September 2025 Wrap-Up: School's Back From Summer
Hello, everyone! At some point, I'm going to feel confident enough in my Korean skills to have part of this in Korean, but today and this month is not that point.
So the fabulous, amazing debuts for the month. The ones I covered were AxMxP and IDID for the groups, CxM for the Seventeen subunit, and soloists Haechan of NCT, Jinny of Secret Number, Junhee of A.C.E, and Nana of After School. The only group I didn't cover was DNA, which is a co-ed group.
Songs I was looking forward to:
- CxM- You mean my Seventeen bias is debuting in an official subunit? You're expecting me not to be excited about this?
- Junhee- I've been looking forward to his solo debut since he dropped the Your Idol cover.
- Woodz- First release post-military service I've covered because I was very lazy over the summer? Yes, please.
- izna- These are my girls, y'all. Strong rappers. Vocals that are consistently supported. Exactly what I'm always looking for.
- Catch the Young- Y'all, I just really recommend this band. They're really quite good.
- PRIMROSE- The only reason I know about the group at all is because of this blog. And I love them.
- The KingDom- Every time they have a comeback, I'm relieved. I worry about them a little and I love their traditional concept.
- KickFlip- They have had absolutely garbage luck with their debut and first comeback timing and starting with that first comeback, I've been seriously rooting for them
- Cortis- I like their older brothers at the company, so I've got my eye on the new rookies with curiosity
Still not a lot of girl groups on there, although this month was definitely boy group heavy in terms of releases anyway.
You are always welcome to journey over to the Music Show Wins hub for all of the weeks, but in case you don't want to wander, here are the September wins in a single place for your perusal. There were a few first time wins this month, which is always delightful and always makes my day when I find out.
And now for my favorite part of this: the ones I loved. I still have a few I'm very much intending to review, so this may get added to later, but for now, these were the songs I absolutely loved.
Top Releases of the Month:
- TREASURE "PARADISE": I may have to actively add these guys to my list of groups. The 70s vibe is so strong here, and even though there were some things that I didn't super love, it's just such a fun song that I don't care.
- KickFlip "Band-Aid": I literally love the entirety of this song and I got to hear some vibrato from a fifth gen group. Sad rock. Sad, explosive rock. I love this.
- KickFlip "My First Love Song": Am I putting both songs on this list? Yes. Do I care? No. This song is just that good.
- Jung Daehyun (B.A.P) "행로 (Haeng-ro)": He's got incredible vocal precision and this song shows that off so well.
- DAY6 "INSIDE OUT": 10th anniversaries stress me out, but as far as the song goes, it's so good. And the music video? Genius.
- Haechan (NCT) "CRZY": Took me ten seconds to fall in love with this song.
- Shin Wonho (Cross Gene) "Fill Me": This is another one where the music video deserves a special shout-out. And also perfect for the spooky season now.
- Junhee (A.C.E) "Umbrella (10:00)": Once again, music video specific shout-out. The entire song is great. But that music video is fabulous. Also, he replied to a comment on the music video, and it still makes me giggle a little.
- Yuqi (i-dle) "M.O.": Another ten second song.
- Woodz (UNIQ) "I'll Never Love Again": The man is going through five divorces at once.
- Hearts2Hearts "Pretty Please": They're underaged. I can't actually listen to them. That doesn't change the fact that this song is stunning.
- CxM (Seventeen) "5,4,3 (Pretty Woman)": 1) I got to hear SCoups sing (swoon); 2) the music video is hilarious; 3) it did take me a bit to fully warm up, but I love the original so
- The KingDom "Last Flower": I'm completely 100% in love with that instrumental and we got is as just the instrumental track. It's gorgeous and traditional and amazing.
Full list of the September reviews found: here.
Reviews for other months I did:
- TEMPEST "Unfreeze" (March 2025)
- Purple Kiss "DOREMI" (July 2025)
Just as a cute little fun fact, the BBS page has gotten more hits than the GH page. Which I think is amusing.
I got through one Greatest Hits post, found below.
EXID's "Hot Pink": This song is like...the definition of gatekeep, gaslight, girlboss covered in pink and heels. I think even the pink-hating younger version of myself would have absolutely adored this music video even though it would have infuriated her at first. The song needs to go viral with a dance challenge. Someone. Please.
And there was one of my Battle of the B-Sides posts.
Stray Kids's "MEGAVERSE": "Welcome to the Stray Kids hot megaverse." (bowdadadowdow) The number of times that phrase goes through my brain on at least a weekly basis, if not a daily basis, since that album has come out is a little bit ridiculous, so this was a great recommendation to have. The intro? Amazing. The choreography? So sharp. Stray Kids hoo!
Remember, if you have any suggestions, those can be left as a comment somewhere on here or, more neatly and orderly, submitted in The Form. I'm not picky.
Honorable Mentions:
- BTS "BTS Cypher Pt.2: Triptych": This is going to be one of several BTS songs that are going to be on here this month. Each time I have an enlistment, I use another group to not deal with it. For Hoshi and Woozi, it was BTS. I don't even like rap normally. But this one just hit the spot, I guess. Savage.
- BTS "Coffee": My favorite BTS song. It's so comforting, ironically because I also don't like coffee. The rhythm is smooth. The melody is so pretty. I also have no idea what the lyrics say because I've never actually looked them up. But it's a gorgeous song. (It's also over four minutes long, and I'm sure that had no affect on my love for this song)
- Seventeen "Habit": One thing you can always rely on Seventeen's vocal unit for is that their ballads are some of the prettiest things in music, and often are just great big hugs. This one isn't as much of a hug because it's actually quite a sad song, but it's just gorgeous. And those harmonies? Swoon. Also. I miss Woozi.
- Beast "Fiction (Orchestra Version)": The original is gorgeous with a fabulous music video. But with the stringed instruments? Just about anything I could want in a song. I wish I could hear this live. I might cry. Not even kidding.
- Hwasa (MAMAMOO) "I Love My Body": This song is so unbelievably iconic. I've seen it performed live. I fell in love. She's beyond incredible. (Also there is a Music Bank stage where she's wrinkling her nose adorably in the thumbnail and she's just so pretty.)
- BTS "2,3!": So funny story about this one. Other than my newfound discovery of this song, I was watching one of those "Name a kpop song from this category" videos on YouTube (I like to do those on occasion just to see where I'm lacking) and one of them was "name a song with a number in the title". And I was so excited because I had just found this song like the day before. Made that one easy. But, yeah. Anyway. It's a great song. Love this.
- Seulgi (Red Velvet) "Dead Man Runnin'": Yeah, I was gearing up for Halloween early. Her voice is stunning and the song is amazing.
Comments
Post a Comment