Need some new music to freshen up your playlists?
If youre after some nice new tunes for your listening pleasure, look to the fertile Korean music industry to upgrade your playlists.
And not just within K-Pop, which is only one subsect of music coming out of South Korea. Although thats often used as an umbrella term for all Korean music, K-Pop is predominantly the domain of idols – the groups with their immaculate choreography and eye-popping videos. Many listeners fix K- in front of a genre, such as K-indie, K-hip hop and K-rock.
But, with or without the labels, well give you some fantastic tunes to fall in love with.
Stray Kids – District 9
Hotly anticipated would be an understatement for the debut of 9-member boy group, Stray Kids. Having whet appetites last October with the bombastic pre-debut release of Hellavator and an EP (Mixtape), District 9 lets rappers Know and Hyunjin ramp up the pace before exploding thirty seconds in with a rock-lead chorus.
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As its long been the way for edgier boy groups, they dive into teenage rebellion and escape the confines (literal and metaphorical) placed on them by adults, and theres numerous parallels between District 9 and the work of other boy groups, like B.A.P, BTS and MONSTA X.
But Stray Kids display a certain unique fearlessness for a group so new; everything feels, to quote Spinal Tap, one louder. The rappers go harder, particularly Han and Changbin who destroy their verses, and the way in which guitars are mixed with whining, aggressive EDM is recklessly exciting. It shoves them decidedly into the spotlight and their future is surely even brighter.
Heize – Mianhae (Sorry)
One of Koreas brightest singer/songwriters (and a decent rapper), Heize oftens mixes a sweetness with a steely touch. On Mianhae she makes this glaringly evident, juxtaposing uptempo piano, organ, acoustic guitar and sunny ad-libs against an all-knowing, weary vocal where she apologises for having a foolish personality and being sad, except she only half means it, recognising the ability to tap into her emotions has made her the artist she is.
Making the point knife-sharp is the video, where Heize is a series of humanoids – some disturbingly half-finished, another which malfunctions while being gazed at by smartphone-wielding humans – as a clapback to anyone who believes life should be lived as an emotionless robot, but even more powerful is her refusal to be a “singing machine”, a mere cog in the music industry wheel.
Reddy – Thanksgiving (Ft Paloalto & Huckleberry P)
South Korean hip hop has seen an explosion in popularity in recent years and Reddy (signed to one of it main hip hop labels, HI-LITE) has benefited from the uptick of interest. His work is a mixed bag – when hes good, such as on songs like My Lite or Enjoy, Reddy is very good indeed.
And Thanksgiving is, without a doubt, a whip of a track with a low-key sting in its tail. I drew my name out in the world / It may seem like a scribble but its like a Basquiat painting, he raps with laid-back confidence over a sparse instrumental of thick, slow bass and punchy rolls of hi-hat.
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All three balance bragging rights with keen, cool observations but Thanksgivings truest thrill lies in their verbal dexterity and distinct individual signatures working in enviable harmony.
George – Swimming Pool
Having found a certain viral notoriety with his previous single, Boat, and its budget video, Georges RnB-tinged vocal style takes a more serious turn on the beautiful, melancholy Swimming Pool.
Like Boat, its themes deal with escapism from daily life, but its slow ambiance lets you drift, rather than flee, into a new headspace. Piano notes reverberate through sleepy, layered electronica, then break through like a swimmer surfacing for air, but the focus is always Georges voice.
Clear and resonant one minute, breathy and intimate the next, he steers the listener towards the final chorus, and the tracks most forceful moment, before letting a crystalline guitar line ebb into a comforting, tranquil darkness.
Honey Popcorn – Bibidi Babidi Boo
The Japanese trio caused controversy by not only debuting this month as idols in Korea, but that their other line of work lies in being JAV (Japanese adult video) actresses. Idols are meant to maintain an innocent, pure image, which makes Honey Popcorn an anomaly and why theyve been hit with a barrage of abuse online.
But Yua Mikami, the groups centre (and who apparently funded the venture with her own money), however, isnt a rookie idol having been part of Japans mega girl group, SKE48, and her experience shows.
Bibidi Babidi Boo takes pages from Red Velvet and GFRIEND, coats an extra layer of sticky sugar on the chorus, and although its a little flat in places, the end result is a polished, catchy debut thats more than worthy of any K-Pop newcomer.
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