It feels like AOA might be the next girl group to add "summer comebacks" to their yearly repertoire, just like Sistar whohave almost made it their trademark image at this point. It's not too surprising though since "Heart Attack" was insanely popular last summer when it came out, and now when thinking about it I can't believe it's been almost a year already. I remember it coming out like it was only a few months ago. Anyhow this time around it seemed like AOA was going for a Baywatch-inspired beach concept with all the gorgeous, summery teaser photos as well as the teaser video that revealed an 80's sounding pop track. Their main promotional track "Good Luck" is however a completely different sounding song, and the video isn't really much Baywatch either.
I don't know if you all know this but this song of off Sunggyu's debut album "Another Me" was one of my most played tracks of 2012, and is one of my favorite K-pop songs ever. Thus I was shocked to find out that he performed it live on Infinite's 2013 tour "One Great Step" and I didn't know about until my friend showed me only a few weeks ago. It's fair to say I've been listening to this live version probably more than what's considered healthy and this awesome live arrangement has reignited my love for this song.
I cannot even tell you just how huge this newly formed girl group is in Korea right now. Hailing from the hyped Mnet competition show "Produce 101" the eleven members of I.O.I were voted by the public and are now temporarily together to promote as one group until they eventually disband and go back to their respective agencies. It's a pretty crazy concept and that's how I felt about the show when it was still airing as well, which is why I didn't watch it, but there's really no way of escaping this group right now. When I was in Korea the "Produce 101" popularity was intense and all of the members of the group have a huge amount of fans which means that I.O.I are debuting onto the scene whilst already being really well known by the public.
I can't believe the journey is coming to an end, because with the release of this special album BTS will be wrapping up their "The Most Beautiful Moment In Life" series. It has been almost exactly a year since the first part came out and the boys released "I Need U" which definitely changed my opinion of them for the better and turned me from a normal fan to a pretty hardcore fan. When the second part came out I understood even more clearly that what BTS had going on here was something special and beyond the ordinary, and it seemed like more people were agreeing with me because this group has gained a massive amount of new fans and public recognition only this past year. Now they are closing the circle with the release of "Young Forever", which includes not only the previously released songs but completely new ones as well as several remixes.
Welcome back to another recap post; this one revolving around the releases in the month of April. There weren't actually as many comebacks as I thought it was so this post isn't going to be as long, or at least I hope so since I do have a problem of writing a bit too much at times. I will say though that this month, and the last one too really, have been dominated by newer groups. I guess with a lot of older groups either splitting up or having long breaks between comebacks the newer groups are really getting the chance to shine and snag awards on music shows.
For the next few weeks I will include more than one song in this segment simply because there are so many songs I want to include that I didn't for the 10 weeks or so I didn't post anything on here. For that reason this week there will be multiple songs from various groups and possibly a few special videos as well. So until I get back on track with my posting you'll just have to endure this messy phase, but I hope it'll be enjoyable nonetheless.
Taemin - Soldier
This song is just so beautiful, and although Taemin's vocals aren't the very best he manages to pull off this quite challenging song in a lovely way, making use of his breathy vocals to convey the emotional message. "Soldier" is definitely one of those songs you hear and instantly love, and the fact that he wrote the lyrics all by himself makes it even more touching.
Astro - Innocent Love
I decided to listen to Astro's debut mini album since I liked their debut song, but I didn't know I would stumble upon this gorgeous ballad. For me, as you know, I either love a ballad or I find it extremely boring, and this one I can't get enough of. I don't know exactly what it is about it that makes it so, but the vocals are fantastic and it has a melody that's just the right amount of emotional.
Fiestar - A Sip Of Lips
My first reaction upon hearing this song was that it sounded nothing like any other song I had heard in K-pop before, and that in a good way. I don't really know how to describe the music and style either because it's so different, but I can say that it is a very sensual and sultry track that's quite subdued, and that it has a melody and hook that instantly catches you.
Oh My Girl - One Step Two Steps
"One Step Two Steps" went from being a pre-release single to a follow-up single, and I can't say that I'm complaining about the exposure of this song because it's a really great one. Composed by labelmate Jinyoung of B1A4 (who's gaining a lot of monument right now as a songwriter and producer) it's a fresh and lively tune matched with a great choreography.
Day6 - First Time
This is the opening track of Day6's mini album "Daydream" (which I absolutely adore) and this song might be my favorite on the album. It's a great rock track in every sense of the word and I love the melody and instrumental, but above all it has that vibe and atmosphere that you feel deep within your heart and cannot be expressed in words. Sungjin's raspy vocals are top notch too.
Got7 - Rewind
There are a lot of good songs on Got7's latest mini album, but this one definitely stood out to me. "Rewind" is actually the work of member Youngjae and a few more experienced composers, but I think it's great that the members are finally getting a chance to have input into their own songs. Youngjae does shine in this song as well, and it's definitely helpful that the song is just generally awesome.
Seventeen (Seungkwan & DK) - Say Yes
What is this? Another ballad? Yes that's right, here comes another ballad in the form of "Say Yes". It's performed by this groups' two main vocalists and it's really a beautiful duet. Both of them are such good singers and it's a real pleasure hearing them sing like this. The song itself is a genuinely beautiful and emotional ballad, with a perfect amount of dynamics.
Lovelyz - Dear You
Lovelyz are really carving out a signature sound for themselves, and although not every song is going to work for me I really do appreciate that they're staying true to their own sound and style. This song however is straight up my alley and although the chorus is deeply infectious the dreamy pre-chorus is definitely what does it for me. It would be great if they could promote a song like this sometime.
Girls On Top (Produce 101) - At The Same Place
This is what I meant when I said that B1A4's Jinyoung is getting famous for his composing skills, because this song written for "Produce 101" gained a lot of attention at it's release and climbed up the charts to a peak position of 8. I absolutely love this song and cannot tell you how many times I have watched this performance, and it still enchants me every single time.
I think that's about it for this week, but for the coming weeks there will be more tracks and videos that I have been watching and listening to as of recent. Stay tuned!
Hello my friends and welcome back! Like I wrote previously I'm going to briefly discuss some of the comebacks I've been keeping an eye while I was away, most of them occurring during the actual time I was in Korea. However like I said there are some February comebacks I never got around to writing before I left so I will include them here as well although very shortly. I hope you are as excited as I am about getting back into the writing flow and starting posting more regularly again :)
Guess who's back? Yes, after almost two and a half months I am making a comeback on this blog, as I've now returned from Korea and settled back here in Sweden. There are many things that can be said about my eight week trip to Korea, way too many to summarize here, but it has been two of the best months of my life and it is a memory I will never forget. I got a chance to learn the language (and my skills have improved a lot although I'm still very much a beginner), meet new friends and experience a completely new culture. I had a blast in Seoul and can't wait to come back. Of course going to South Korea I had some expectations of becoming closer to the K-pop-sphere, and although it wasn't a huge part of my daily life there were some instances.
Hearing K-pop songs in cafés, malls and shops for example was very interesting, as I got to know which songs were the most popular in Korea (as it's not always the same ones that are popular internationally). I heard a lot of GFriend, Twice, Mamamoo, iKon, AOA and Big Bang which isn't surprising since those groups have done great on the charts, but overall I heard a lot more girl groups than boy groups. Additionally I have to confess that unlike my initial plans I have become a big fan of Produce 101 and I.O.I, simply because they are so huge in Korea. I couldn't go anywhere without hearing "Pick Me", "At The Same Place" or "24 Hours" and thus I became a fan unknowingly. I realized that I actually hadn't written anything about Produce 101 on this blog at all, and that's because I was firmly against the idea and the entire concept (and I hate these kind of reality shows because I always get too emotionally involved), so I was stubbornly going to boycott it. However these days I'm a big fan and "At The Same Place" is without hesitation one of my favorite songs so far this year.
Apart from hearing songs I never actually got to see any idols up close except for one time. Near where my school was located I heard that Twice was going to have an event at a Dunkin' Donuts, so I went to have a look and I did actually see the girls in person. Well, it was from a distance and through a window but nonetheless I SAW THEM. They were all much shorter than I expected but of course super pretty, almost to the point of not seeming like real people but rather like dolls. Anyhow I thought that was pretty cool, but generally the closest I got to seeing idols was watching dance groups perform covers of K-pop songs in Hongdae.
Moving on; Since I have been inactive on this blog for such a long amount of time I thought I would try to do a recap of what I've been missing which is a lot. This means that there's not going to be any long reviews but more so just some quick thoughts about the different releases. Upon writing this I realized that there were some reviews I didn't get the chance to finish back in February so I'm also going to lightly touch on those as well. I can't promise that I'm going to be extremely active here but I'm going to do my best to try and get back into the flow and write here and there, so keep an eye open for some new posts! :)
