Just A Little Fangirl Love

Release date: 2026 April 23 Album tracklist: Youth Album runtime: 3 minutes  My cousin tried to tell me that his reaction to Changsub meant that my cat hates him. And yet, my cat fell asleep today listening to the sound of his voice and his tail stopped bothering him. This is the cat that growls and hisses while his tail is up and relaxed and also bites to say "I love you." Somewhere he learned weird things. And loves Changsub almost as much as he loves me, theoretically. I never want to put that to the test. Piano and then a soft violin to start a song is always a good choice as far as I'm concerned, but then a guitar joins in, equally softly. This is the kind of song that I think should qualify as a lullaby because while it's got a bit of movement and change throughout, the instrumental is so delicately lulling with the exact right BPM to rock a baby to.  And speaking of lullabies, this is one of Changsub's strengths. He's got such a pleasant timbre and vibr...

Release date: 2026 April 23 Album tracklist: Navi Album runtime: 3 minutes  So good news. The rock band is having a comeback. I'm uncertain if this one is a pre-release or not, but for the moment, I'm leaving this labeled as a digital single. And I don't have to worry about ages. Delightfully. You know, traditional instruments being used in a rock song by a rock band was not on my 2026 kpop bingo sheet, but I'm the exact opposite of upset about it. It's not a sound combination that I thought would have worked, but the flute-like instrument holds its own against the guitar, which is impressive, and while it is a little shrill when it's hitting those higher notes, the difference in texture is just fascinating. That's ignoring how the whole song starts out too, because we've got strings and softness and then it just explodes. Fascinating.  I'm not completely familiar with the vocal techniques I'm hearing, which is great and I love learning new thing...

 For the record, if anyone needed some proof that I am not actually picking what songs I do this month, then this would do it. For starters, I literally just did a Baekhyun post and I would never have chosen to do an EXO song that soon after it. The amount of spacing out I've been doing for the EXID posts should be proof enough for that. Secondly, I've got May planned at least by which songs I'm doing, though the order is still a bit flexible and  I've chosen the first couple of June songs, and in that batch is an EXO song. So, apologies if you want more variety, but if you're an EXO-L, well, you'll enjoy the coverage the next six or so weeks. I decided to pull this song from the Roulette Wheel as well, and as a Carat, I'm sure you can guess what clip will be  included for this one. I feel like I'm legally required. But more importantly, I love this song, so I'm the opposite of mad about getting to yap about how amazing this song is, even if the tim...

Release date: 2026 April 21 Album tracklist: V.V.$, A$K, COUNT IT UP, DA$H, BOTTLE$, MIXIN' THANGS, VAMO$, $TAY THE NIGHT Album runtime: 16 minutes  The fact that I have to specify that this is the girl group (because there's also a boy group and VVS is the name of the Vanner fandom) makes me a little peevish. Their company should have done their research better. I also never actually did their debut song. Whoops. We are on Underage Protocol on them until next year, which could have been worse because the maknae was almost sixteen at debut, but not quite, which is why we're on Underage Protocol. This is the second longest song on here, and at an acceptable length, but the overall runtime leaves something to be desired. This is an impressive instrumental in its stability. There's very little that changes throughout the song on this end, but it's got both weight and energy, as well as some very interesting instruments to extend and  meld the two different sections. I ...

Release date: 2026 April 22 Album tracklist: I'll Be There , I'll Be There (Instrumental) Album runtime: 6 minutes  So funny thing. I've been sitting here, going "Why is his name familiar?" So, naturally, I looked him up and immediately recognized his face. He was the Wanna One boy that was the other judge on Build Up with my boys Baekho and Eunkwang, and Solar my queen. I'm looking forward to this because he's supposed to have a stunning voice, and, as we know, I love stunning voices.  The instrumental on its own is provided, which makes me a happy camper, and what an instrumental this is. Guitar? Check. Piano? Check. Drums? Check. Strings? Gloriously check. We have the cinematic swelling that I love to see. Well, hear. But generally speaking, the amount of movement in the instrumental directly tied to the amount of dramatic turning points glows so brilliantly that he's got to have a voice to match it. I'm a little bit more excited, tentatively, f...

Release date: 2026 April 21 Album tracklist:  Rock Paper Scissors , CPR, Colors on me, 5959, The star Album runtime: 16 minutes  And here is the actual title track, everyone! I don't know why I didn't do what I normally do, which is triple check what the title track is after the TVXQ! thing back in 2024 when I had just started this, but here we are. Apparently, someone who reads this needed to hear CPR. Or I did. I don't know. But here we are with the actual title track.  This sounds more like a title track. We've got high-dancing energy with the instrumental and some very fun record scratching both in the instrumental and mimicked in the vocals. You know what else this instrumental has? Audience participation clapping. This song is so close to just being full festival energy; it's just missing a little bit more drama. This start of this song sounds like Chicken by Sungjae . I love that song and I smiled when I realized what song this sounded like. If I were less ti...