Just A Little Fangirl Love

Release date: 2026 May 06 Album tracklist: WE WANNA GO , WE WANNA GO (Instrumental) Album runtime: 5 minutes  You know, I would not have guessed that I'd be doing a review of a Wanna One song unless someone requested a review, but I definitely wouldn't have expected to do a new Wanna One song when I started this little blog. I have a bit of a complicated feeling toward the group, for some obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean that I'm not happy that most of them are back together. But it's less than three minutes. But it's a good thing that this is an OST otherwise I'd be very grumpy about this being less than three minutes. This sounds like a third gen version of ZEROBASEONE. There's a lot of bright energy to the song, an abundance of joy, as it were, which is probably the most fitting thing that I could think of for a reunion OST song, you know? This isn't an official comeback, so it's not dependent on declaring "We're back" with...

Release date: 2026 April 29 Album tracklist: Bodyelse , Watercolor, I can't hold your hand anymore Album runtime: 10 minutes   It’s an interesting title for the song, I’m not going to lie. I’m curious to see how it works out. The man is also ridiculously busy, so it’ll be interesting to see how it’s used or applied or if it’s going to be a Korean play on words that I don’t understand because my Korean is not that good yet.  Something about this instrumental is putting me to sleep, not that it’s particularly difficult because I’m incredibly tired, but even the chorus, which admittedly does have more energy and pizzazz to it, isn’t enough to keep my eyes from trying to drift shut. Not that it’s boring, which it isn’t. There’s actually a decent amount of variation going on here, like a little bit of a music box sound underneath the slightly skittering beat. But it’s just perfect to make me want to get all comfortable and snooze. His voice follows suit as well. It’s the soft and b...

Release date: 2026 April 22 Album tracklist: I'll Be There , I'll Be There (Instrumental) Album runtime: 6 minutes  So funny thing. I've been sitting here, going "Why is his name familiar?" So, naturally, I looked him up and immediately recognized his face. He was the Wanna One boy that was the other judge on Build Up with my boys Baekho and Eunkwang, and Solar my queen. I'm looking forward to this because he's supposed to have a stunning voice, and, as we know, I love stunning voices.  The instrumental on its own is provided, which makes me a happy camper, and what an instrumental this is. Guitar? Check. Piano? Check. Drums? Check. Strings? Gloriously check. We have the cinematic swelling that I love to see. Well, hear. But generally speaking, the amount of movement in the instrumental directly tied to the amount of dramatic turning points glows so brilliantly that he's got to have a voice to match it. I'm a little bit more excited, tentatively, f...

Release date: 2026 February 11 Album track list: Truth Album runtime: 3 mi nutes  First post-military release! I can't believe I forgot about this! I am so sorry, Minhyun! You know, considering the album artwork, this feels appropriately underwater-y. Some bits of the instrumental sound a bit like whale song or the other interesting sounds that you hear in the ocean. This is very calm and laid-back, and I'm reminded a bit of bamboo at different points as well. I know I just woke up, but it's soothing enough that my brain is like "Yeah, we can just go back to sleep. Let's do that."  I can't. But this is trying to convince me that I can. He is giving us the absolute minimum amount of vibrato. It just barely touches the ends of the lines because they're held for a beat or two, so it shows up with regularity, but at the same time, it's such a mild addition that I almost missed it on my first listen, except at the very end when the instrumental falls ou...

  Am I quite disappointed? Yes. But, even being a xikers fan, I'm happy for AHOF for their win. Still! It's not over! I trust that they'll eventually get a win (what I am counting as a win is Wrecking the House being #16 on Billboard, so there's that). Congrats to &TEAM, NMIXX, and AHOF for their music show wins this week!! I feel so bad for the rookie and small groups for this loss. Moving forward, I may include winners from random episodes, because until something replaces the program, I'm going to quietly protest its cancelation and the effect it's going to have. Much like I am with After School Club. This week's re-run is ep. 468 from 2021 featuring a former Wanna One member (eldest and leader) and part of the cast list for one of my favorite kdramas, Let Me Be Your Knight . Which he talks about here. (It's got JR in it, and Yoon Jisung plays the drums. I love his character. So sweet.) This was post military for him. He's got a gorgeous voice...

Release date: 2025 September 03 Album tracklist:  NO DAY, NO DAY - Instrumental Album runtime: 7 minutes   Like with many of the artists releasing things right now, I've got at least one song he released this summer that I need to do. I'd be more caught up right now if so many hadn't released songs on Monday, the first. Hence why I'm only just getting to this one now. I'm working on it. It's fine. However, I'm also going to say up front that I'm feeling a little bit...emotionally spiky, which perhaps is not the best headspace for this, so I'll attempt to buffer, but I don't know how well I'll succeed. I'm hoping his voice makes up for this because this is so background music-esque that I completely turned it out after the first forty-five seconds or so. I was initially pretty excited about the clapping, but the consistency of this instrumental track is not something I'm enjoying as a song like this. I'd probably be fine if this w...

  You know what's kind of cool? This week's music show wins cover three of the four categories I classify K-Pop under. The only one missing is a co-ed group. Boy group? Check. Girl group? Check? Soloist? Double check.  Nice. The ecosystem is flourishing. With After School Club still on hiatus, I'm still giving a rerun. This one comes from a boy group that debuted back in 2011. Episode 20, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals! And you know what's really cool? They're having their first comeback since 2018 this month! I'm really excited about this even though I previously had no previous knowledge of the group! Now, granted this is their first Japanese mini album and not a new Korean mini album, but you know what? I'm just happy to see them releasing new music. But, back in 2013, they were young and cute, and I think I really like this song. As always, the links to my reviews for these songs are found in the graph below. Show Champion: Kang Daniel "Episode...

Release date: 2025 June 16 Album tracklist: Movie Star, Episode , Love Game, One Call Away, Little Bit Lost Album runtime: 14 minutes  I'm late with this, but I've also been putting off listening to this until I could write the review. His voice is incredible, y'all. Ever song I've listened to by him has hit my brain so perfectly well, I'm glad I live in a time when I get to even hear it. Also congrats on the wins! Old timey and a little crackly. I like it. Now, let's see if we get that in other places in the song. And the answer is yes, so it's not a one off and I'm satisfied. There's a weird little quirk to the instrumental, and I mean this in the least insulting way possible, but in places, it sounds like Baby's First Midi Keyboard, or at least like a preset on a keyboard. You're obviously going to go, "But Fangirl, that's pretty insulting." To which I respond, "Yes. But it reminds me of my childhood and learning to make...

  I'm simply really behind with this. I'm not through doing this. Anyway, we're running down to the end of the Seventeen comeback season, which opens the wins back up to everyone else, as we're clearly seeing below. As much as I've loved seeing Seventeen get their wins for their tenth anniversary, I'm glad for the variation now. Although we get another surprise win for Woodz. It's a welcome development, but a little baffling. I really hope that someone askes him how he feels about this when he gets out. I do have to say it's been a good week for soloists, though. I did not continue that with the After School Club re-run episode, however.  As always, the links in the graph below go to my reviews of those songs. Show Champion: Doyoung (NCT) "Memory" MCountdown: Seventeen "THUNDER" Music Bank: Doyoung (NCT) "Memory" Show! Music Core:  Doyoung (NCT) "Memory" Inkigayo: Woodz (UNIQ/X1) "Drowning" ASC Performanc...

Release date: 2025 April 9 Album tracklist: Mess , Mess - Instrumental Album runtime: 5 minutes  Do I have to do the title track for his new mini album? Yes. Will I get to it soon? Yes, because Episode  has been getting wins on music shows! Yay! I'm slowly getting my backlog worked on, and I wanted to do this one. However, I'm deeply disappointed by the runtime. I mean, look at that. But this is Kang Daniel, and I've come to realize how good his voice is.  There's something very old about the instrumental track. I can't decide if it's the plink of the high notes on the piano or if it's from the slightly staticky overlay to most of the song, or maybe it's both, as both of those elements are found in music from the thirties. Although, to be fair, the one isn't necessarily on purpose but rather from the degradation of the recordings. The rest of the instrumentals aren't from the thirties. We've got the underwater echo that I love so much, but it...

  Release date: 2024 September 23 Album tracklist: Losing Myself, Get Loose, Electric Shock , Come Back to Me (feat. CHUNG HA), 9 Lives Album runtime: 15 minutes I am mostly familiar with Kang Daniel because of Produce 101, but I expect a lot from him because the quality of the Wanna One members demands that. I understand he's also been going through some legal problems, so finding out he was putting out a new album made me pleased and surprised. I wish him well. Hello, piano! That's fun and spritely! I haven't looked at the lyrics yet, but for some reason, I have a feeling that this is one of those cheerful sounding songs that have kind of depressing lyrics. Actually, the instrumentals remind me of a musical. It's probably the piano doing the frequent arpeggio that sounds like rain falling. There's also a sense of drama during the chorus, something that I deeply appreciate. He didn't just give it a tone shift, he added more bombastic layers to drive energy forw...