Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
These are two releases that were kinda stuck between a review and being put in the Rundown, as I thought they deserved to be highlighted and I wanted to write some other shit about the artists in general.
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Kwon Eun Bi – “Underwater”
While the central melody of “Underwater” is nowhere near as slick and unforgettable as “Glitch”, it utilizes a similar formula that teeters between pleasantly simplistic and repetitive, but competently sells the atmosphere to the listener in the end.
Kwon Eun Bi‘s solo career thus far has been interesting to see develop, as I didn’t expect a ton out of it, especially after her rather grating 2021 debut. Thankfully, in 2022 she’s seemingly found a home with sleek house production that plays to her strengths as a more complete package than just a singer. Even “Mirror“, another 2022 release, clocks in as at least solid-average in a genre I’m not even fond of.
Suppose all of this is a long way of saying that I’ve been impressed with Eun Bi’s output this year and hopefully she rides a similar sound for at least a bit more as it suits her very well.
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TAN – “Beautiful LIE”
Gonna be honest, I only recently realized that TAN are the group that resulted from that Wild Idol show that seemingly nobody watched. I also realized that they had left positive impressions on me twice previously in Rundown posts on “Du Du Du“ and “Walking On The Moon“, the latter of which might get a Mea Culpa feature because that fucking melody still comes into my head randomly and it’s been three months.
Anyway, “Beautiful Lie” might not achieve quite that level of familiarity in my brain, as a lot of it is rather unremarkable and formulaic. However, the chorus marked an interesting turn of events, as it quickly transforms into the dance track it always should’ve been with catchy refrains of “it’s a beautiful lie” and the staccato-delivered “too good to be true/you got me in to“. Perhaps just as impressive was TAN’s ability to sell the sensuality behind it, which really helped the song make an impression.
In a way it’s a bit surprising to me that TAN (and RoaD-B) haven’t received more attention given how mid a lot of boy groups have been this year (especially rookies), but of course music is never the primary factor here.
