May 2025 Wrap-Up: ...Bring May Flowers
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 that they'd debuted back in Dec 2024, but they didn't release their actual debut album until May).
Songs I was looking forward to:
- RIIZE- I'm still angry with SM, but that doesn't change how much I like this group. They were my first group I've been with since debut.
- TOMORROW X TOGETHER- I'm still waiting for them to get a song longer than two minutes, but I do generally still like their songs
- i-dle- Rebrand. Contract renewal. This is super exciting
- Tablo X RM- I know I don't typically listen to either of these artists, but I'm very curious about this song.
- DAY6- I really just generally like their songs, so I'm always ready for new ones
- E'LAST- Y'all, they have some of my favorite Halloween-esque songs, and any chance I get for a new one of their songs, I'm into
- Changsub (BTOB)- I love his voice, T'Challa my cat loves his voice
- Jin (BTS)- I liked the first album
- Kim Jaejoong (TVXQ!/JYJ)- 2nd gen idol and one of the first OG visuals? Yes, please
- Vanner- I love these guys so much
- SHINee- Happy seventeenth anniversary!
- Seventeen- Happy tenth anniversary!
- KickFlip- I want the younger groups to get wins, but this was just bad timing
- Hwan Woong (Oneus)- If Road to Kingdom was an accurate representation, this guy is incredible.
May had a lot of songs I was curious about, still light on the girl groups and I do apologize for that.
And as always, you can find all of these, and all of the others for the year in the Music Show Wins page, but here are the specifically May wins.
And now for the songs that I really liked from the month.
Top Releases of the Month:
- Irene & Seulgi (Red Velvet) "Tilt": The music video alone would have it on this list, but the song is generally just stunning.
- N.Flying "Everlasting": Yo, this song is so pretty! It's got just about everything that I want, and I don't understand why this band in general doesn't get more attention.
- Hwan Woong (Oneus) "RADAR": You know how there are some songs that you just know you're going to love from the first five seconds? This was one of them for me.
- KickFlip "FREEZE": Realistically, this was the point where I started feeling really bad for them in terms of timing for their releases because they just don't have the numbers yet. But I love this song so much. Y'all do not even know.
- Kim Jaejoong (TVXQ!/JYJ) "ROCK STAR": His voice is stunning. I want to hear this song live so badly. Rock really does suit him so well.
- Seventeen "THUNDER": Honestly, this song took me a minute to really like. And then I saw the stages and I was sold because I understood the song then.
- Tablo (EPIK HIGH) X RM (BTS) "Stop The Rain": I weep.
- i-dle "Good Thing": Another one that the music video alone would have put on the list, but good news, the song is a spicy one that taps into my love of alt rock.
- Sungjae (BTOB) "Lie": His voice is stunning. I want to hear this song live so badly. Part 2. That guitar? The softness before completely bursting? His vibrato? The depth? He kills me and revives me all at once in an eternal cycle.
The full list of the May Reviews can be found: here
Reviews for the other months are:
- Kai (EXO) "Walls Don't Talk" (April 2025)
- Chuu (LOONA) "Only cry in the rain" (April 2025)
- LOVEONE "Drama Queen" (April 2025)
- Ilhoon (BTOB) "Michaelangelo" (April 2025)
- MEOVV "HANDS UP" (April 2025)
- Highlight (Chains) (April 2025)
- Woodz (UNIQ/X1) "Drowning" (April 2023)
The Greatest Hits posts I did were Taeyeon (Girls' Generation) "INVU", Ladies' Code "Galaxy", and VIXX LR "Beautiful Liar". The music video for INVU still reminds me so much of Artemis from Greek mythology that I have definitely sent it to people who do not listen to kpop because I needed them to see it. And also the song is amazing. I tried to be respectful for Galaxy, given when it was released, so if you were the one who suggested it to me, I hope this was what you wanted. I mean, all three were submissions, and I hope they met expectations, but for the reasons of what Galaxy is and what it means to the fans, that one specifically I hope did it justice. Beautiful Liar is a stunning display of contrasts and I hope everyone takes a listen to it because that is a gorgeous song. Three very different songs.
Unfortunately, I did not post any Battle of the B-Sides posts this month.
If you have a suggestion for me, feel free to drop it in a comment on any of these posts, or you can always submit something to The Form.
Honorable Mentions:
- Stray Kids "Blind Spot": Honestly, almost every single b-side from this album, I love. I cut these off at seven recs, but if I'd done eight, you'd also have gotten Cover Me. I have to say that I specifically love Felix's line "I ain't gonna stop, oh, no, no, no", and not just because we get to hear Felix singing. But I'm not going to go into too much detail in case someone wants to recommend it for me. Hint, hint.
- xikers "Witch": Look. This is near constant rotation because it's, hands down, my favorite of their title tracks. The choreography is unreal. The music video is stunning. It's just spooky. Please refer to my review. I love this song.
- BTS "Spring Day": Every once in a while, this song recharts. I didn't listen to it because of that, but it's just a lovely, comforting hug of a song and I needed the sanity break.
- Red Velvet "Butterflies": This song is very cute and chill. But I specifically want to shout out the harmonies in this song. That chorus? Wow.
- GFRIEND "Vacation": Is there a song better suited to the end of school? Also, I listen to this every Friday on my way home from work. It's the little things.
- B1A4 "Smile": I actually listened to B1A4 quite a bit this month, but oh my goodness, their vocals are absolutely stunning, you know? And this one is definitely on the slower side, but I hope you enjoy this sweet little love song. It's so sweet. #relationshipgoals
- Stray Kids "Back Door": Was the first time I heard this song because of BTOB and Kingdom? Do I quote Changsub and say "My Pace or My Face?" every time I see My Pace? Do I love the choreography for this song? The answer to all of these questions is yes.
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