Song Review:: Monsta X: growing pains

-

  • Release date: 2026 February 06
  • Album tracklist: growing pains
  • Album runtime: 3 minutes

 Well, here we are, friends. Monsta X has dropped another English single for us (which is a spoiler for me even though I haven't heard it yet.) That does amuse me a little bit because apparently today is my day to cover English tracks because I also covered NOWZ's and posted it today.

The instrumental for this song is, quite frankly, a track from a movie sound track. This is the soft, sentimental road trip section when they're setting off after graduating from college and before they have to get on with the real world. It would probably be a movie that I don't watch because I don't particularly like the realistic fiction genre because more often than not they make me cry and it's a bad cry in my chest. But that's the part they'd put in the trailer to show the bond they have. I may not like those movies, but they regularly have banger soundtracks.

There are multiple spots where the members are harmonizing and I'm in complete love. This is such a soft song, fully fitting as they say goodbye for now to their maknae as he enlists, as the elder members step into the next chapter of their lives now that they've done that.  But vocally, it's very soft and the harmonizing does a great job of adding nuance and texture to a song that very easily could have been a single flavor note.

This is like the ultimate slice of life music video. I love it.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Battle of the B-Sides:: f(x): Shadow

-
Image
 I love when I get suggestions for groups that I've heard of but haven't actively listened to. I know that f(x) has several songs that are on the list of K-Pop influential songs that pretty much everyone should be familiar with, if they don't know  them. I don't think this is one of them, because this is a b-side, but I could also be wrong. Which is why I like being able to dig into the albums and the songs a little bit. So, this comes from their second studio album Pink Tape, released in 2013, which won a bonsaeng in 2014 at the GDAs, and hit number 1 on multiple music charts worldwide. One of the songs on the album was originally supposed to be Ariana Grande's song, and f(x) got it instead. So that's pretty cool. It's the second track on the album and is described as creepy pop, which I am down for entirely and that was one of the reasons why this song was suggested for me to do as the suggestion included the note that I seem to really like eerie or otherw...
Read more

Song Review:: RESCENE: lip bomb- Heart Drop {Pre-Release}

-
Image
Release date: 2025 November 25 Album tracklist: Heart Drop, Bloom , Love Echo, Hello XO, MVP Album runtime: 15 minutes  I know, I know. The album has already come out and that's probably what you were expecting me to do, but I apparently didn't get to this one, but both songs are on Underage Protocol because the maknae is far too young. It's really unfortunate. I feel like we've moved from the light and milquetoast to roughly the same instrumental that would simply be the milquetoast of old if we removed the percussion from it. On the one hand, it's no longer a single note scent, which I deeply appreciate, but on the other, it still feels a little too safe. But it's nice. Even if it doesn't completely catch my attention, I'm not bored, which sounds like a backhanded compliment, but I promise that it's a good thing in my head. Instead, we've still got some layers to the song, which is good, and it sticks a little, which is also good.  They have su...
Read more

Battle of the B-Sides:: NU'EST: Thank You (Evening by Evening)

-
Image
 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...
Read more

Greatest Hits:: Monsta X: Beautiful

-
Image
 I decided to have my first one of these for 2026 be something upbeat.  Plus, considering they had their tenth anniversary last year and I didn’t do anything for them then (because that was during my lean months), I figure that this would be a good one to go with now. I’m pretty sure that this isn’t one of their softer songs, but I like the idea of starting off the year with a song called “Beautiful” anyway because it taps into the romantic and sentimental bit of my soul that attaches like a barnacle to some of these groups. So, this is the title track, and second track, for their first album, The Clan Pt. 2.5: The Final Chapter, which was released in 2017, and what do you mean it was produced by someone whose stage name is Star Wars? I’m completely delighted. Anyway, some other artists that Star Wars ( I can't stop smiling in delight over that name) has worked on songs with are Wanna One, WJSN, Cravity, Billlie, Rania, BAE173, ITZY, TWICE, Sistar, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and ZER...
Read more

Song Review:: EXO: REVERXE- Crown

-
Image
Release date: 2026 January 19 Album tracklist: Crown , Back It Up, Crazy, Suffocate, Moonlight Shadows, Back Pocket, Touch & Go, Flatline, I'm Home Album runtime: 28 minutes  My first comeback with EXO coinciding with their first comeback is a delightful happenstance, and I'm excited to be here with the EXO-Ls for this. I'm so beyond frustrated with SM over this whole situation, but until SM decides to be completely nonsensical, I'm going to treat this as a simple hiatus for them from the group. They'll come back. And the average is over three minutes, so I am so, so happy. One of the more interesting things about the instrumental is that there are sirens going on through almost the entire thing, but they’re subtle enough that the song isn’t taken over by them and you’re unlikely to be jump-scared by them while you’re driving. But they’re there and they add a strong flavor to the song, which is otherwise majority a beat and rhythm, rather than having much of a m...
Read more

Battle of the B-Sides:: NewJeans: Super Shy

-
Image
 Before anyone comes at me with pitchforks and torches and chases me up a rickety windmill before setting fire to it for me to dramatically fall in a blaze of heartrending glory (I've been thinking a lot about the end of Frankenstein 1932 if you cannot tell), I'm labeling this as a b-side because it was a pre-release of an album, not the actual title track. You may also be wondering why, at this point in the year, I'm covering a NewJeans song when according to my own rules, I won't listen to groups if they had too many members debut underage or if they had members debut too young, both of which actually still apply to this group for a few more months but will soon be removed from the U.P list so that I can actually dig into their discography. To which I say, Underage Protocol does not apply to the Greatest Hits or the Battle of the B-Sides. If you're also curious about the timing, it has been almost two years, two very long, stressful years. No matter what I or any...
Read more

Song Review:: ONEWE: Studio We : Recording #4- Ferris wheel {Pre-Release}

-
Image
Release date: 2026 January 14 Album tracklist: Ferris wheel Album runtime: 7 minutes  Well, well, everyone. Hello! The ever so lovely band ONEWE has dropped a new single! I've enjoyed what I've heard from them so far, though they're not one that I've actively sought out to listen bigger chunks of their discography yet. But I am glad that I went digging through upcoming releases, because I found out that this is actually a pre-release! I love that we get the instrumental for this. The use of the bells makes it sound almost a little Christmassy, but at the same time there's a very festival vibe to that opening. It actually reminds me of when I was little when we lived on the farm, and the neighborhood kids would get to go on sleigh rides because my neighbor two miles down the highway had a gorgeous sleigh his grandfather had made by hand that he'd have his (award-winning) Belgian draft horses pull. So there's a very nostalgic sense to the song for me, but at t...
Read more

Greatest Hits:: Taemin (SHINee): Advice

-
Image
 So this was a request I got that made me smile and I'm doing this one here because I think it'll pair well with the last Greatest Hits post I did. The person who submitted it said they were at Taemin's concert in Vegas and saw this performed for the first time. They found my blog a few days ago and when they found out that I take submissions for this, they wanted to know if I'd do this one. The answer is, of course! I'll send you a message with it as soon as I've got this posted! Taemin, maknae of the second gen boy group SHINee, debuted under SM Entertainment in 2008 with his group and 2014 as a soloist. He's generally regarded as one of the best dancers in K-Pop and also has the nickname "Idol of Idols" because of the number of younger idols who cite him as their inspiration and the reason they decided to go into K-Pop. Advice  (the song) is the title track for Taemin's third mini album, Advice (the album), which was released roughly two wee...
Read more

Music Show Wins:: Week of 01/28 - 02/03

-
Image
  Well, everyone, there's a single name on this week's win list. Congrats, EXOLs, and welcome back, EXO! First of several dominations of the year, I expect, but for now, Crown  has a full grand slam!  So, for the extra stages, we've got NOIR on After School Club , in ep. 420 from 2020. They're a boy group that debuted in 2018, and it looks like this was their final song, but that doesn't negate the five releases they had. I took a listen to the whole song before I watched this episode because I was curious about it since I'd never heard of the group before. It's a solid song (I also recommend Panic and Think About Chu from the same album because those are really good songs and do not be surprised if after this next batch of suggestions, you see something by the group show up in my GH or BBS posts). They showed off their vocals and I'm impressed. I cheated a little for The Show because I really wanted to show off Rocket Punch but it was a cover (which ...
Read more

Song Review:: SAY MY NAME: &Our Vibe- UFO (ATTENT!ON)

-
Image
Release date: 2025 December 30 Album tracklist: Bad Idea, UFO (ATTENT!ION) , Delulu Solulu, Hard to Love, SAY MY NAME Album runtime: 14 minutes  This set of song titles brings me so much joy. First of all, the title track? I think that's actually a password, and I love that. I also am wholly in love with the song title "Delulu Solulu". Plus, this feels like an important note, we've had a new member added to the group since the last time I wrote something for this group, and  she is not a minor. I still can't listen to them because the maknae is fifteen, but, you know. One day she won't be and hopefully the company won't debut someone that young again. But in the meantime, their reviews are on Underage Review, and I have a playlist just for songs I can't listen to yet but that I like. That opening has no business going as hard as it does. They're ending the year with rock, and it's glorious. I'm actually kind of sad that I can't listen t...
Read more