MUSIC MONTH IN REVIEW (DISCUSSION POST): AUGUST 2022
Hi omona! I'm so late. In my defence, August was sort of a weird month, a big early bang, not a whole lot at all for the rest, and then several big-time releases right in at the end. Or maybe I was just mad at you all for not commenting more on billlie's release. Anyway - let's review!
May Review | June Review | July Review
[new music top ten]
IT'S FINALLY D-DAY: GIRLS' GENERATION DROP MUSIC VIDEO FOR COMEBACK TRACK FOREVER 1 by goshipgurl with 131 comments
TWICE: “TALK THAT TALK” MV 🎮 & “BETWEEN 1&2” ALBUM LISTENING POST by dior_chic with 62 comments
BLACKPINK: PINK VENOM MV by waves_of_light with 60 comments
IVE "AFTER LIKE" MV by rose_potion with 55 comments
NEWJEANS: “COOKIE” MV by dior_chic with 36 comments
KEY "GASOLINE" MV & "GASOLINE - THE 2ND ALBUM" ALBUM LISTENING POST by rose_potion with 23 comments
[STATION : NCT LAB] JAEHYUN 재현 'FOREVER ONLY' MV by darklitplanet with 15 comments
YENA 'SMARTPHONE' MV + ALBUM LISTENING POST by broadcities with 10 comments
BILLLIE - “RING MA BELL (WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD)” + TBOP:2 ALBUM LISTENING POST! 🐈⬛❤️ by giriboy with 9 comments
XDINARY HEROES "STRAWBERRY CAKE" M/V by waves_of_light with 8 comments
[monthly music news overview]
Debuts:
Envidia | Isaac (IN2IT) | Honey J | Chaewon (April) | Mamamoo+
Disbandments:
Girlkind
Anniversaries:
Weki Meki 5th ( 2)
Enlistments:
Ha Sung Woon announcement
Tour/Concert announcements:
Verivery (America) | Alexa (US) | Blackpink (US) | The Rose (World) | Jamie (US) | Treasure (Concert) | BTS (Concert)
Dating/Marriages/Family:
Beenzino and Stefanie Michova's marriage | Jin Taehyun and Park Sieun's miscarriage (TW) | Eric and Na Hyemi's pregnancy
Contracts/Changes:
Judy/Youngheun leave Blackswan | 5/6 Monsta X renew, I.M leaves Starship | Controversial trainee Leo leaves HYBE | Ella/Satbyeol leave Pixy
Ailee signs with Pop Music | Neil signs with NEW ENTRY | Jiho, Yeeun new agencies
Reunions:
EXID (10th anniversary)
Interviews/Photoshoots:
ATEEZ, Yubin @ Showterview | Blitzers @ ASC | aespa @ First We Feast | DKZ Jaechan for The Korea Herald | Seungkwan for Kim Sohee
Industry:
Min Heejin + sexualisation of minors | Inkigayo bans cheering due to COVID-19 resurgence | IU's anniversary concert sells out in 5 minutes | Kakao's Virtual GG Survival | Is K-Pop's 'universe' worldbuilding worth it? | P Nation investigated over worker death | ADOR's weird 'Cookie' lyrics statement | How CEOs prey on trainees (TW) | the jennie and v saga
Other:
J-Hope @ Lollapalooza | Loona's Lim Kip leaves stage due to rude fans | HYBE @ Game Caterers | Eric Nam to make acting debut | KQ trainees | Nam Taehyun's drugs investigation | Sei lands a Ministry of Environment campaign | CEO demanded 'semi-nudes' from trainees (TW)
[monthly music overview]
link to spreadsheet
[second chance songs]
Click to viewChoi Heart is signed under 8D Creative, and only musical labelmate to boy group OnlyOneOf. She debuted in February with 'Elastic Love' and continues her retro/citypop inspired sound with 'Million'. The sounds like sleepy heartbreak, with a constant sparkly synth motif throughout and Heart's gentle vocals overlaid on top. She's a promising new artist if that's a genre that you're into.
5/6 members of ONF remain on their military service, but before they all left they found time to get in the studio and in front of a green screen in order to make this special album possible. The video's nothing special, but the song itself is an uplifting, hopeful, rousing song, not quite a ballad but certainly taking some inspiraton from the format. I'd love to see some choreography to it when the members perform it after their service is done.
Youha continues her steady climb into the public's perception. She debuted in 2020 with the single 'Island' and has continued a constant stream of releases since. Famously, she's an ex-YG trainee featured in the original 'Future 2NE1' video with billlie's Moon Sua. Now she not only writers her own songs but has been a part of the composing teams for LOONA's 'PTT' and Victon's 'What I Said', among others. 'Last Dance' takes on a darker tone than her other releases but continues to chart her improvement in confidence and skill as a singer-songwriter; the EP 'love you more' also has some great tracks, so check it out.
This is a very chill section this time, omona. OVAN debuted in 2017 and has had a strong output since, though is primarily known as a rapper so this vocal-heavy track is a nice chance of pace. Cold World is a pensive track that benefits from a pared-back but driving rhythm drum which prevents the track from sliding into dragging melancholy. It's right to say that the track has a retro influence, but not so much to make it a whispery citypop track, especially with OVAN's double-tracked melody lines keeping the pace up.
Yes I'm biased, yes I know, it's my post, get your own. This is a great track, and a more sophisticated kind of sound that would work really well for a band that started the teen crush trend but has now aged out of it. The amount of Rina here is a gift. Lua starting a chorus? Fantastic. It's produced by one of the founding members of Sweetune, who truly used Weki Meki to the best of their abilities.
[songs omona missed]
from20 is the stage name of Raehwan, ex-Bigstar member. His tracks tend to have a darkness to them, and while this track has an underlying moodiness, it's forthright and energetic. It makes use of synths without sounding outdated or even entirely retro. The song is in English, which is an unusual choice, but it doesn't stand out as a bad thing - if anything, it does sound like something an American male soloist might put out. Not sure which one though - I try not to listen to American male soloists. Still, this is a fun track grounded in a good, constantly moving instrumental, with a sing-along feel and a catchy hook.
If you feel like something a bit more indie today, this song from Swan might be your pick. Swan debuted under Neuron Music in 2019, and there's not much about her online, but she's clearly an accomplished singer. Watch out for the fun sax solo in the middle, it comes in without warning, but it's lots of fun once it's there.
If I'd been a bit more active, we might not have missed this one. E.So is the stage name of former Berry Good Seoyul, the group's former lead vocalist who debuted solo not long after the group's disbandment. E.So wrote this one, marking her first foray into songwriting. The song is moody, and balances more heightened moments of emotional expression with quieter moments of introspection, but keeps a tempo that prevents the song dragging with a gentlly driving stomp-click rhythm underlying everything.
Ex-24K Kisu continues releasing nice, chill songs, with Cheeseburger being a definite coffee shop type track. Rhyming 'cheeseburger' and 'lover' is a bit ambitious, I'll admit, but it's such an unexpected moment that there's a cheesy charm to it. Jinhong is his former bandmate, and another former vocal, and the two harmonise beautifully from the seond chorus onwards. The absolute blatant 'I'm lovin it' at the end really taps off this equal parts earnest and cheeky song perfectly.
(warning: shaky cam, stuttering images)
SAAY's full album S:inema has already been released at this point, but her pre-release 'Alarm' somehow escaped our notice when the music video dropped. This is a slick, dark, moody track, very sophisticated and a little bit sexy. SAAY really gets to show off her vocal and expressive chops over this jazz-r&b-blues hybrid of a song. This reminds me I haven't listened to S:inema yet. I'm off to fix that immediately.
So, omona, let's discuss!
What are you still listening to?
What grew on you?
What fell out of favour quickly?
Did you miss any releases that you would have been looking forward to?
Who surprised you and who let you down?
Is there anything omona missed that you'd recommend?
Did you find that the reaction to releases in other kpop communities was different to omona's?
source: me & google sheets, Stone Music Entertainment, ONF OFFICIAL, Youha, 1theK, KBS Listen-Up, THE FAKER CLUB, Swan, A.I.M by Enterarts, Kisu, SAAY world