunning long note at the end of the song.

The music video for Parting definitely complimented the song. The darkness that surrounded them definitely gave off moody vibes. The image in the background of their band performance scenes were quite aesthetic and cool looking. I particularly enjoyed the projection during the instrumental break, where different rectangles and squares in the projection came flying out.

For A Book In Memories, the music video also felt fitting and quite clever. They used the same set, outfits and set up between the ‘halves’ of the video to showcase the two different styles of the song. It sounds odd at first, but the only difference was the colour and lighting of the set. And this difference had a strong impact that separates the two halves neatly. The more balladry sections of the song had this Fall vibe to it, while the song’s more intense moments courtesy of the rock had this dark blue tinge to it. I also liked how they weren’t afraid to mix the two ‘halves’ up and this really helped bind the video together, rather than having it look like two different videos. I just wished their close ups were a little more interesting.

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

A Book In Memories
Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10

[Review] What Do I Call You – Taeyeon (SNSD)

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Taeyeon is nominated for Best Vocals and Best Female Soloist in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support Taeyeon and your other favourite artists by clicking here to vote for them. Remember, voting closes on the 31st of December!

Taeyeon joined the December comeback lineup on Tuesday with her solo release on Tuesday, What Do I Call You. This, and her fourth mini-album, follows her previous 2020 releases which includes Dear Me (the lead single from her repackaged Purpose album), her Happy single and her #GirlsSpkOut Japanese comeback. So Taeyeon has been quite busy during 2020, which has lead to her nominations for Best Female Soloist and Best Vocals in this year’s KPOPREVIEWED Awards (link above – and apologies for this shameless plug here). On with the review.

What Do I Call You moves away from Taeyeon’s pop ballad or straight ballad sound and opts for a more indie sound, which I thought was slightly different (though definitely something in her willhouse, given that she has released songs of this style before. The song is primarily driven by acoustics and then some mid-tempo beat that is brought into the song via percussion. It is a simple combination, but one that I thought was actually quite nice and pleasant. The only downside is that it doesn’t really give the song an opportunity to peak, with the song’s momentum plateauing once the percussion comes into play. Aside from that, the only element to really left discuss is Taeyeon’s vocals, which is superb. As mentioned above, she is nominated for Best Vocals in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards and What Do I Call You definitely consolidates all the reasons to why she deserves the nomination (and possibly the category overall – but that is up to you). Her vocals really bring the song’s melodies and add to that pleasantry note of the song. Another splendid song that adds to Taeyeon’s repertoire.

The music video shows us the story of Taeyeon in a post-break up limbo, unsure what to call her ex whom she still has lingering feelings for. In response to this feelings, Taeyeon signs up for this service that erase her memories of this ex (which is the panda wearing mask person). Interestingly after getting her memories wiped, she enters a hallway that brings her back to the first time she interacted with him at a party, where I assume they begin another relationship. To further back this ending up, she plays a toy crane machine and regains the same orange diary that she gave up in the memory wiping service. Likewise the polaroid of her and her ex that was hanging on her wall at the start as found still hanging on the wall at the end of the video after the memory wiping process. It is interesting video and I thought it was a clever twist at the end.

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

[Review] I’m Cold – Kim Sung Kyu (Infinite)

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Kim Sung Kyu has been absent from the KPOP stage for about two years now due to his military enlistment. We last saw him in 2018 promoting his first studio album, 10 Stories, which was headlined by True Love. Like the solo artist, not much has happened with Infinite (the group that he leads) since 2018, aside from a single release at the very start of 2019 that did not feature Kim Sung Kyu has he had already enlisted by then. Now, Kim Sung Kyu is back with new songs, in the form of the single I’m Cold and the mini-album Inside Me. This is his first comeback since completing his mandatory enlistment earlier this year.

If you forgot or did know about me, but I am a big fan of Kim Sung Kyu’s solo work. I enjoyed all of his past singles and album releases. So, I’m Cold has a a lot to live up to. Well, I am happy to report that Kim Sung Kyu manages to still have the ability to stun me with his solo release, even though there was a massive two year gap. I’m Cold is a R&B styled song with a hip-hop influence. Personally, this combination doesn’t excite me unlike his pop rock roots that I know him for. However, it is how the song comes together with his voice that really shines for me. The instrumental for this song is simply an atmospheric piece and can be described as quite minimalistic. It didn’t add much substance to the song, but it was definitely needed to create the feelings of emptiness and loneliness, which goes hand-in-hand with the lyrics of the song. The most substantial part of the song was during the chorus and that was only simply due to the amped by strumming of the acoustic guitar. The main ‘meat’ (as one would describe) would the vocals, of course. Kim Sung Kyu sounds stunning and boy, do I miss his voice. What I really liked is how the producers really emphasised the vocals by applying echo-like effects and (what I think is) an additional layer of his vocals during the chorus to bolden his main vocals. I feel like all of these (if I was correct in identifying the tactics used) really helped emphasised the idea of loneliness and emptiness further. I’m Cold is honestly slightly different to what I am used from the soloist, but it is nailed like any other song Kim Sung Kyu has attempted before.

The music video simply needed to convey two things. Emptiness/ Loneliness (as conveyed in the lyrics) and coldness (as conveyed in the title of the song). Both these aspects were effortlessly shown in this music video. Kim Sung Kyu was very alone in this music video. The ring he possesses is stuck in ice and his memories cause him to cry. There was also a moment of rage towards the end of the video as he searches for something that I felt was a great peak in his acting for this video, showcasing his loneliness a step further. The coldness was cleverly inserted. He sings in a freezer room and in the snow, which all symbolises the coldness. But the best part was when he holds onto the flower and it becomes encased in ice. I felt that was a smart way of showing that he is also cold on the inside. I just wished there was a bit more to the video, like a bit of a back story or flashback to his breakup.

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

[Review] Christmassy! – The Boyz

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The Boyz is nominated for Best Male Group, Rising Star and Best Male Group Performance (for The Stealer). Have you supported The Boyz in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards? Click here to do so now!

With December in full effect, we start humming the many Christmas carols out loud and we start hearing songs like ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You‘ play in the background of our shopping trips (it has already started to chart on the Korean music charts!). On top of that, we also see our favourite KPOP idols Christmas themed songs. The Boyz kicks off the trend with Christmassy! this month, which also commemorates the group’s third debut anniversary. Usually, I reserve these songs for Christmas Day and don’t review them. But this year I don’t plan on posting anything on Christmas Day (I will be on a two-ish week break around that time), I thought I review it now.

Christmassy! is obviously a light-hearted track and is designed to not be taken seriously, which is completely different to their previous tracks this year (i.e. Reveal and The Stealer). The jingle of bells plays throughout the video, reminding us constantly that this is a Christmas-themed track. That is, if you don’t already detect the theme from the Christmas themed title and lyrics that form part of this song. Even though the song isn’t to be taken seriously and is a nice gift to their fans, Christmassy! does have a few nice elements that make the song enjoyable to listen to. I really like the vocal work in this song. There is a lot of smoothness in this song and the vocal work is relatively light to fit in with the light-hearted side of the song. There are really nice harmonies in the pre-chorus that just made the song sound so pleasant. Even the rapping was tweaked to be playful and fitting in with the light tone of the song. The hooks aren’t that strong, but they do have a nice ring to them. And that sometimes is enough to really help make the song more enjoyable. Overall, Christmassy! is quite nice to kick back to this festive month for KPOP fans and it bound to help spread some of that festive cheer!

Do you want to smile more widely or have a bit of a laugh? Then Christmassy!‘s accompanying music video might be just the one for you. As mentioned before, this isn’t a release to be taken seriously. And this is well reflected in the music video. The video seems to be self-filmed or filmed by someone (maybe a member who isn’t on screen) on a mobile phone, capturing what looks like the members trying to compete to be the ‘prom king’ with the viewers. We see the members go above and beyond to ask the viewers to go with them to this Christmas themed prom party. There are also some great references to some memes throughout the video and there were a few moments that made me chuckle.

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

[Review] W.ALL – GHOST9

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Returning for the first time since their debut is GHOST9, with W.ALL. There are so many new male groups this year, so let me give you a quick recap of their debut. GHOST9, who are under Maroo Entertainment (the home of Park Ji Hoon), made their debut back in September of this year with Think Of Dawn. The group consist of nine members, Jinwoo, Kangsung, Prince, Junseong, Taesung, Woojin, Dongjun, Shin and Junhyung. Their debut track was described as ‘decent’ by me. I wonder if they will remain with ‘decent’ or exceed the description… Read on to find out.

Honestly, I don’t know exactly what to think about W.ALL. It definitely ticks the box for intensity and energy, thanks to the powerful chorus. The chorus was the definite highlight of the song, one that I look forward to after such verses that are so held back (in terms of energy) now that I have listened to the song and know what to expect. There are two things about the chorus that really gets me. The first has to be the epic feeling the first few seconds of the chorus felt, with the producers of W.ALL and members of GHOST9 ‘bringing it down hard’ with both the instrumentation and vocals, respectively. The second is the dynamic kick of energy we get in the second half of the first and last choruses, which really helps liven up the song and give it so much more appeal. The rest of the song is quite meh (standard, at best) and doesn’t do as enough as the chorus to really help the song. Sure, one could argue that the instrumentation for the chorus is overwhelming. That was my initial thought as well, but time really helped change that perspective. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t anything that can really change up perspective of the verses. If the verses were a little more dynamic and lively in some way, which would have better suited the chorus, I would have enjoyed the W.ALL more. With that, it looks like the group slipped a bit from that ‘decent’ descriptor.

I am a little confused about what the purpose of the massive robots in their music videos. As far as I can tell, the robot in the W.ALL music video is different to the one we saw in the Think Of Dawn music video. Are the music videos and stories meant to join up, or are they standalone music videos with just completely different stories? I can’t tell. Even standalone, I am not sure what the storyline of the W.ALL music video. The members are scattered throughout doing their own thing (cut chains to get into a restricted area, being locked up in a diamond shaped cave, getting chase by scary drones etc.). But they all meet up in the end to activate the robot in this video, which shoots a beam up to the sky. And then at the end, there were two beams shooting up at massive ships in the sky. None of this makes sense to me, and frankly this distracts me from the actual video. I will, however, applaud the sets of the music video and all the post production efforts to make this video look quite cool.

Can we just take a moment and admire their comeback showcase performance for this comeback? It occurred on what seems to be the roof of the tallest building in Busan. That is amazingly cool. Aside from that, the choreography seems like it is the most positive aspect of this comeback. It was a good routine, overall. When it came to the chorus, their moves matched the ‘hitting it hard’ vibe that the song had coming off it. The complexity of some of their formations during the verses also were a great aspect of the choreography.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.2/10

[Review] 30 Minutes Might Be Too Long – Jun.K (2PM)

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It has been a while since we heard anything from 2PM due to military enlistment. As far as I can tell, the rest of the members (Junho and Chansung) who are currently enlisting will complete their mandatory military enlistment next year. In the meanwhile, the members who have completed their enlistment (including Nichkhun) have been focusing on solo promotions. Today, Jun.K (who completed his enlistment early on in 2020) dropped his newest single, 30 Minutes Might Be Too Long, which is featured on his fourth mini-album, 20 Minutes. However, this isn’t his first song of the year. His first was This Is Not A Song, 1929, which was released back in June (which I completely missed).

Jun.K’s latest song is really good. But it really isn’t the reason to why I am reviewing the comeback today. Given that this particular comeback has no choreography, the only other reason to why I am writing this review is the music video. But more on that in a minute. I still need to write out my thoughts for the song. 30 Minutes Might Be Too Long is an acoustic mid-tempo R&B song. I did like how strong the acoustic guitar was throughout the song, even during the more upbeat sections of the song. The more upbeat parts of the song, which made the song feel more pop than R&B, definitely infused a lot of energy into the song and definitely gave a kick to an otherwise pretty standard track. Another really great element about 30 Minutes Might Be Too Long are his vocals. While he did get a little shouty during the chorus, it felt intentional to help make the song feel a lot punchier, which compliments the energy. The only thing I am a little confused about the structure of the song. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like 30 Minutes Might Be Too Long was extended and the first round of the chorus was quite prolonged, before we went into a bridge and back to the chorus. I personally don’t have any issues with abstract song structures usually, but this one felt particularly odd. Not exactly sure why. But other than that, Jun.K’s newest single has an awesome vibe to, with great vocals and music.

With the song part out the way, I can now focus on the music video. The juicy bit of this comeback. It is a very interesting music video with two plot twists. The first felt very predictable. We open with a very stormy setting and a guy running away from this crazed lady. He tries to run as far away from her as possible, even seeking the security of his own home. But to no avail as she somehow makes it in. After a little teasing from her, she finally captures him, paralyses him (somehow), puts a ring on him to make him hers, and ends up putting a stick of dynamite in his mouth. She has this crazed moment where she does her evil laugh to signify her happiness in succeeding and lights the dynamite. But it slowly turns to regrets, showing us how mentally unstable her character is. We then cut to Jun.K, where it is revealed that he is shooting a music video (the first plot twist). Upon completion, he leaves the set and sends the text message to the actress who was playing the crazed lady to meet up later. They end up meeting up at his place, where he plans a cute date. But from my understanding, it is revealed that he is the crazed one. Firstly, she looks very disinterested in their relationship. Secondly, he does a lot of preparation for this one ‘date’, similar to her character. Thirdly, there is a stick of dynamite under the table (second unexpected plot-twist), which presumably blows up 20 minutes into their date (which matches his request for a final 20 minutes to win her back). Fourthly, I assume he survives and ends up returning to a place that looks exactly like the set of the video that was being shot, telling us the story in the video was his story. While I feel like a few kinks can be smoothed out with this music video, I really enjoyed the dark vibes and and the overall storyline of the video.

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

[Review] Panorama – IZ*ONE

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IZ*ONE is nominated for Best Female Group in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Vote for IZ*ONE and your other favourite artists by clicking here!

Despite the continuation of the voting manipulation scandal in the Produce 101 shows that brought us some of the biggest project groups in KPOP, IZ*ONE is the one group that has continually pushed through it all. Today, the group made their comeback with their fourth mini-album, One-Reeler, and the title track Panorama. The group did unofficially drop the new song yesterday by performing it at the 2020 MAMA Awards, which I am sure many of you tuned into. Panorama joins IZ*ONE’s 2020 releases, which includes Fiesta, Secret Story of the Swan and Beware.

As mentioned yesterday, my first exposure to Panorama was via the 2020 MAMA Awards. My first impression of the song was definitely quite positive and it peaked my interest. Panorama seems to take the iconic elements of both their previous title tracks and merged it into one. What do I mean by this? Well, Fiesta had all these high pitched synths and sound effects, while Secret Story of the Swan had that really dramatic flair thanks to the bass. It seems like these two elements come together to really form a powerful track for IZ*ONE. But it just wasn’t the merger of these two songs. Panorama does a lot more. There is really strong vocals from the members. This was definitely necessary, given the powerfulness of the synths in Panorama. I honestly thought these synths would have drowned out the members, as IZ*ONE usually sings with a higher pitch. But here, the members pushed themselves to make sure they are heard. The melodies and hooks were pretty catchy, as well. There were some really cool violins in the background and I love the post-chorus instrumental break, where the rush of energy was coming from. I also really liked the final part following the final chorus, which was a wonderful cap to the song. Overall, Panorama impresses. There was just so much energy and intensity that I just cannot get out of my head.

One of the elements of the performance yesterday that caught my attention were their outfits. And this music video amps up that appeal for me. Their outfits are stunning throughout the video. From the dresses/outfits they don in their solo shots to the really simple yet fashionable outfits they wore whilst dancing, everything looked stunning. The sets in this music video were stunning as well. I really liked how much classy flair there was. The music video does take on that closeup and choreography format, but that was not an issue here as all of the above really stood out for me. The cinematography was also as captivating throughout, keeping up with the pace of the song but also making sure the members looked amazing.

The choreography looks really good. It keeps up with the intensity, yet still has a bit of a casual nature and elegance to it. I particularly enjoyed the routine that accompanied the energy rush after the main choruses. It started off with some footwork, before incorporating some arm movements and then whole body moves.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.8/10

[Review] Resonance – NCT 2020

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NCT is nominated for Best Male Group, while NCT 127 is nominated for Best Male Group and Best Subunit in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED. To support NCT, NCT 127 and your other favourite artists, click here to vote for them below the 31st of December.

NCT has been extremely busy over the last two months, splitting their 23-member lineup into four different units for promotions of Make A Wish (Birthday Song), From Home, 90’s Love and Work It, all of which were title tracks from their second studio album, NCT 2020: Resonance (Click here for Part 1 and Part 2 of the album reviews). To wrap up promotions for this album, NCT have regrouped as a 23-member group for the surprise release of the Resonance single, which officially dropped on Friday this past week. Aside from being a song performed by 23 members, Resonance is also a mix of four songs from their album – Make A Wish (Birthday Song), 90’s Love, Work It and Raise The Roof.

It sounds very ambitious and like many, I have my reservations. A hybrid of four songs in one. But we need to remind ourselves that SM Entertainment are the creative minds behind Sherlock and One, both of which are all combinations of two songs. So SM Entertainment has done this before. Rather than taking bits and pieces of the songs and merging them together into something really tight and cohesive, Resonance delves more down the mashup route, rather than a hybrid song at first glance. It borrows segments of Make A Wish (which had the honour of providing two parts to Resonance), 90’s Love and Work It (one part each). Interestingly, it isn’t the choruses of each of the three title tracks that make it into Resonance, as that would confuse listeners with four different sets of hooks and energies. Instead, the segments are combined with Raise The Roof‘s chorus, which is a clever move. The song does make an attempt to blend the four songs together by applying a new intro, spoken boldly and proudly (?) by Mark himself, amplifying the chorus (compared to the original) and infusing intense EDM into the mix through a standalone dance break. Altogether, Resonance does manage to come off as epic and powerful, which suits their image. Does Resonance work? I would say so. While we are clearly reminded of each song individually, the new additions do a lot of heavy lifting to give Resonance a fresh and individualistic sound that hasn’t been in any of the four songs before. In other words, there is something new in the track. And that I consider a win.

With such an epic and powerful tone to the song, the music video is equally as epic. It too was quite ambitious, but SM Entertainment really pulled out all the stops to make sure the video works. The editing between each part was super cool, especially Ten’s kick in the dubstep dance break. I really liked all the sets of that were used. I liked how they recycled that box set with different coloured lights to use for each of the title tracks and for one Resonance‘s choruses. The stage with the big screen was definitely a bold power move, while the one with the flow silk was so fitting for that bridge. But my favourite has to be the stadium stage. When the high notes hit and we are shown an drone shot of all the lights turning on, my jaw was on the ground. It was so epic and will be a music video scene that I will definitely remember for a long time. Likewise, all the drone shots at the end left me speechless.

The choreography was like the song. It didn’t change up the choreography for each of the three title tracks. And I completely understand that. It would have been too much of the members to relearn a whole new routine for the same song, given that they will be learning new choreographies for award ceremonies and end of year music festivals concurrently. For the new sections, I did like the intensity of the chorus’ routine, which they made look almost animalistic. The dubstep dance break was equally as full-on and even more powerful.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.5/10

[Review] BBUSYEO – ONEUS

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ONEUS is nominated in the Rising Star of 2020, Most Underrated Artist of 2020, Best Male Group, Best Concept and Best Music Video categories in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Click here to vote for ONEUS and your other favourite artists.

Earlier this week, ONEUS made a surprise comeback with a new single, BBUSYEO. This comeback is significantly different to any of their previous comebacks for its bright and lighthearted approach, contrasting with the group’s dark and serious toned comebacks. BBUSYEO also follows ONEUS’ other 2020 comebacks, A Song Written Easily and the more recent TO BE OR NOT TO BE (which has been nominated for Best Concept and Music Video in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards – Link to vote for them is above).

As previously mentioned. ONEUS opts for a more lighthearted and fun sound for BBUYSEO, miles away from any of their previous music. It is definitely unexplored territory for the group. I particularly like how the start of the song just gets straight to the point. There is no need for a build up or to fluff up the song. Instead, BBUYSEO starts off with heavily autotuned oohs and aahs that sounded quite funny to me, going straight for that lighthearted effect that has already been mentioned. Then the song gets straight to its upbeatness with the fast tempo backing of the verse, thanks to the use of funky guitars and a clapping beat. Here, there are strong vocals and raps from the members, with their delivery very much keeping up with the intensity and pace of the music. When we round on the chorus, it comes with no surprises that it is brass heavy. Firstly, brass instruments is the go to instrument group if you want something fun or infectious. Secondly, the verses hint towards the chorus with the use of some brass elements, but they were clearly not as prominent as in the chorus and were pretty much overlooked. The rest of the song basically follows the above, with the addition of a trap based rap sequence just after the first chorus, an amazing display of vocals from the vocalists of the group in the bridge (who do even more with ad-libs in the final chorus), and the new extension at the very end of the song to bring it all together. I feel that the song does lack strong hooks, however. ONEUS was clearly going in the right direction, but I felt the producers underestimated the power behind the brass in the instrumental and the hooks that they do have got somewhat lost in the instrumentation. However, BBUYSEO still comes together nicely as the group’s first bright track. While I personally do prefer ONEUS’ darker and serious tones, having a bright song like this once in a while won’t do harm to their discography.

As mentioned earlier, this new sound allows ONEUS to explore new concepts. And this is clearly observed in the music video. There were a lot of stuff being smashed throughout the video, which makes completes sense given that BBUSYEO translates to Break It in English. Bright colours and hilarious moments were heavily used throughout the video to convey the ‘not serious’ and lighthearted tone of the comeback. My favourite part has to be when Ravn punches the toilet door to reveal a posing and waving Hwanwoong, who ended up smashing the toilet. It is just a major WTF moment that made me laugh.

I am totally digging the energy that is coming from the members during the performance. They definitely give it their all and it really portrays the song really well on stage. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one is more intensive than their dances for their more serious/darker music. A lot more jumps and interactions with the camera is enable in this performance, which lifts up the dynamic nature of it.

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

[Review] Better – BoA

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Have you voted in the 2020 KPOPREVIEWED Awards yet? If you haven’t, click here to be taken to the survey to support your favourites!

You would think that an artist as legendary as BoA, who is releasing her tenth studio album and celebrating 20 years in the KPOP industry would get some decent promotions to make sure the public knows about all these milestones so they can celebrate with her. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. Better, the title of the song and BoA’s tenth studio album, felt like it was released out of the blue yesterday. And it is pretty much overshadowed by SM Entertainment’s over big release of the week. I just hope SM Entertainment has big things planned for this album, so that BoA can celebrate in style and get recognition for the amazing feats she has achieved. In the meanwhile, here is my review for Better.

Better brings out some of BoA’s best skills that I haven’t heard for a while. She has released some really good tracks recently, including Woman which really made itself known thanks to its boldness and elegance. Better diverts into a different territory. To me, the song feels simple yet executed amazingly. Simple may have the connotation of being plain or obvious. But I feel Better is ‘simple’ in a more dynamic sense. It is a R&B track that has this deep funky beat embedded in the background of the verse. I thought it was a really showstopping piece that really attracts my attention. There isn’t anything else of major interest that steals my attention other than BoA herself. It is straightforward and consistent (another example of when consistency is a positive trait). There are some bellowing synths throughout the song, but I feel that blend in nicely with the deep funky R&B roots this song has. BoA’s raspy vocals come into full effect, adding an amazing texture to the song that I am digging. The harmonies with the backing vocals during the chorus really helped oomph up the song without going for anything too extreme. I love the elegance that she brings to the first half of the bridge. The rapping that kicks off the second half of the bridge capitalises on the deep funky notes that I mentioned, giving the song an awesome change up before reaching the final chorus. Overall, Better is amazing in many senses and definitely pulls together her legendary skills in a suitable manner to celebrate her achievements.

The music video has this eerie dark vibe to it which feels highly suitable for the song’s simple profile. There were a few different sets and this eerie dark vibe really helps blur them altogether to make the video feel like it was one whole piece. And I feel this is better than having multiple sets come together in an attempt to feel like one video, but instead it comes off completely mismatching. The music video adopts that closeup and choreography formula, which I feel is totally fine for this video. BoA steals my attention for majority of the video (further helping blend the video’s components together) and keeps me captivated for the three and a half minutes with her beauty and choreography skills.

While I am chatting about choreography skills, we can’t skip the actual dancing when it comes to BoA. While this might not be as bold as Woman‘s choreography (I mean – how does one top her upside walk entrance?). To me, the choreograph utilises pace extremely well. There were parts that had a kick to it and other parts which took time. Put these together and you had a performance that made complete sense when it comes to BoA.

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

[Review] Last Piece – GOT7

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A week ago, GOT7 teased their comeback with the pre-release of Breath, one part of the first half of their fourth studio album’s name. Today, the male group (who recently won the Performance of the Year grand prize at the Asia Artist Awards for the second year in a row), GOT7 dropped their official comeback title track, titled LAST PIECE. It is also the other half of their new album’s name, with both coming together to form Breath of Love: Last Piece. This is the group’s most recent comeback, following Not By The Moon earlier in the year.

To me, LAST PIECE has this explosive element to it, which I find amazing and extremely thrilling to listen to. But more on that in just a second. The song starts off pretty much like any other dance song. There was a strong opening with that repetitive hazy synth (not sure how else to describe it). Yugyeom then starts off the song, followed by Jinyoung, BamBam and Mark. The instrumental during this part was quite pleasantly consistent. I really like its mid-tempo and classy approach. That hazy synth continues to play its part in the song, but the verse has a bit of a kick to it thanks to the beat of the song. Jinyoung’s falsetto stunned me, before Jackson comes in briefly before the chorus. The main chorus features Youngjae and JB’s vocals and catchy melodic hooks that expresses we are their missing final piece. I find there is an explosive element to this chorus, but it is subtle thanks to Youngjae’s powerful vocals during this section. I believe that this subtleness is a deliberate move, as the more explosive post-chorus hook is where the fireworks truly go bang. That rush of rock energy and intensity just feels so good, with Mark and Jackson going all out in this part to match that energy we get. It also gives GOT7 an opportunity to showcase some of their performance skills. The rest of the song is more so what I have already (haphazardly) described. Just everything feels a lot better. The chorus gets more impactful. The post-chorus instrumental hook hits harder and Jinyoung’s falsetto during the bridge is something worth mentioning once again. Overall, LAST PIECE is another excellent track to add to GOT7’s discography.

LAST PIECE‘s music video carries over the instantly change of background and flawless editing from the Breath music video. But this time around, the members were the ones instantly changing, with the setting remaining the same between shots. And to make it extra complicated, this technique was mainly applied during choreography shots. So yeah, shout out to the editing department for this video. The one thing I was disappointed about was the lack of Youngjae’s screen time. I understand that he was injured and hence couldn’t dance throughout the video. But I am sure the producers and directors could have thought of something to give Youngjae a bit more screen time. I did however like how when he finally appeared (and thus GOT7 was completed), all the space on the wall was filled with pictures and paintings. Definitely a nice way to show that all the pieces were filled in the end.

The choreography definitely looks good. I really like the energy that each member channeled during the chorus and how incredibly sharp the moves ended up being. I really liked how they amped up the moves for the post-chorus rock influenced instrumental break. The ending with their forearms and hands forming an interlinked heptagon was pretty cool, reminding me of their seven piece necklace (when put together, it also became a heptagon).

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.9/10

[Review] Given-Taken – ENHYPEN

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Despite already having BTS and TXT under already under their company name, it seems like Big Hit Entertainment is still hungry for another male group (Don’t worry to all you female group stans, Big Hit has confirmed a female group is coming our way in 2021). This new male group is called ENHYPEN and they were formed through the survival show I-LAND, which aired earlier this year. Seven members were chosen to be part of ENHYPEN’s lineup, including Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Jungwon, and Ni-ki. Their debut single is titled Given-Taken and was dropped earlier today.

Given the current status of Big Hit Entertainment, I feel that any act who debuts under the Big Hit name is guaranteed success. But honestly, I don’t think ENHYPEN needs this guarantee given the calibre of Given-Taken itself. It is on a whole new level. Given-Taken starts off with this really beautiful harp that already screams out uniqueness. This start already feels quite tense, which is always a positive thing. The harps continue throughout the first verse as we get a slow and moody beat to accompany it and vocals. There is also some rapping. It was pretty much masked to be like the vocals and I wished they didn’t do that. Throughout the song I was yearning for something edgy and dynamic, which the raps would have served extremely well as a carrier for these two characteristics. Given-Taken then changes up the song by going into a pop-centric chorus. It reminds me of TXT’s Crown, just without the colour. If you couldn’t tell by now, but Given-Taken throws dark vibes right at you from the first second. I like the ‘To You… To… Me‘ part of the chorus. The second chorus was more so the same as the first verse. I wished they did something more with it. Likewise with the bridge. But it doesn’t mean I find the song terrible. I am totally digging this release. and will enjoy it no matter what I say about it. And it isn’t all ‘I want more’ with these parts. These sections do show and confirm with me is that ENPYPEN’s vocals are solid. I did not detect a weak spot throughout the song or any flaws in this department. Honestly, a really good job by this new group.

The lyrics of Given-Taken hints towards a dark concept. With lines such as ‘Red blood on that crown, That blood dripping down, Red Blood‘, I don’t think sunshines and flowers is going to cut it. To match with the dark vibes of the song, the music video opts for a horror theme. Oh, how I wished this debut was timed to coincide with Halloween. That would have been iconic. There isn’t anything scarier in this world, until you introduce little children to the story. And I feel that is the premise of the music video. The boys look innocent, but they (or at least one of them) has something to hide (i.e. he is an vampire). That scene at the end was expected once it started playing. But that particular member’s smile (sorry, I don’t know any of their names yet) to show off his fang was really haunting. Likewise, the really captivating yet probably trigger-warning worthy nose bleed start was definitely something I am sure people will be chatting about. I could literally sit here and list all the scenes that impressed me (hint: I was impressed by all). And all the member showcased perfect acting skills throughout the video.

The snippets of the choreography that I saw in the music video told me one thing. Never to underestimate ENHYPEN when it comes to their dance skills. This is only their debut song, yet their performance skills look like they have been around for many years. They looked super mature, despite their young age. Aside from that, I didn’t see any mind blowing or impressive moves that would have made me more eager to watch more of their stuff. I definitely will, though. I just wanted to explain why I am not giving them a 10/10 this time around (based on what I saw in the music video).

Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.1/10