May 2026 Wrap-Up: What Happens In Vegas
[Insert the upside down smiley face here]
In all seriousness, I know I'm very late, but I think I got through most of the reviews I wanted to do and it's time to do this. Otherwise I'll just keep putting it off and end up having to write it in December so that I can write my year-end wrap-up. Like last year. We're trying to avoid the stress I put myself through in December again. And spoiler for the songs I was listening to this month, it was a lot of NU'EST, so I'm only going to include the one I listened to the most rather than the four that would be included. For once, my top NU'EST listen was not FACE.
Debut time! Debuts I covered: NAZE, YUHZ, HEART OF WOMAN, AND2BLE, and H//PE PRINCESS. Debuts I didn't cover: FLARE U. Soloists whose debut I did not cover: J.Seph (KARD) (note: this is actually a draft so this will likely be finished at some point so this will be edited when I do) and Gabee (JAESSBEE).
Songs I was looking forward to:
- I.O.I- One of the two survival show groups to set up the formula. Hilariously, I probably listen to them more than I do the other half of the formula, and I'm happy to see them back together
- Wanna One- The other half of the formula for survival groups, although this one is a bit more in a state of flux considering ages of the members means that they're in the middle of their enlistment era
- Rain- This is Rain we're talking about, one of the still active OGs
- BOYNEXTDOOR- They're adorable. I love this group
- NOWZ- Since the rebranding, I've been a lot more on board with them, although I'd decided I liked them on principle because they debuted with all adults, which is something I am going to support
- Taeyang- The BIGBANG members are going to be hitting promotions hard leading up to their group comeback, because everything that they do individually right now will build anticipation for the comeback. I'm including myself in this
- ZEROBASEONE- First comeback post end-of-contract and, for this half, contract renewal. Of course I'm curious about how they're going to be moving forward.
- xikers- MY KIDS
- Big Ocean- My boys!
I recognize that xikers is full of adults, but they're all younger than me and they'll be the kids until they get a younger sibling group of their own.
We're almost halfway through the year. We're getting close. There have been a lot of songs released, a lot of groups debuted, a lot of things happening. It's been a wild five months. But, the thing that I'm most excited about is that The Show is back and my patience has been rewarded!
We've moved away a bit from the number of songs that I love enough to put into my playlist, which is as it should be. Music is cyclical. I had a good few months of loving most of what was released, and now that's settled a bit. That doesn't mean that you're not justified in loving songs I didn't particularly like. My mother and I regularly disagree.
Top Releases of the Month:
- NOWZ "Us": A fan song! A fan song, everyone! They can do the heavier rapping (as shown from their early songs). They can do the heavier vocals (as proven by this song). And the music video? Oh, I'm so soft for it. So soft.
- Rain "Feel It": My expectations for this song, because of his experience and his longevity, were probably unreasonably high, and he still managed to meet them. And the instrumental takes care of the listener in a way that I wasn't expecting it to, but does anyway.
- xikers "OKay": Do I love it as much as WITCH? No. But we've got a Sumin scream, a creepy and slightly aggressive instrumental, and a music video that I absolutely adore with enough storyline that I'm happy as a clam.
- NAZE "People Talk" {Debut}: Look, they debuted calling people out for being jerks. It's a respectable debut song. It doesn't exactly wow me, but I liked it well enough to be part of the few additions to the playlist I added this month.
- Heart of Woman "Lost in Proof" {Debut}: I liked this song more the longer I listened to it, even if it's too short and it doesn't have a lot of what I'm looking for. However,
- AND2BLE "Curious" {Debut}: The reason why this was not included in my "I'm looking forward to these songs" list is because I was not paying attention to them before they debuted. Again. When I realized who they were, I was very interested in them.
- NAZE "Pretty Pink Socks": This is a vocally rich song with a delightfully and deeply interesting instrumental. I still wish this had been the debut track, but it's fine, and the music video? Hilarious.
- BABYMONSTER "I Like It": This was a late surprise arriving for me in July when I picked this song as an extra stage during the Music Show Wins post one week, so I had to review it. I immediately loved it, but I couldn't just say that. I love this though. It's making me a little frustrated that they're on Underage Protocol though because if I love this one this much, there have to be others hidden in the b-sides of their discography I can't listen to until February.
Full list of May reviews: here
Reviews for other months:
- Cravity "AWAKE" {Apr 2026}
- AKMU "Paradise of Rumor" {Apr 2026}
- Vari (NINE.i) "MY DEAREST" {Apr 2026}
- H//PE PRINCESS "Stolen" {Pre-Debut} {Apr 2026}
- Wonpil (DAY6) "Piano" {Mar 2026}
- ILLIT "It's Me" {Apr 2026}
- Keyveatz "Key Beats" {Pre-Debut} {Apr 2026}
- Park Jihoon (Wanna One) "Bodyelse" {Apr 2026}
- Lucy "All Ages" {Apr 2026}
- 82MAJOR "Sign" {Apr 2026}
- KEYVITUP "LEGENDARY" {Apr 2026}
- TWS "You, You" {Apr 2026}
- NEXZ "Mmchk" {Apr 2026}
- QWER "CEREMONY" {Apr 2026}
- Yena (IZ*ONE) "Catch Catch" {Mar 2026}
- *Beyond the Blog* Arctic Monkeys "Do I Wanna Know" {September 2013}
One of the funniest things I think you all could do to me, especially if you're mad at me for a regular review I've written, is have me do GH or BBS posts on songs you know I won't like. Because here's the thing, I will set aside whatever grumbling I need to in order to support and defend a song that someone loves. Especially if you give me reasons why you love it so I don't have to guess. I'm an English lit major. I argued on behalf of things I didn't agree with or believe based on the perspective of the author all the time, and I made arguments on behalf of things I didn't like all the time. Is it harder? Yes. But just because I don't like something doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to be championed. Drop a comment. Fill out The Form. Tell me why you love it so that I can argue on its behalf.
May's Expanded Offerings posts had a theme this month that I didn't outright mention until I revealed it in the last one I posted. I really wanted to highlight the important role that bridges play in music, especially since so many songs have been lacking them lately, so the entire month featured bridges.
Greatest Hits:
- After School "bang": This was my Mother's Day post that I picked specifically because this song was performed when one of the members was pregnant. Personally, I don't think you could have a list of best bridges in K-Pop without mentioning this one, because younger groups just don't try it when they cover it. I need younger groups to try that bridge. S-tier vocals and rapping at the same time? Yes, please.
- PIXY "Let Me Know": I love the spooky representation year-round, and the bridge here, especially in the music video, pulls the song into a dark fairy-tale that is so deliciously witchy that I'm over here swooning a little. You can actually see the bruises on their knees from the choreography in one of the performances I found for the song.
- GFRIEND "Rough": I did spend a lot of time on how surreal it felt to watch them as such a young group in this music video where I only recognized two of them. But this song is the reason why we got the 2x speed segment on Weekly Idol, and the vocals on this group are just so solid.
- BerryGood "Angel": Another song that I think is required to be included on a list of the best bridges in K-Pop. The way the vocals stack on each other to launch the notes into the atmosphere still has me in absolute awe. And, for the record, I'm still incensed about the number of views on that music video because the bridge alone deserves three-five times that.
- ATEEZ "BOUNCY": This song was The Favorite Song for a class of fifth graders someone I know taught last school year, so I figured I'd do this song at the end of May to celebrate the end of the year. And then I panicked a little bit because I forgot I'd decided that when I picked "bridges" for the month of May. Luckily, there is a bridge here. I'm a huge fan of how seriously this very odd concept is treated by the group, and this is a big, energetic, performance driven explosion of a song.
- EXO "Tempo": The very first thing I learned about this song is that bridge, which meant it was the first song I picked, the final boss of bridges, if you will, and the one I chose to close out the month and make the theme unmistakable, even if I hadn't revealed what it was until this post. And the thing about this bridge is that it wouldn't be even a third as effective as it is if EXO weren't at the level of vocals that they are.
Battle for the B-Sides:
- NMIXX "Tank": Considering this is neither their debut song or a title track, this song has no business going as hard as it did. It was an announcement, which I am here for from the rookie groups. And the bridge was an ethereal break in the midst of the aggressiveness of the rest of the song, which is another thing I am here for.
- Baby V.O.X "Summer Story": This is such a beautiful, bright song with a surprising sent of instruments behind the beautiful vocals.. Perfect for summer listening (as noted by the title). Very charming, and I'm still delighted by the circus-like opening that it has going on. I love the change of texture that this bridge does to soften the chorus after it.
- Seventeen "Shining Diamond": This was a combination post of Seventeen's anniversary and also a celebration of their contract renewal, so I did focus more on what this specific song represents more than the bridge, but the choreography during the bridge specifically is just so clever and functionally useful rather than just looking cool.
Honorable Mentions:
- NU'EST "Climax": A NU'EST song that isn't FACE in my top listens? Is that even legal? It's also almost entirely in Korean with some big vocals at times and that last chorus is just a work of beauty. Also, it's a beautiful hug of a song to remind us not to give up. In case you haven't noticed by now, if a song has the words "fly high" in it, I love it.
- Tahiti "Phone Number": I recently rediscovered this song after putting it in my big playlist. The vocals alone here are where it's at. They're rich and vibrato-filled with a glorious amount of swagger. The bends and slides and riffs happening are beautiful. (And the group has fewer than 10,000 listeners, so y'all need to take a listen).
- VIXX "Only U": I love the old-timey crackling going on occasionally. Vocal rich. Only a little bit dramatic for a VIXX song which means that it's actually pretty dramatic still.
- BTOB "Dreamer": The elephant in the room is that my top four listens for May were all 2012 debuts. Now, this is BTOB of the vocals that I would cry if I ever got to hear live.
- N.Flying "WINTER WINTER": Soft slow band ballad, here, everyone, that's just depressing. I'm sure you all were expecting me to pull out a song about seasonal depression in May. It's so pretty though, which is why I listen to it in May.
- Seventeen "Ash": This is one of Seventeen's autotune heavier songs, but it's fantastic all the same. "To the sun, to the moon. Another world, blaze up anew." Swoon. And that's without even factoring in the choreography because that's a whole extra swoon.
- Tempest "Only One Day": I'm going to have to do another Tempest Expanded Offerings post to share the thing that I learned about this group that folded them into my NU'EST attached web even though they should have their own node since they're a March debut. This song is a little bit on the slower side, and it's very comfortable. But oh, it's gorgeous. You want another hug? Here you go. Have a hug.
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