Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Actually some interesting stuff this week and if your faves were skipped then it may (?) be a good sign, at least if you care what I think.
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Heize – “Undo”
Not the biggest Heize fan in general, but I especially don’t think her thin vocal during the key moments of “Undo” fits this well compared how other female R&B soloists would. But it’s clear most people feel otherwise given her popularity, and this marks one of her better efforts in what is an upbeat and funky track that’s quite nice overall.
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Younha – “Rain Song”
It’s Younha so it’s solid enough at its core, but I don’t get the impetus to remake a barely year-old Epik High song that wasn’t even close to their best off that album and whose best part was the rapping sections.
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Mark Tuan (GOT7) – “imysm”
This is about as much as I can enjoy a song with these vocal effects and lack of gear shift, which isn’t a ton, but still.
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ENHYPEN – “Future Perfect”
K-pop idols trying to embody everything that comes with drill is funny enough, but they allegedly also mold “Chicago drill” into generic fourth-gen boy group sound and make it a shout-a-thon.
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Suga (BTS) – “Our Island”
An instrumental for I dunno what, but I really enjoyed this. Perhaps a bit of refinement needed, but I’d like to hear him create a score or something to that effect. He seems to have an affinity for it.
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IRRIS – “WANNA KNOW”
There’s promising signs here for the debut/redebut of a group, but as somebody who loves brass that’s way too much brass without much else going on prior to the chorus that kinda kills the vibe, and the refrain that follows isn’t nearly hook-y enough to redeem it. The vocal verses and the pre-chorus definitely have my attention, tho.
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VIVIZ – “LOVEADE”
The whole thing sounds simultaneously sung into a mic from behind a paper door and pitched too high, thus making it seem like they’re expending a ton of effort to even get through the verses, much less the chorus that doesn’t have much of a gear shift. Not at all the summer jam I expected and a huge step down from “BOP BOP!“.
