Almost four years after the release of 2019’s From Midnight To Sunrise, the K-R’n’B singer Crush is back with his emotionally packed full-length album, wonderego. Celebrating his tenth year in the industry, he made a successful return in 2022 with the Hip-hop single, Rush Hour featuring BTS’s J-Hope. The release went on to become a…
Category: Album Reviews
Bang Yedam’s Emotional Prelude: “Miss You” Pre-Release Single Review
Prior to his solo beginnings, singer-songwriter Bang Yedam saw his rise to fame in 2012 by competing in season two of the reality TV show SBS’ K-Pop Star. His talent landed him second place, leading him to sign with agency YG Entertainment. It was this that led him to triumph in the survival show YG…
Jungkook’s Star Shines Brightly on “Golden” – Album Review
Jungkook is the youngest member of the mega-group BTS and the last to debut as a solo artist. With eleven songs, his debut album, Golden, runs at just under 32 minutes. The album features two pre-release singles, the record-breaking “Seven” (feat. Latto) and “3D” (feat. Jack Harlow) which sees the return of David Stewart (part…
Jungkook’s “3D” feat. Jack Harlow: Eroticism and Hapticality – Single Review
In an era where sexting and cybersex are part of the rich fabric of human sexuality, 3D tackles the desire for a return to physicality, wherein touch removes sex from the cold spaces of the virtual and brings it back to the warmth of corporeality, bodies not separated by the screen; Jungkook’s opening lines: “I…
Slow Dancing with V: “Layover” Album Review
V is the final member of BTS to officially debut as a solo artist. Like the other members, he has participated in solo projects, both as part of BTS – “Stigma” (Wings: 2016), Intro: Singularity” (Love Yourself Tear: 2016) and Inner Child (Map of the Soul: 7: 2020) – and on his own or as…
NINE.i Just Wants to Make You Smile: “NEW MIND” Mini-Album Review
Almost a year after I (Part 1), NINE.i is back with NEW MIND. Not only is it the group’s third mini-album, but it is also the third instalment in their five-part series, where each release starts with the letters of NINE.i. NEW MIND contains six songs, with each song fulfilling the brief of transporting i.ENIN…
Jungkook Comes of Age: “Seven” – Single Review
Seven is the first official solo single by Jungkook of BTS. Like other members of the group, he has released solo singles either as part of concept albums or as gifts to ARMY on Soundcloud. Unlike the other members – Jin, J-hope, RM, Suga (as Agust D), and Jimin, he is the only one to…
Me, Myself, I: Trauma, Memory and Identity in Agust D’s “D-Day” – Album Review
D-Day is the final album in what could be called Agust D’s “youth” trilogy which also consists of Agust D (15 August 2016) and D-2 (22 May 2020). Released on 21st April 2023, this is possibly Min Yoongi’s last music before compulsory military enlistment that all men in South Korea are required to do. Agust…
The Sands of Time: Agust D – “People Pt.2” (ft. IU) Song Review
“People Pt.2” (ft. IU) is the pre-release single from Agust D’s forthcoming ‘official’ debut album, D-Day, which will be released on 21st April. A prolific, versatile rapper and songwriter, Min Yoongi, has two nome de plume’s: Agust D and Suga (from BTS), and has collaborated with both Korean and Western musicians. “People Pt.2” is his…
A Long Journey Into Night: Jimin’s “FACE” EP Review
Jimin (Park Jimin) is part of the maknae line of global sensation BTS, he is the same age as V (Kim Taehyung) and two years older than Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook), the youngest of the group. While Jimin has released singles in the past, FACE is his debut as a soloist, and he is the first…
Finding Order Within Chaos: A Review of Park Jimin’s “Set Me Free: Pt.2”
Jimin’s “Set Me Free: Part 2” is a spiritual successor and not a sequel to Agust D’s (Min Yoongi) “Interlude: Set Me Free” (which it was speculated to be from the title of the track), the ninth track on his second mixtape, D-2, which was released on the 22nd May 2020. A mere two minutes…
The Ephemerality of Longing: So!YoON!’s “Smoke Sprite” (feat. RM) Single Review
So!YoON! (황소윤) is the stage name of Hwang Soyoon, a South Korean guitarist and singer-songwriter. She is the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of SE SO NEON, an indie rock group, which debuted in 2017 under Magic Strawberry Sound, with the critically acclaimed EP Summer Plumage, the lead single of which was…
j-hope ‘on the street (with J. Cole)’: From the Streets to the Skyscrapers – Single Review
j-hope and J. Cole are artists at similar places in terms of their importance and relevance to their respective music scenes, despite the fact that J. Cole is the senior of the two musicians. Both are at a crossroads in their lives: j-hope will be shortly enlisting in the South Korean military as all able-bodied…
Pushing Through It All: Young Harry’s “Live 4 The Dead” Album Review
Young Harry, a Korea-American Hip-hop artist, has had a steady rise in attention since his 2018 debut with Y.H season. The rapper, who is in his early 20s, showcases his American rap influences in his 2nd studio album Live 4 The Dead, which dropped on the 20th of January. The album cover features a beautiful,…
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