Another month is at its end which means another month of new K-Pop to check out. So I’m giving my quick takes on all of the debuts and comebacks we got this month!
I’m only sharing the debuts and comebacks I actually paid attention to and not every single one that happened in the month. So if a favorite artist of yours isn’t in here, tell me about them in a comment and I’ll check them out!
Standing Next to You by Jung Kook
It’s okay. I don’t love it but I think it could grow on me. I shared more thoughts about this track and the album in my Golden quick takes post.
Agassy by Soojin
I’m actually surprised Soojin is making a solo debut, mainly because she has been so quiet since being forced to leave (G)I-DLE. This song reminds me of older (G)I-DLE actually, so it fits her vocally and conceptual nicely. It isn’t anything mind-blowing, but I like it. It’s just missing something to push it over the edge.
Lucky Rocky by Rocky
I had no expectations going into thia song since I had no idea who Rocky even was. I definitely didn’t anticipate a tap dance break, or the fact that it actually worked with the song. It’s a fun song that I wouldn’t mind listening to again.
Batter Up by BABYMONSTER
I hesitated to give this debut a listen since they are so young and I don’t support a fourteen-year-old debuting. The only reason I am giving a quick take is because it is a YG group. And YG is still doing the same old music and style that 2NE1 made popular. The song is not good and rather shallow. And these teenagers are not nearly cool enough to pull off this concept. They aren’t CL, they aren’t Lisa, and YG needs to realize that they aren’t going to retain success by recycling music styles and concepts.
Anti-Hero by ICU
You can tell they are from a smaller company. I’m not a fan of any of their vocals, the vocals are really not very good at all, and find the production to be surface-level. The song genuinely sounds like it skipped a chorus to me, with the chorus portion sounding more like a pre-chorus.
Savior by Puzzle
They have some interesting vocalists in the group. And parts of the song are good. But the chorus I don’t like at all. It is too much of a tone shift from the verses. The song is also kind of boring since there isn’t any build-up and satisfying release. They have a lot of room to grow still, but there is some potential.
BANG! by WHIB
When it comes to debuts by fully new artists, this one is my favorite. They have the skills, they now just need the right concepts and music to highlight them.
Independent Woman by eite
This is the best girl group debut of the month easily. At first, I was uncertain since it didn’t sound like a song I’d enjoy, but as it went on I liked it more. They have room to grow still, but this is a solid start.
LALALALA by Stray Kids
This might be my favorite comeback by Stray Kids this year. It’s so big and epic and honestly tramples S-Class for me. They took their style and amplified it and its just so good.
Drama by aespa
I prefer this over most of their recent comebacks and think this style fits them better honestly. I’m not in love with it, but I think it will grow on me. The video is a little distracting because it has so much going on. SM really threw money at this comeback.
Loco by 3YE
It is so dreamy and I love the afrobeat style. They also sound great vocally. I’m also just really happy to have a 3YE comeback since it’s been almost three years since the last one. But the song is genuinely great and I feel like I might get a bit obsessed with it.
Chill Kill by Red Velvet
I much prefer this concept for Red Velvet honestly. But the song is not my favorite. The verses have potential, but the chorus just ruins it for me. It kills the vibe and I really don’t like it and it made me stop listening in all honesty.
Bad News by Kiss of Life
I can’t figure out what I think about this song. They sound great vocally, which they better because that is undoubtedly the strongest quality they have as a group. I’m not loving the instrumental, probably because it has a bit of a country influence and I greatly dislike country as a genre. I need to listen to the song again to really solidify an opinion I feel. The vocals though really are worth five stars on their own.
Odd-venture MCND
It’s a fun song. I can’t decide how I feel about the bit a country twang it has since I dislike country music, but I think it works here.
To. X by Taeyeon
It’s always nice to get new music from Taeyeon. I like how her vocals sound with this style of song but it isn’t her at her absolute best. That is more the song’s doing as it isn’t structured to really highlight one’s vocal prowess. Still, I enjoy it and find it to be a pleasant listen.
Amnesia by VIXX
This song fits well into what my usual taste is, so I enjoyed it. But something felt missing to me. Vocal depth is one thing I definitely noticed was lacking, as the members weren’t as vocally distinct as they could have been. They have had members leave, and one member was missing although it was another vocalist. A rap verse would have helped diversify the track.
Melting Point by ZEROBASEONE
It’s fine, but not very interesting or compelling. It’s definitely a song that their fans probably love but if you aren’t a fan, you just shrug off as whatever. I am in the latter camp.
WATCH IT by THE BOYZ
I am a casual fan of The Boyz, and this song fits in their discography well. I enjoy it, and will listen to it again, but I will say the chorus is a style we’ve seen before so it loses its punch for me personally.
Sweet Venom by Enhypen
It’s catchy, and not much else. It’s quite anticlimactic for a title track.
War Cry by &TEAM
I like the song, but we’ve heard some version of it a hundred times before. I miss debut &TEAM and it’s unfortunate they didn’t get the support and promotion needed to make that shine as it should have.
On My Youth by WayV
I’m not one for the slower songs, and was honestly losing interest until the chorus started. The chorus isn’t enough for me though and I don’t have a desire to listen to it again.
Maniac by VIVIZ
I like the song, but I don’t necessarily like Viviz’s vocals on it. Two of the three sound too whiny and nasally for me. That issue is mostly in the verses, as they sound good in the chorus.
Feel me by Golden Child
It feels like it has been forever since a Golden Child comeback. As for this comeback specifically, I like the song and would listen to it again. But I’m not overly enthusiastic about it.
JUNK FOOD by Omega X
It’s an interesting song, and they perform it well. The chorus is the most interesting part and could have gone horribly. But I actually like it. The one thing I can’t help but think is that NCT 127 would kill this track. It’s not a positive thing to be thinking of another artist doing the song and doing it better.
Deep In Love by GreatGuys
When GreatGuys does the more energetic and fun songs, they do better in my opinion. If only the video was better and the budget wasn’t spent on the fancy car. The wardrobe is also wild so I admittedly spent maybe too much time trying to figure out what the through line was for their outfits.
Nobody by Soyeon x Winter x Liz
It’s a nice song. It’s nice to actually hear and appreciate Liz’s vocals. Winter’s vocals are of course lovely. And I always enjoy Soyeon. The song itself is fine, but nothing special. Also, the fact that the three of them are never filmed in a scene together is kind of funny to me.
What new music have you been enjoying this month, K-pop or not? Tell me about it with a comment!
Soojin – Agassy — I thought it was fine. A bit above average perhaps, but not one that I’d play on repeat either.
Babymonster – Batter Up — Was pretty meh.
ICU – Anti-Hero — Wasn’t aware of this one prior to this post. I agree that the vocals aren’t good, but the overall sound of the song was fine, I suppose. Still not one I plan to re-watch/listen to though.
Puzzle – Savior — Another I’d not heard before your post. As with so much of kpop…. I didn’t dislike it…. but I didn’t like it either. Not sorry I heard it once, but also never plan to hear it again. FWIW, their harmonies don’t quite work for me. Even with their production to fix it, I’m still hearing some dissonance from someone (or someones) not being quite on pitch.
Eite – Independent Woman – I’d seen the thumbnail in my FYP and it looked so basic I just never clicked it. Since you gave it 4 stars, though…. listening now. — The vocals are quite good (no pitch problems when they’re harmonizing either 😉 , but overall it still just “sounds like kpop” to me. It’s fine, but that’s about all I can say about it.
aespa – Drama — Again… it was fine. But I’ve not returned to it, nor looked up any reactors for it, so it didn’t grab me like many of their others songs have. Still, it’s nice to see them getting away from that SM-Verse stuff and actually just have them be musicians and performers.
3YE – Loco — The broken record repeats — it’s fine, but tbh, I couldn’t remember a thing about it other than that I’d seen it and showed it to my wife and daughter. So I’m listening again now and… I find it to be pleasant. A song I might add to an “easy listening” playlist if I were so inclined to make such.
Red Velvet – Chill Kill — Another in the long line of songs that makes me wonder how it is that Red Velvet is considered to be one of “The big 3 of 3rd Gen.” They just really haven’t ever impressed me much. I watched their Killing Voice they did and from that at least found out that a lot of their older work is very catchy so perhaps I can see a glimmer of what made them popular, but I’m late to their party and Psycho was the 1st thing I heard from them. I didn’t care for it, and haven’t cared for much else since then either so I’ve never been inclined to go back and look for their older tunes to listen to them either. This one continues that streak. Again… I don’t dislike it, it’s just a big nothingburger that I can’t be bothered to even remember the hook for it or anything.
Kiss of Life – Bad News — Another one that I know I’ve seen/heard before today, but I remember nothing about it.
Taeyeon – To. X — I’ve enjoyed Taeyon’s vocals in the past so I was looking forward to this one. It didn’t grab me hard, but I can at least remember the hook from it, so it’s got that going for it. 😉
Viviz – Maniac — My wife likes this group more than I do, though I do like them generally, I suppose. This one is another that I don’t recall much of, but I do recall the hook and a vague sense of “it was cute.”
SY/Winter/Liz – Nobody — Another forgettable one.
****
Others I’ve run across that aren’t in your post —
Weeekly – Vroom Vroom – Broken record from me — it’s fine, but nothing that makes me go “oh wow” either.
HeeJin – Algorithm — I liked it on my 1st watch, then showed it to my wife and daughter and that time we were all just kinda doing the “it’s inoffensive and cute” thing, so I haven’t watched/listened since then either.
Kep1er – Grand Prix — Japanese release. I enjoyed this one a lot. Better than any of their recent Korean releases, IMO, The chorus was a bit weird, though, and I thought it sounded a bit overproduced, which I felt brought it down a bit. Still an overall thumbs up from me.
Viviz – Untie (Performance Video) — I really liked this one, though again, not one I’d put on repeat or anything.
Kard – Fireworks (Special Clip) — Another of the “fine, but in one ear and out the other” ones for me.
Kiss of Life – Nobody Knows — Still more “fine, but forgettable.”
Dreamcatcher – OOTD – I can remember the hook, so that counts for something, right? 😉
JY Park – Changed Man – Seemed like a nostalgia project for JYP. Again… fine, but forgettable.
Dolla – Classic — This group is Malaysian, not Korean, but…. I liked it well enough that I looked up more of their work. Nothing else really jumped out at me beyond this 1st one though. and even it… now I’m looking at it in my list of music videos watched last month and… I can’t remember a thing about it other than that I liked it and I was surprised that it was fully in English. I’m listening again to rectify that and… yeah, I’m still digging it, so I dunno why it’s still forgettable to me other than a general sense of “I liked it.” Go figure.
Laysha – Yes or Not — Another of the “it’s fine but forgettable” ones.
Dreamcatcher – Shatter (showcase version) — I quite enjoyed this one, though I’m having to rewatch/listen to it again to remember anything other than a sense of “I liked it more than I thought I would” from my 1st watch. Impression from the rewatch is.. yeah, I like it. Dunno why I’m not remembering it better.
iii – Forbidden Midnight — looooooooots of sampling of the Hall of the Mountain King to the point that the whole thing felt too familiar and repetitive. i liked the bass line they put under it and the vocals were actually pretty decent, but still… overall a pass for me.
Sumin – Closet – More “fine but forgettable”
Jessica – Beep Beep — a bit “cutesy” for my taste, but still inoffensive. It was in English. Vocals are great, but still overall, just… not my preferred music taste, I suppose.
CSR – HBD to You — HBD = Happy Birthday. And yeah, it’s bubbly and sweet like all of CSR’s stuff is. But not one I’d play at my daughter’s bday party in a week either.
Pixy – Truth or Dare (Project by Rinji) — Yet another “fine but forgettable” one.
StarBe – Rooftop — Still moooooooooar of the “fine but forgettable” ones. It’s a bit darker in tone and more toward “my style” but didn’t quite hook me.
Mave – What’s My Name — sneaking on on November 30th…… Wasn’t nearly as catchy as Pandora was. Toss another on the “fine but forgettable” pile. Showed it to my daughter and she got on her feet thinking she’d dance along like she liked to do with Pandora, but she sat back down after a short time. Didn’t hook her either.