Song Review:: Lee Daeyeol (Golden Child): Where Stars Grow {Debut}

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  • Release date: 2026 February 12
  • Album tracklist: Where Stars Grow
  • Album runtime: 4 minutes

 I do not know who you are, but the YouTube algorithm gave me your music video, and so here I am doing this so that I do not forget to do it. I'm hoping that Golden Child is going to find a new home and this isn't actually the d-word because I really like this group. But, we're going to focus on him for the moment, not the group. this is Golden Child's leader and part of the '93 line, along with Suga, Taemin, Aron, Peniel, and D.O. And! It's his solo debut! Congrats to him!

This song starts off so softly, but it's a lovely bright soft. The song gets a little more complexity once the vocals start up, added heft and solidness but nothing particularly overpowering. If this isn't in the comfort category of songs, I'll be deeply surprised because this is hitting me right in the Seventeen vocal unit and "almost everything by BTOB" spot in my brain. While there isn't a lot of variation, it does gently shift between chorus and verse, and then of course there's the dominant, near solo piano in three spots: beginning, bridge, and end. 

He's got a lovely voice with little hints of vibrato that occasionally ripple through notes when he holds them for two seconds or longer or if it comes at the end of a syllable held across several notes. I'm pretty sure I've got a good idea of what the live performances are going to function. It's a gorgeous song. It's not particularly groundbreaking, but considering comfort seems to be the name of the game for the song anyway, I'm not too plussed about it. The majority of my disappointment lies in the fact that this is a debut song and there's not a bold statement here. If this weren't a debut song, I'd just be pleased as a pickle about it.

So this is an interesting music video. It's fully vibes and visuals, which isn't the interesting part. Now, obviously my Korean is still kind of garbage, so I don't understand a whole lot of the song. But based on the sound, I would have expected something that leaned a little bright and fluffy. Instead we got ruinous growth. I'm also wondering where they dug that TV up from because even at least twenty years ago, the old TV we had that was for the game console (it was the former family room TV in the basement) didn't do the TV static. It went to a black screen if there was no input. But there also weren't any bunny ears I could see. And the styling was wrong for something from the 70s. So I'd guess it's a 90s TV, which still makes it a thirty-year-old TV. Yes, I got distracted by trying to figure out the age of the TV, but that contributes to the vibe I was getting.




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