Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Honestly? Some pretty good stuff in the Rundown so far this year, partially due to me being lazy and partially due to a lot of solid-average to above-average efforts.
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Niel (TEEN TOP) – “Parting Path”
Niel is known for his emotive vocals, but I feel like in order to hook me on a song like this, it calls for something more dynamic at some point.
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TRENDZ – “Go Up”
A nice pop song that’s almost a throwback to generations past, including the brass squiggles and all. It does fall short of the best of the generation due to not really having a memorable chorus that bursts forward. Feels lab-crafted to be good, but they needed a hook.
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BXB – “Airplane”
Sounds a bit like a throwaway track one uses to thank fans at the end of the concert or something.
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LIMELIGHT – “TA DA!”
LIMELIGHT‘s follow-up to the excellent “MADELEINE“, and the thumping beat alone has it pretty close to getting its own article. However, it never quite kicks up to the level it deserves, and the chorus is begging for a hook. Many pleasantly brisk songs have a sheen to them that makes you sorta zone out rather than tune in, which is fine, but if you want it to go viral like “Cupid” then it needs that hook like “Cupid”.
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JD1 (Jeong Dong Won) – “Who Am I”
The idol alter ego of the 16-year-old trot singer. It’s an average boy group soloist debut, by which I mean forgettable.
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Aria (tripleS) – “Door”
While this is a pretty typical ballad that doesn’t do much, it is nice to see this from tripleS, as the vocals on some of their singles have been wanting. Nice to hear the talent is in there at least.
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Hui (PENTAGON) – “Hmm BOP”
Basically the aforementioned typical male idol solo debut that’s bright and cute and playful but not much beyond that. The repetition of “hmm bop” slows things down more than anything. Hui himself does well, but we knew he was talented already. Hanson cleared, I’m afraid.
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Lee Hi – “My Beloved”
My theory that I could listen to Lee Hi sing a phonebook is seriously tested on this one.
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GroovyRoom (Feat. LE SSERAFIM’s Yunjin & Crush) – “Yes Or No”
Detach this from the names involved and it’s wholly unremarkable track that mostly just coasts along.
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DXMON – “SPARK”
Their pre-release was horrid, but the sung sections of this make for a decent debut and I hope they keep the hair.
