Just A Little Fangirl Love

 Two months down! My apricot tree has started to form the blossom buds which is concerning, but maybe I'll take a picture for the March wrap-up so you can see how pretty it is.  Okay, let's take a look at these debuts, shall we? The groups that I covered were NAVILLERA ,  Daily:Direction . I covered two subunit debuts for QQQ (OnlyOneOf) and NCT JNJM (NCT) . For soloists, I covered Jiwoo (KARD ,  Lee Daeyeol (Golden Child) and Lee Jiham (A.C.E) 's debuts. If I can find a better list of debuts, then I'll include the ones I missed. Songs I was looking forward to:  ATEEZ: I'm deeply curious about where the lore is going to go with this, and also the b-sides because they've got some b-sides that I want tattooed onto my brain Monsta X: I love that they're getting more active again, although I am a little sad that they now have to wait for their maknae to get discharged NOWZ: We've had a streak of songs that I've really liked. I'm okay now if they sw...

 First one of the year, everyone! I was so stressed about certain things that I kind of completely missed that we'd tipped into February. Good news, January feels like it took only 34 years to get through instead of the 37 years January 2025 took. Progress. Make sure that you're getting your sunshine and supplements for vitamin D. Seasonal depression is no joke. I have a new planner (this one from the BTOB season's greetings) that I'm using to keep track of specifically when artists are having releases and what groups are debuting each month, as well as some blog specific stuff, (like stuff for the 2026 music show wins recap post, how many posts I cover for each month, etc). I figure that they'd appreciate it being used instead of me just going "Look how pretty!!!!!" and never using it.  January debuts! The full groups that I covered are LATENCY , Alpha Drive One , LNGSHOT , dodree , and ChRocktikal . The subunits I covered yesweare (idntt) and DxS (Seven...

 Okay, everyone! Last one of the year! Whoo! Let's finish this off strong. Since it's likely that everyone will be reading this after we've hit the new year, no matter where we are, I'm just going to say Happy New Year! May your days be merry and bright! Make sure that you drink enough water and get enough sunlight! Unless, of course, you live somewhere that doesn't have a lot of sunlight right now, in which case, make sure you get your recommended dose of vitamin D to help compensate for that since your natural synthesis is more or less offline right now. Okay, December debuts! I actually covered four soloists who debuted this month. We had Yim Siwan from ZE:A, Chuei Li Yu , Choi Sungyun from Golden Child, and Lee Sungyeol from INFINITE. I have no idea who else debuted as soloists, but I'm delighted to share these guys. Groups that debuted are MEP-C (a multinational girl group) and BEWAVE - Jiun & Yunseul (BEWAVE subunit that tells me I need to add ano...

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 December 01 Album tracklist: Panorama , Letter To Myself , Time Lapse (2025 Mix), Fine, INVU , Spark, Set Myself On Fire, Some Nights, Make Me Love You, I (Solo Version), Why, Weekend, To. X, What Do I Call You, Four Seasons, All For Nothing, I'm all ears, 11:11, Rain, Gravity, Disaster, U R, Ending Credits Album runtime: 79 minutes  I raised my eyebrows a little bit at the track list until I realized that this was a Best of album (I did not in fact look at the title of the album in its entirety when I searched for it). One of those songs on there, I did a Greatest Hits post for it, which is delightful. (If there are any of her other songs, either in this album or not included, feel free to drop a comment here or drop a submission in The Form.) And you want to know the best part? The average runtime on these songs is almost four minutes long. Thank you, queen. Ooh, this is really pretty. It does shift into something a little louder deeper into the song,...

 Last of the girl group submissions for the moment, then I get to move on to some of the boy groups, but it's not just boy groups. There's a co-ed submission in there, which is such a yay from me. I'm excited for that. But! I'm also very excited for this, because she is a second gen heavy weight, reigning champion of an artist. Award-winning. Best-selling. Chart topping. And that's just her as a soloist, that's not even counting the years before that as the leader of Girls' Generation, which is one of the most well-known groups to come out of K-Pop. I admire her a lot, as you can tell, and I also think she's really cool. And funny. I don't know if she's generally known for her humor, but I think she's hilarious. She's also fairly out-spoken which is something else that I admire about her, but the group turns eighteen this year. If anyone has earned the right to pass judgement on the industry, someone who has been as active as she has the ...

 I ran into this music video quite by accident, did some mental calculations, and decided this would be a good next choice for this segment. This is also one that I've already recommended to introduce people to K-Pop, so independent of the random selection, I obviously do consider this to be one of Girls' Generation's Greatest Hits. The group itself is also one of The Groups, one of the titans of the second generation, so one can hardly doubt the influence they've had on the industry. And most recently, their debut song has become an anthem, so, again, it's hard to argue against this influence that's stretched for almost twenty years now. In terms of the length of influence, this song barely  qualifies for a Greatest Hits post as it's barely two years old, but it qualifies by that requirement and the title track requirement. Also, excitingly, the album this comes from marked the end of a five year hiatus for the group and was released to celebrate their fift...

Release date: 2024 November 18 Album tracklist:  Letter To Myself , Hot Mess, Blue Eyes, Strangers, Blue, Disaster Album runtime: 18 minutes  I love it when older artists release things. While the untried pups are still working on finding their sound and figuring out how things work, which, I love watching the growing confidence and skill, the older artists have it down pat, especially the very experienced older artists, and a member of a second generation girl group definitely qualifies for that. Does that mean my expectations are higher? Yes. But I also trust she'll excel regardless because she wouldn't have made it seventeen years in a very fickle industry if she couldn't. Also, I just learned that apparently she was the first member of the group to go solo, which is cool. The run time is just short of 18 minutes, and it would have made it if the second song was two-and-three-quarters minutes. The build of energy over the course of the song is masterful. Starting with sl...

  Release date: 2024 September 26 Album tracklist: Retro Romance Album runtime: 2 minutes Girl's Generation make you feel the heat! Sorry.  Every time I think about the group or hear/read the name mentioned anyway, that's what immediately and inevitably pops into my head, regardless of the circumstances. I feel like I know quite a bit about them and can quote some of their moments without actually knowing anything about them, so it's a very strange situation for me. And Hyo is not one of the members whose name I knew coming in to this review, This song reminds me a lot of the little bit of the group's songs that I've heard, but it also reminds me of later S.E.S. songs. I wouldn't call the 2000s retro because they weren't that long ago, but there is also a light 70's disco vibe to it that pops in occasionally, and that I'd call retro because it's half a century ago. Give or take. But it does sound very 2000s because of...well, something I noticed ...