K-POP Monthly Roundup: April 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.

After the disappointment that was March, April seemed like a much needed redemption arc for the K-pop industry. While It was nowhere near perfect, it did supply us with a much more consistent stream of songs than we’ve seen in a while. The thing is though, my top 5 didn’t turn out at all like I would have expected at the start of the month. If you had asked me a month ago, I would have confidently said that my top 3 would consist of Oh My Girl, Apink and Winner in that order. Well only one of those groups managed to make my top 5. But while I was a victim of insane expectation difference, thankfully the songs that did make up my top 5 were each very strong in their own ways.

My top pick for the month is one of my favourite k-pop songs of the year, and number 2 and 3 follow close behind and either could have easily taken the top spot in a weaker month like March or January. But with a number of strong singles, came some massive duds. Chief amongst these was (G)-idle’s Oh My God, which has pretty much become unbearable for me to sit through. My MVP’s of the month however, have to be IMFACT. Not only did they return with one of the strongest boy group songs we’ve heard in months, but their mini album was no slouch either.

One thing you might have also noticed If you’re a regular reader or lurker of the blog is the irregularity of posts. Don’t worry, i’m not loosing any motivation or drive to write here, it’s just that with increased time, comes an added sense of unproductivity. That combined with an added influx of university work has pretty much resulted in me not being as active as I have been since starting this blog. Things will probably be going back to normal, with daily posts from tomorrow onwards, but this uneven schedule has led me to miss quite a few songs that I actually enjoyed during the month. They’ll make up part of my honourable mentions, but I think it’s been too long for me to go back and write seperate reviews for them.

Growers

Cravity – Break All The Rules (7.75 – 8.5)

I was probably too concerned with their similarity to Monsta X to really give Break All The Rules a fair shake. It’s a powerful pop song, with some of the most invigorating instrumentals of the year. I still think it would be better for Cravity to carve a sound of their own, but in retrospect this was a super solid debut. Top Of The Chain would have been a better title track choice though.

Oh My Girl – Nonstop (7.5 – 8.25)

Initially disappointed by the songs multiple trap breakdowns, Nonstop has managed to win me over in a big way. It’s still one of my least favourite singles from them, but that breathless pre-chorus and catchy as hell hook are addictive in the best way possible.

Faders

(G)-idle – Oh My God (7 – 5.75)

That buzzkill hook has just unfortunately gotten worse over time. Like it’s gotten to the point where I just can’t listen to the song any more without feeling a sense of increasing disappointment. Sorry (G)-idle, this experiment just wasn’t for me

Solar – Spit It Out (8 – 7.25)

Nothing against the song itself, but I’ve completely forgotten it existed. I think the last time I heard this song was the day it came out.

Singles

Honourable Mentions

Break All The Rules – Cravity (review)

Chocolate – MAX (review)

Dive – DalSooobin (oops forgot to review this one too)

Nonstop – Oh My Girl (review)

Soul – H&D (oops forgot to review this one)

TOP 5

5.Stay Tonight – Chungha (review)