Just A Little Fangirl Love

 Whichever LOVE sent this in and specifically requested I time this release to come out when Minhyun gets out, I love you. GUESS WHAT EVERYONE! MINHYUN HAS BEEN DISCHARGED. I try to avoid the caps lock, but I'm honestly so happy I could cry.  Thank You (Evening by Evening) is the fourth track from their fifth mini album, Canvas, which sold a grand total of 10 first day units and was released in 2016. I'll let that sink in for a second. The things you learn, and honestly, I couldn't be prouder of their survival with that little factoid. Writing credits include Bumzu, who recently won Legendary Producer at the 2025 AAAs and is most well-known for being Seventeen's producer alongside Woozi but also has done songs for Jin (BTS), Block B, TWS, 2PM, fromis_9, NCT Dream, Pristin, EXO, and Rain among others. Also with the writing credits is Jo Jayoung, who along with Seventeen and NU'EST songs as well, also has songs for UP10TION. And then the most surprising credit and I...

Release date: 2025 October 31 Album tracklist: Fun,  If You Wanna , DND, Scissors, At The Time, Beautiful, On Top of the World,  Good Liar , Maniac,  Better Than Me Album runtime: 27 minutes  Yes, I'm very much aware that I have already done the title track and one of the pre-releases for this album, but I never did this one. And the music video popped up on my recommendations today while I was doing other things, which reminded me that this was sitting in my drafts. It unfortunately is what it is, but I need to clean out the drafts and this is a good time for that. So, without further ado, let's get on with it. I feel like this comment I'm about to make is going to be considered blasphemous, but honestly, it was my very first thought and it was one I continued to have over the course of the song (which is painfully short, but whatever). And I mean this in the absolute best way possible. I think this is secretly a Britney Spears song. Other than the very obvious danc...

Release date: 2025 April 21 Album tracklist: Wait On Me , Walls Don't Talk , Pressure, Ridin', Off and Away, Adult Swim , Flight to Paris Album runtime: 19 minutes  And here's the title track, finally! Months later. I'm trying to clear out some of my drafts. Wow, this section is going to be so long on my wrap-up for December, which is the month when I'm posting this finally. So let's just get to it. This is a good beat. It's got a lot of interesting bits attached to it to give the song kind of an electronic latin vibe over the beat, including a hint of an actual melody, but the beginning is surprisingly nice while simultaneously being a little bit alarm siren. It also sounds, generally, a bit Stranger Things, which is absolutely a compliment from me because I love the soundtrack to that show. But that little downslide into a brief minor key is a delightful little touch to the song that I appreciate a lot. Kai's sound is very much a middle of the road typ...

 I need these done by quickly so that I can really focus on my massive 2025 review, because I was a slacker in the earlier months. For shame on me. Still! Even though we're getting to the months with fewer releases that I covered, that doesn't mean I can't still do this, if for no other reason than to record the debuts, you know? So, our lovely May debuts. I managed to cover 20th Century Boy'z , Hwan Woong (Oneus) , and UAU (Dreamcatcher) , which admittedly is not a lot of them. But that's actually a decent range because one is a band, one is a soloist, and one is a subunit. The only thing that could have made it better would have been for me to cover a full group, and then I'd basically have all the range. Debuts I didn't cover were 1159CINDERELLA, ablume , LADYBOUNCE , and POLARIX . Of those (benefits of doing in this months after May ended), 1159CINDERELLA is disbanded (and re-debuted under a different name) and POLARIX is on hiatus already, (I did say th...

Release date: 2025 March 10 Album track list: PINOCCHIO (feat. So!YoON),  96ers ,  STUPID IDIOT Album runtime: 7 mi nutes  I know this isn't technically a title track, and I know it's also been months, but I've been missing them a lot lately. Fun fact, I have two D&D groups, and the one I'm in as a player, my character last campaign was a druid who was also a spy (I kind of based her off of Jeonghan). She became best friends with the tiefling barbarian in the party, who accidentally became a spy, and no one wanted the two of them to be alone together because quite by accident, things would happen. Our DM actually said it was like the last two braincells fighting for second place when they were together, which is funny because neither of them were stupid characters on their own or with the whole group. Thus, I dubbed this our theme song. Every time something happened, again, by complete accident (accidentally creating a super species of vampire remains a favorite hig...

Release date: 2025 December 19 Album tracklist:  Wish to Wish Album runtime: 3 minutes  Well, this is my first review for the ever lovely Yoona, and it's a Christmas song, so I'm just pleased all around. I've got high hopes for it, but generally I'm also just excited to be getting new music from her, even if it's only a single. Best time for one, in my opinion, though. There are some interesting instruments here. It's been a minute since I've gotten to hear the wooden blocks, and they're in the song as a garnish, which really enhances the song because that little rhythm is neither frequent nor attention stealing. In general though, this is very 70s sounding. I can practically see the TV screen because it reminds me of Charlie's Angels. It's a very chill sort of song, but also like being wrapped in a warm fluffy blanket with a hot cup of cocoa, curled up watching a Christmas episode. I don't know if the show ever had one, but that's kind o...

Release date: 2025 April 14 Album tracklist: TAKEOVER , Heroes, Passport, Promise You Album runtime: 14 minutes  I would like to apologize to the group because in my filing cabinet for K-Pop in my brain, the quick pull tab sticking out of 82MAJOR's folder is labeled "Keeho's brother Yechan", so every time I need to reference 82MAJOR, it starts with that in my head. Some people have cool mind palaces. Me, I have ugly gray metal filing cabinets arranged in the room like it's a dimly lit spy facility from the 1950s and I don't know what that says about me as a person. Think that scene from Avengers: Endgame and you'll have a pretty good approximation, but the filing cabinets move on me sometimes. And yes, I know there's a more recent release, but it's on my list. This one was just older. Also, 82MAJOR has a live practice version of the song. Don't know if you knew that. I kind of love it. That's an opening. Actually, the entire instrumental a...

 Howdy, folks and cowfolks!  Starting off with the debuts! I actually have one still sitting in my drafts so that will have to happen eventually, but I also only covered three of the others: CLOSE YOUR EYES , ifeye , and SWEET:CH . I'm still frustrated by certain trends regarding girl group debuts right now, but the two boy groups didn't frustrate me in the same way.  Also debuting were  SKINZ (a virtual boy group), TSSJ (a virtual girl group), VVS , OSDS , HITGS , and  UDTT . I mentioned it in the review I wrote for one of their later songs, but there's also a boy group called VVS and that's also the name of Vanner's fandom. So if you're into that debut, be aware that there may be some future confusion. Hopefully the company changes the name. It's been known to happen. Songs I was looking forward to: Solar (MAMAMOO): I'm always going to be really excited about anything MAMAMOO as a group or as soloists do, because you know we're basically guarante...

Release date: 2025 May 19 Album tracklist:  Chocolate ,  Elevator , Lemonade, Love Comes Back, No Problem, Black Dreams, Late Night Calls Album runtime: 20  minutes  I wasn't super in love with Chocolate, but since I've got a moment in December with fewer releases, I'm snagging some of the ones I didn't get to earlier. Including this one. I hit the pre-release, but never managed this one. Whoops. This is more what I would have expected, and that makes me feel a little bit better considering that this is the title track of the album. Thankfully, you know what a song called "Elevator" has included in that instrumental? An elevator ding. This is a very chill roll of a song with the majority of the instrumental being different beats in various rhythms, but there is a melody buried underneath those beats. There's also a spot where the instrumental backs off to allow Baekhyun's voice to get the showcase, which is actually a really good spot for it to happen,...

Release date: 2025 December 17 Album tracklist:  Moonlight Train,  Walking In A Dream, Starlight Bridge, Sea Of Luna Album runtime: 15 minutes  Okay. So. I had to do some digging to figure out who she is. Yi Chaebin, formerly known as Dahee, debuted in 2015 in the group, Awe5ome Baby. They disbanded the following year. She was almost in fromis_9, and debuted as a soloist in 2021. (As a side note, because I hate groups going forgotten and I have already done this for a group, I may add their debut and, I think, only song to my list of Greatest Hits.) K-Pop history is littered with groups like this. For every mid-tier group, there's a hundred or more who don't make it even to year three. Shame. But I also very much want to support this album on principle because there isn't a single song under three minutes and three-quarters of them are over three-and-a-half minutes. Yay! You know what is so fascinating about the piano specifically in this song? So, we have the normal perc...

Release date: 2025 December 17 Album tracklist:  Solar System Album runtime: 4 minutes  It turns out that I have quite a few songs from her album saved to playlists, but this is the first one of her songs that I'll be reviewing.  The piano is the dominant instrument here, with an occasional acoustic guitar and some strings. It creates a very soft sound relying on a melody to create a slow, gentle beat rather than using shorthand with percussion instruments. And yes, I know technically the piano is both stringed and percussion, which is why that is where we look to for a beat for this song.  This sounds like the kind of song that my grandmother would have sung to me when I was little. I can practically feel her stroking my hair. There's nothing flashy about this song, just grounded, soft, and sweet, the perfect lullaby. So, unfortunately I cannot watch this music video. I try to avoid things with old people that are sad, or even bittersweet. I made it thirty seconds i...

Release date: 2025 December 05 Album tracklist:  My EPITHYMiA Album runtime: 3 minutes  I'm just doing the Japanese releases right now apparently. They've got an album coming out soon, and I don't know if this is a pre-release for it or not. If it ends up being one, then I'll be sure to mark it appropriately when the time comes. For now, I'm treating it as a single. Again, this group is ludicrously active on YouTube. They literally do 2-3 lives a day. Why does this sound like an anime intro song? It's put together a little bit interestingly, with that guitar opening and then it takes almost half the song for it to come back, almost like it's being used sparingly. Given the style of the drums, I'm surprised by that. There is a guitar solo, which is a pretty good indication that that's going to be a dance break when I get a look at the choreography, and it comes at a really good spot in the song energy-wise.  One of them sings in his nose, giving him a...

Release date: 2025 December 16 Album tracklist:  Bring it Back Album runtime: 4 minutes  I know what you're thinking. "Why is she suddenly doing a J-Pop debut?" And, that's a fair reaction, but they are under SM (albeit SM Japan), and there are enough K-Pop listeners who also listen to J-Pop that y'all might be interested to know about them. Plus, they're all in their twenties at least, at debut, and coming from SM that's a bit of an achievement, so I want to celebrate that. Also, apparently one of them has been studying ballet since she was four. I may not do any more of their songs; it depends on if I like this one how much I'm going to be paying attention to them, but at least this way, someone else who may not have known they existed until much later could find them and love them from the start. And this is over four minutes long so, again, on principle, I want to support this. Honestly, I'm just really down for this song. We've got a melod...

 I got this a bit ago as a suggestion, but I just kept putting it on hold. However, considering Taeyong is now discharged (and I get to pull his photocard off my Enlistment Wall now yay ), I'm going to dust this one off and do it. I would have had this out for his discharge but I lost track of when he was getting discharged. Sorry. I am also slightly afraid of this song because I haven't heard it and whoever submitted it wrote "enjoy the lyrics ;)" and I can't decide which is likelier: if this is going to have lyrics like Smoothie or if it has lyrics that I am definitely going to mishear and make them worse than they are, because a comment like that could go either way. I also got an apology because this submitter isn't sure if this was ever performed live, but this isn't the first one I've done and it certainly won't be the last.  And with regards to the T-named elephant in the room, I also had to decide how I was going to handle this and him, wh...

Release date: 2025 December 13 Album tracklist: I'm Home Album runtime: 3 minutes  I missed out on being around for EXO's 7th album by about a month, although even though I wasn't listening to K-Pop quite yet, I was definitely on my way because I was on episode 4 of Alchemy of Souls on the 7th, and I remember this because I told my friend about it and how funny it was when we went to the Bryan Adams/Joan Jett concert together. Did I also use the songs up for MAMA's Song of the Year to get to know K-Pop in general that year? Yes, and that means that I did listen to Cream Soda  a bit, but there were a lot of songs on that list and I was focused on Wind and Wish because that was BTOB's song that had come out that year and was up for it. I have the playlist of those songs saved still. So, long story short, this is my first comeback with EXO, who is one of my beloved 2012 groups, and it's not even the full group because SM sucks. I think I've summed up the situat...

Release date: 2025 December 12 Album tracklist:  Asteroid , 한 걸음 더 가까이, DIVE Album runtime: 9 minutes  Another of the YouTube recommendations my algorithm gives to me. Huh. I wonder if I could write a parody of Twelve Days of Christmas on my YouTube algorithm. Anyway, sorry. You already know that he's a member of INFINITE because of how I title these reviews, but this was news to me when I looked him up. I also found out his younger brother is also in a K-Pop group, Golden Child, which is delightful to learn. So, because he's a second gen idol, I have expectations for his capability. This song is the shortest of the three, but the average is good because the middle song is almost four minutes. But! This is his solo debut, fifteen years after his debut with INFINITE, so I'm very curious about what he's going to give us. My favorite instrumental triumvirate is here for this song: guitar, drums, piano. Is it a basic combination? Yes, but there's nothing wrong with a cl...

Release date: 2025 December 15 Album tracklist:  Still Here Album runtime: 4 minutes  I had to apportion out the reviews because I didn't quite get WayV's out when I wanted to. But that just means that I get to drop Forestella's first today. And, best of all, Woorim is out of the military and we get our bass back. Woorim is part of the incredibly talented 95z and I do have to wonder what was in the water in South Korea in '94 and the very beginning of '95 because wow. Also, if this is your first Forestella song, you're in for a treat. When I mean he's a bass, I mean he's a classically trained bass who could probably make your bones rattle when he sings. (If you haven't heard their performance of Bad Romance from Immortal Singers , well, they turned it into a gothic vampire drama and also is the reason why I know who they are, so enjoy that before we get into this. Also, this, by the way, is what I'm looking for in terms of harmonies and there...

 This is Verivery's first win in over three years. I'm so relieved. Y'all, they have been stressing me out. because they deserve so much better. Also, I find it hilarious that the extra stage for last week was them, and then this week they get a win. But, good news is that they're not the only first win for a song on the list. Taeyeon also got a win for her new song, and that's exciting, as is a third win for Hwasa! MCountdown is still out and Inkigayo is out for the rest of the year. I'm feeling a little sentimental, so I decided on Ep. 615 of After School Club featuring VANNER to share with you all. This was, funnily enough, one of the first ASC episodes I watched. Time sure flies. They're seriously so sweet, and JACKPOT was produce by Hui and Wooseok of Pentagon and another one of their songs from that album was produced by Hyunsik from BTOB. I really love that album, you guys. The Show stage is from earlier this year and I picked my boys xikers with thei...

Release date: 2025 December 15 Album tracklist: Lovin' the Christmas Album runtime: 3 minutes  DAY6 gave us a Christmas song! Yes! Could I have just added it to my Christmas post for the year? Yeah, but I really love DAY6 and I'm kind of on a roll. So, here we are.  Ah, I love the bright and fun Christmas songs. We've got some bells to help brighten the normal band insturments they usually have, and those bells are the standard addition to make things seasonal. We also get some brass instruments, and one of them might be a French horn, which honestly would just tickle me pink if it was because when they show up, they're great, and they're another standard addition to make things seasonal.  This is such Hallmark song, and I love it. I cannot wait for the music video. We've got a gorgeous melody for the vocals, and I really couldn't be happier about this. And the lyrics are great too. Like I said, total Hallmark song. I do feel a little bit like this might be ...

Release date: 2025 December 15 Album tracklist: TEMPO , You're Right Album runtime: 6 minutes  At this point, it's kind of a toss up which Minho he gives us: he of the fierce rapper or he of the golden voice. Or maybe he's not going to choose and just give us both. The man has many facets and he is a multitasker.  This is one of those songs where the majority of the instrumental is beat. We get a couple of different ones here, but most of it is percussion and beat. We do get a tiny amount of melody buried behind the beat, and I do mean buried because you have to really focus to hear it unless you've got the volume turned up. But the good news is that with this kind of instrumental, it's really easy for it to overpower the vocals, because there's not a lot of softness there. TEMPO , thankfully, doesn't fall into that trap.  We got the golden voice version for this song, although he does rap a little bit. This is a very pretty song with brief flickers of unexp...

Release date: 2025 July 18 Album tracklist:  BIG BANDS , Ice Tea, WOAH, Sad Eyes, Your Song, BIG BANDS - Korean Version Album runtime: 18 minutes  It's a good time for me to finally get this one written. My apologies to the fans for being so late on this one. It got a music show win on The Show (still not bitter about this, it's fine) the end of July, and I've been meaning to do this since then; it just kept getting lower and lower on the immediately necessary. So here's the thing. I actually love big bands. I spent about two years listening to basically only music from the 40s and 50s. I have a list of artists from then that if they weren't dead, I'd be eagerly awaiting new music from them (my glee with the V and Bing duet is partly due to the fact that a new(ish) Bing song dropped? Be still my soul). I've got some massive playlists that I love. Honestly, this feels like big band as imagined by hip-hop artists. It's actually a pretty cool combination a...

Release date: 2025 December 12 Album tracklist:  시간을 건너서 Album runtime: 4 minutes  Y'all, I am excited about this. LOVEONE have been slow and steady with their releases, and I have no idea what this project of theirs is, but I am suddenly very excited about this. These are my girls! And this is an almost four minute song. So, excited. I highly recommend you go back and take a listen to the other songs that I've reviewed for them, which should be all of them that they've released. Seriously, this group is lovely. This is fairytale in a sound. It's solidly grounded in the beat, with some synthy goodness and lovely piano plinking. Rich, full-bodied. Honestly, this is an incredible song. You'll be seeing this one again at the end of the month as part of my "I love these songs" segment because it's mesmerizingly beautiful. And the best part is this isn't even the best part of the song. I know the above section was really short, but I wanted to get to th...

Release date: 2025 December 13 Album tracklist:  AURORA,  AURORA(Instrumental) Album runtime: 7 minutes  He apparently went by Y in the Golden Child days so if you're looking for it, you may need to write his name and Y, but I'll also hold out tentative hope that Golden Child isn't done because I really like them, you know? And even if most of the members leave, that doesn't mean they've left the group. Look at MAMAMOO. Still, congrats on the solo debut! This is super exciting! Whoo! I get my instrumental time! Yay! At the risk of making a bad pun, this is a very chill time of a song. It does mean that the level of the song is mostly very consistent, though there are multiple points where the guitar and the drums get paused to let the piano gently carry the song. It's genuinely very pretty with an earnestness that makes me excited to hear the lyrics and the vocal melody. But the instrumental also has a melody, which delights me so much. I love it when we get ins...

Release date: 2025 December 12 Album tracklist: UPLIFT, The Chase, Backseat Promises , That's enough to go, back to you Album runtime: 15 minutes  Thank you, Mr. Kang Daniel, for giving us a three-and-a-half minute song for your title track. I haven't heard a lot of his songs, but when I like them, I really, really like them, so I have tentatively high hopes for this one, which is usually the case once I find a title track I love. Also, apologies if I start rambling more than usual. It's currently incredibly late where I am, and the reason that I am up is because I can't sleep. So here we are. Funny story, though, I got a notification from YouTube Music that this had dropped. The instrumental for this song reminds me of wicker for some reason. It's got some very bouncy moments, while also not being fancy free due to the resonance of the instrumental. It's also got a fade-out, which is a little bit of a surprise, I'm not going to lie. K-Pop songs rarely have ...