Hello Hive and Music Community !
In both the last week of April and the first week of May, k-pop hasn't had a single day of rest, full of legendary comebacks and anticipated debuts, join me in recapping some of these latest musical releases!.
1) IKON –BUT YOU
Aunque al principio “But You” se me hacía algo lento para mi gusto e incluso me sonaba algo trillado, una vez que le agarre el ritmo pude disfrutar plenamente de este lanzamiento, siento que hicieron un buen trabajo equilibrando cada parte de la canción, tanto el arreglo vocal como el rap fluyeron bastante bien con la melodía llegando a evitar que se sintieran fuera de lugar, y en general el ambiente romántico con aires nostálgicos de la canción la hace simplemente disfrutable, creo sin duda que este ha sido de los mejores lanzamientos masculinos en el kpop este año
The truth is that IKON is not a group that I look for regularly, and I can barely remember a song or two from them, but this is more in personal taste than anything else, but with their latest song "BUT YOU" I have been surprised. If you have read any of my previous kpop reviews you will already know that I have a little problem to this constant exploitation to the retro concept these last years, some songs have been amazing, and others simply forgettable, and thinking that finally the waters had calmed down with the retro " trend" this 2022, IKON has decided to come back with a surprisingly... enjoyable synth-pop song.
Although at the beginning "But You" was a bit slow for my taste and even sounded a bit trite, once I got into the rhythm I could fully enjoy this release, I feel they did a good job balancing each part of the song, both the vocal arrangement and the rap flowed quite well with the melody avoiding it to feel out of place, and overall the romantic atmosphere with nostalgic airs of the song makes it simply enjoyable, I think without a doubt this has been one of the best male kpop releases this year.
Calificación / Rating
8.9/10
2) PSY –Celeb and NOW
Celeb que se asemeja al estilo divertido y colorido que originalmente me atrajeron del kpop (Como Orange Caramel con “Copycat” y Ladie’s Code “Kiss Kiss”) ciertamente toco una fibra sensible de mi nostalgia, es un estilo que se apega bastante a lo que uno se imagina como el “kpop clásico” humorístico y colorido y que llegaba a sentirse algo abrumador, por lo que Celeb llega a ser entretenida de escuchar aunque no del tipo que estaría en loop en mi playlist
Por otro lado con “NOW” podemos ver una faceta más centrada en lo vocal que ciertamente no había tenido la oportunidad de escuchar en el pasado por parte de PSY, en colaboración con Hwasa (Una vocalista llena de talento y personalidad) logran crear un dúo bastante atractivo de escuchar, con un ritmo con vibras disco, un sonido sintetizado bastante marcado, y con efectos en las voces para complementar el estilo retro directamente sacado del pasado, ciertamente parece el tipo de canción que (irónicamente) se hubiesen hecho un hit en los 80’s
After years of absence, leaving his former agency, forming his own, and consolidating the careers of artists under his label, PSY has returned to the Korean scene with many surprises. While with his hit "That That" (produced and accompanied by Suga of BTS) he seeks to revive the classic PSY style; catchy, entertaining and capable of moving masses of people, with Celeb and Now the singer explores with styles a little more different, but still maintaining the energy and charisma that characterizes him.
Celeb which resembles the fun and colorful style that originally attracted me to kpop (like Orange Caramel with "Copycat" and Ladie's Code "Kiss Kiss") certainly struck a chord in my nostalgia, it's a style that sticks pretty close to what one imagines as humorous and colorful "classic kpop", so Celeb becomes entertaining to listen to although not the kind that would be on loop in my playlist.
On the other hand with "NOW" we can see a facet more focused on the vocal that certainly had not had the opportunity to hear in the past by PSY, in collaboration with Hwasa (A vocalist full of talent and personality) manage to create a duo quite attractive to listen, with a rhythm with disco vibes, a synthesized sound quite marked, and with effects on vocals to complement the retro style straight out of the past, certainly seems the kind of song that (ironically) would have become a hit in the 80's.
Calificación / Rating
8.5/10
3) MIYEON –Drive
Con un estilo relajado y femenino, Miyeon hace un debut en solitario bastante sólido con un álbum lleno de canciones encantadoras que parecen sentarle como anillo al dedo, personalmente si bien disfrute de Drive, no es mi estilo preferido en música, y lo cierto es que la mayor sorpresa me la lleve con el resto de canciones que conforma el álbum “MY” en donde se puede notar la versatilidad de su voz y el desempeño de esta en otros géneros que parece manejar de una manera sumamente agradable, el cual les recomiendo por completo que le den una oportunidad!
Member of the famous group (g)i-dle, Miyeon was undoubtedly the surprise debut of April, after finishing a very successful round of group promotions with the album "I Never Die" and its hit "Tomboy" that managed to conquer the most important music charts in Korea, vocalist Miyeon's solo debut plans were revealed with a mini album "MY" and the title track titled "Drive". With similar vibes to some of the most successful solo debuts within kpop such as Rosé's "On the Ground", or Taeyeon's "I", Drive features this "Sentimental" and "Inspirational" atmosphere of softer Pop of such songs, a concept quite used among solo debuts and in which Miyeon seems to do it full justice.
With a relaxed and feminine style, Miyeon makes a pretty solid solo debut with an album full of charming songs that seem to fit her like a glove, personally while I enjoyed Drive, it's not my favorite style in music, and the truth is that the biggest surprise I took with the rest of songs that make up the album "MY" where you can notice the versatility of her voice and the performance of this in other genres that seems to handle in a very nice way, which I fully recommend you to give it a chance!
Calificación / Rating
8.3/10
4) LE SSERAFIM –FEARLESS
Con un concepto artístico dirigido a un enfoque elegante, simple y de “alta costura” FEARLESS es un mensaje al público; un grupo nuevo sin temor, ni penas, y mucho menos miedo que esta listo para dominarlo todo, en letra llega a sentirse incluso algo intimidante, aunque realmente no logre sentir lo mismo con la melodía como tal. No sé realmente cuanto llegue a disfrutar de la monotonía que mantuvo FEARLESS desde su comienzo hasta su final, no me malinterpreten es una canción que tienes sus partes atractivas, el coro llega a ser bastante curioso y fácilmente pegadizo, pero una vez terminada la canción ciento que no me perdí de mucho al escucharla
La simpleza de la canción es tanto una ventaja como una desventaja, mientras que en el lado positivo podemos hallar que la canción es, considerablemente, fácil de escuchar y desafía la estructura y estilo convencional de las canciones de kpop; por el lado malo encontramos que, aunque FEARLESS llega a ser agradable gracias a su sencillez, esto mismo la llega a hacer no del todo memorable, y que personalmente, al lado del resto de canciones del EP (Totalmente Recomendado), llega a perder algo de su gracia.
LE SSERAFIM is the most awaited debut of these last two months, creating anticipation since a long time ago thanks to the news of the re-debut of two of the most popular members of the former project group "IZ*ONE" certainly the expectations were quite high, but it is not for less.
With an artistic concept aimed at an elegant, simple and "high fashion" approach FEARLESS is a message to the public; a new group with no fear, no sorrow, that is ready to dominate everything, in lyrics it even feels a bit intimidating, although I don't really get to feel the same with the melody. I don't really know how much I got to enjoy the monotony that FEARLESS maintained from its beginning to its end, don't get me wrong it's a song that has its attractive parts, the chorus gets to be quite curious and easily catchy, but once the song was over I feel that I didn't miss much when listening to it.
The simplicity of the song is both an advantage and a disadvantage, while on the positive side we can find that the song is considerably easy to listen to and defies the conventional structure and style of kpop songs; on the downside we find that, although FEARLESS becomes enjoyable thanks to its simplicity, this itself makes it not entirely memorable, and that personally, next to the rest of the songs on the EP (Totally Recommended), it loses some of its appeal.
Calificación / Rating
8/10
Echándole una escuchada a todas las canciones, una tras otra, realmente me hace pensar en lo divertida, variada, he interesantes que han sido estas semanas en el K-pop, hace ya un tiempo que no habían lanzamientos seguidos que me llamaran de esta forma la atención, así que si, se podría decir que hemos comenzado Mayo realmente bien!. Muchas gracias por leer! Cualquier consejo es más que bienvenido
Taking a listen to all the songs, one after the other, really makes me think about how fun, varied, interesting these week's in K-pop has been, it's been a while since I've had back-to-back releases that caught my attention like this, so yes, you could say we've started May really well!. Thanks so much for reading! Any advice is more than welcome.
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