With so many releases happening each week, we have split our weekly review into two articles to make things more convenient. Our Weekly K-music review posts are here to give you a helping hand and a quick look back to the notable releases from Korean artists in a weekly format. This article looks at releases and comebacks from 9 – 11 July 2018.

Yelloasis – Bxtch (PROD. Holymoley)
Released: 9 July

Coming through with strong and powerful lyrics from the start, Yelloasis creates a power song with a deep continuous backing beat and vocal edits that switch between ears when wearing headphones which, also sound like the voice of a ghost. It’s pretty interesting to hear, especially when you concentrate on the backing music more than the lyrics. Vocally there is some slight slurring of the words, which means you really need to listen to the song itself to get an idea of what’s being spoken, There is a great mix of Korean and English language, which is great for hooking a wider audience. Although this could possibly be a bit darker than some listeners will like, there is something very addictive about this.

Kim Na Young – Tell Me
Released: 9 July

Sharing her stunning vocals once again for a K-drama, Kim Na Young is creating the perfect sad love scenario with her release Tell Me for the current hit drama Are You Human Too? With a great backing orchestra, that’s heavy with strings, pianos and electric guitars, the perfect vibe is created for every loving scene. Soft yet strong vocals that send a chill down your spine, and endearing lyrics, if the song doesn’t make you swoon for the characters, then the music video will. The video features the main characters of the drama and some of their key scenes where their love blossoms.

South Carnival – Pretty
Released: 9 July

With football fever, South Carnival went to Russia in high spirits to film their new music video for their release Pretty. This is certainly something different to the usual music we come across, and in some ways, we are slightly smitten with the samba style band walking through the streets spreading joy. Who cares about a language barrier when you’re having fun listening to music that makes you smile. You have to watch the music video to get a vibe of just how fun the song is, and watch out for the electric guitar solo midway – he certainly knows how to rock it out!

Noella – Butterfly
Released: 9 July

Butterfly is a part of the soundtrack to the heartbreaking Korean movie Herstory, which follows plaintiffs who suffered as comfort women during World War II and their 13 lawyers who stand in a courtroom through 23 difficult trials from 1992 to 1998. Noella shared her skills with the violin to bring drama, sadness, sorrow, enlightenment and love through her music piece. When pieced together with the film’s story and the clips we see in the music video, you can understand where the emotion comes from. Classical music that’s used for movies are some of the best pieces to date and this one seems like it will be yet another great soundtrack song to add to the ever-growing list.

Geupsik-Dan – Lunch
Released: 10 July

With a new boy group being announced for the near future named D-crunch, the members joined together with some new female artists under their entertainment company to create a new subunit called Geupsik-Dan. Following the life and style of the school kids, the lyrics of the song elaborates the young members ambitions and thoughts of growing up. In a cute hip-hop style that’s mixed with the standard K-pop vibe, the subunit is a rarity for its inclusiveness of both male and female members. Although it’s not so rare to see both male and female singers working together for recent releases, it is rare for a group to debut as a co-ed group. Currently, KARD and Triple H are technically the only co-ed groups who have released anything recently.

MYTEEN – She Bad
Released: 10 July

After being hyped so much by their entertainment company, and with their fans growing every single day, MYTEEN had a lot of pressure to release something that would make them memorable. Featuring choreography that was created by N (leader of the K-pop boy group VIXX), the video has a modern hipster dream-like vibe. The dance is sharp and sexy, and fits really well with the dance backing track and cohesive vocals. All around the song is a great package, nothing too out of the ordinary for songs being released at the moment. So it was a safe bet. But we are impressed and think they have matured and shown a whole new side to themselves since their past release.

B.O. -Stay
Released: 10 July

Taking things back to the chilled out, lo-fi, jazz, hip-hop band vibes, B.O mixes his genres in such a way that you feel he has his own genre dedicated to him. This is one of those songs that certainly stick to your musical memory and will have you humming along in no time thanks to the repetitive and catchy backing track. Vocally he is on the same spectrum as Zion.T and Dean. There is a certain vibe you get when you listen to his vocal range, and we find ourselves instantly relaxing and chilling out. As expected, the music video is classy and artistic.

Yoon Jong Shin – Summer Man
Released: 11 July

Keeping on track with his monthly releases, Yoon Jong Shin has travelled back to the 80s with this retro-soul funk lo-fi release. The music video is just one continuous animated GIF image, which allows the listener to concentrate on the song. Vocally Jong Shin has a great range of abilities and emotions with his voice, but this time around he has opted for a cheerful, retro, slightly Korean Bee Gee’s style, and we think it works. The song is unique when compared to anything that’s out at the moment and it’s great to see the old sounds coming forward into the modern day music scene. These are the types of songs that paved the way for many musicians and it’s nice to bring them back every now and then.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the first article for this week’s K-music Review and be sure to join us in the future for more K-music week in reviews.

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