K-POP Monthly Roundup: January 2020

Due to the relentless release schedule that us K-pop fans have to endure, it’s not easy to consume all the content at once. That’s why I thought it would be fun at the end of each month, to look back at my top 5 singles and B-sides along with my top 3 albums. Although my placement for singles will mostly be based on my reviews, there are songs that tend to grow/fade much more than others.

Largely because of Lunar new year celebrations, the first January of the new decade was quite barren for K-pop. However, that’s not to demean the quality of releases, which maintained a solid level of consistency throughout. Although not as strong as the Januarys of the past 2 years, the month provided a fairly solid collection of singles, with my top pick already in contention for my song of the year. Even though it’s still January, I doubt its quality will be matched; though I remain ever optimistic. However, it was a great month for b-sides with many of them being head and shoulders above their accompanying title track. Special shoutout to Treasure’s Going Crazy which would have made the cut for my top 5 had it been released slightly earlier as an official track. Though this does not discount its chances to land within my end of year lists. However, January provided a serious lack of albums, whether mini or full. Two of the months most exciting albums were both repackages, which makes me hope that the rest of the year is able to match the high bar set by the many quality albums released last year.

Singles

Honourable Mentions

All I Need Is You – DONGKIZ

Countdown – TST

Cheeky – ENOi (Review)

Dark Cloud – Younha

My Angel – B.O.Y

We Belong – Ong Seong Wu

Without You – Golden Child (Review)

Wish – Dreamnote

You – Dynamicduo and Chen (Review)

TOP 5