It was a pretty packed summer full of new music from our favourite artists. Naturally, I have to rank them all. I also threw in singles at the bottom, but only with my thoughts.
I ranked them with a heavy emphasis on the title track, with added bonus points if the B-sides are good. Think 70/30 split on title track, bsides. Honorable mentions are songs that I think are worthy of a shoutout. A friendly reminder that this is just my opinion.
1. Get Up EP, NewJeans#
The first listen of the full EP was very rough for me. So rough where Get Up was the best new song for me. I didn’t touch the new songs for like 3 weeks. Then I got around to listening to the new songs again, adding them to my playlist. Over time, the songs got better for me, but I never thought that it could top Jihyo for release of the summer. Yet here we are; NewJeans takes the crown for song(s) of the summer with their typical bangers.
Honorable mention: New Jeans
2. Killin’ Me Good - ZONE, Jihyo of TWICE#
To be frank, this is just a really solid album. Good production, good vocals, good songs. I really don’t have anything else to say.
Honorable mention: Closer, Wishing On You
3. Party O’ Clock - A Midsummer NMIXX’s Dream, NMIXX#
RAHHHHHHHHHHHH NMIXX ARE SO BACKKKKKKKKKKK !!!!!!!!!!
I didn’t feel expergo (their March release) all too well, so I was really hoping NMIXX could return to their past form of O.O and DICE with this release. And while it definitely isn’t on that level of O.O and DICE, it’s definitely a fun and amazing summer jam that has my head bopping.
Honorable mention: Roller Coaster
4. Bubble - TEENFRESH, STAYC#
As much as I do love STAYC, the first listen of Bubble was actually pretty hard. Something about it didn’t match with the traditional STAYC sound I was used to. Or the MV was just really weird. That, along with Jihyo’s solo debut made me not touch Bubble and TEENFRESH as a whole for bit. But I get it now.
Honorable mention: Be Mine
5. Air Force One - Version Up, ODD EYE CIRCLE#
Although I’m not the biggest LOONA stan (unlike some people I know), I was pretty happy to hear that LOONA beat their case and see them all redebut. Air Force One has convinced me to download all of LOONA’s + subunit discography (at some point in the future).
Honorable mention: Je Ne Sais Quoi
6. The Flash, KWON EUNBI#
The winner of the IZ*ONE comebacks, Eunbi releases probably the most IZ*ONE coded song since their disbandment. And I feel like I can imagine all of IZ*ONE on this track. Really nice title track.
No honorable mention :(
7. TAXI - LOVE ALL, JO YURI#
I had actually never listened to Yuri’s solo work before this. Safe to say I listened to the rest of her discography after listening to this release. A cute title track backed by a solid roster of B-sides made LOVE ALL an enjoyable listen.
Honorable mention: Lemon Black Tea
8. Fast Forward - GAME PLAN, JEON SOMI#
After beating the H&M mall music allegations, Fast Forward became a catchy hit with the dance to back it up. I really love the booming, reverberating bass/808s in the prechorus. Wishing the song was just a bit longer; but otherwise a very good title.
Honorable mention: The Way
9. Shhh - Self-titled, KISS OF LIFE#
As the biggest group to debut this year (so far), it’s been really refreshing to see what KoL have pulled off with Shhh. Although some of the solo songs haven’t hit that well with me, I am very excited to see what they can do in the future.
Honorable mention: Sugarcoat (Natty Solo)
10. Girls’ Capitalism - LOVElution, tripleS#
I can’t lie; for a time I thought the title was just a Generation copy. But the song is pretty good for me now. The B-sides are where this album truly shines (which is ironic because I honestly can’t tell tripleS songs apart from one another).
Honorable mention: Seoul Sonyo Sound, probably the best UK Garage song to be released during this trend
11. CAKE - KILL MY DOUBT, ITZY#
In a similar fashion to SNEAKERS, ITZY have released a song that is pretty good everywhere except the main chorus. And just like SNEAKERS, I grew to love the chorus for how silly it is. cakecakecakecakecake!!!!
Honorable mention: Kill Shot, which is missing just a little something to be an incredible instrumental
12. HATE RODRIGO - HATE XX, YENA#
That whole Olivia Rodrigo fiasco was really unfortunate for Yena; hoping she’ll come back stronger and own that “shame of Korea” slander. The YUQI feature is pretty cool to see, especially when there are basically no collabs between artists.
Honorable mention: WICKED LOVE
13. SLAY - ALL MY GIRLS, EVERGLOW#
The song is ok. It sounds like a Geometry Dash song that I would hear playing the game back in elementary school. At least they’re out of their dungeon.
Honorable mention: Oh Ma Ma God
Singles#
An interesting array of singles from XG. NEW DANCE is by far my favourite, with it being a complete summer jam. If only it came out in July and not the second last week of August.
Jennifer (yuhhh) continues her streak of excellent solo work with something straight out of the opening scene of a 2000’s movie.
Super chill song with a sick guitar solo that I wish I could put the effort in to learn (the tab is also paywalled).
Yes, I know this is technically a mini album. I just didn’t listen to it. Nice song.
I’m sorry but I do not like this song. The promo for it was pretty cool though.