Weekly K-Pop faves: August 22-28
Every Sunday, the KultScene team puts together a playlist filled with their favorite new songs from the past week, ranging from singles, b-sides, and live performances. Over the past few days, we fell in love with tracks by Laboum, Park Jimin, Triple T (aka Park Jin Young, Hyoyeon, Min and Jo Kwon), and SPICA.
“Shooting Love” by Laboum (Released Aug. 23)
Laboum have been working hard to stay relevant since their strong debut in 2014. Still without a considerable hit yet, they have been consistently releasing music of varying quality. Their latest “Shooting Love” is their best since since sophomore single “What to Do.” Produced by Command Freaks, who have been given a chance with a single after being so used to b-sides for some time now. “Shooting Love” is blistering bubblegum pop propelled by hip-hop beats and swollen with horns and bubbling synths. It moves at such a constant high pace and has a feeling of going on for longer than it really is. This is great when everything about it is so enjoyable. Vocally it sticks out as well with the repeated sugary raps being the most fun.
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“Young 해” by Park Jimin ft. Young K (Released Aug. 23)
15&’s Park Jimin returned with her second solo mini-album “19 to 20” featuring a wide range of songs showcasing her versatility and beautiful voice. “Young 해” is my favourite of those songs with its lively nature and a fantastic feature by DAY6’s Young K, whose amazing chemistry with Jimin overflows into the track. Park Jimin shines through this release and I hope she won’t be as underrated in the future!
“Born to be Wild” by Park Jinyoung x Hyoyeon x Min x J Kwon (Released Aug. 25)
Despite the fact that SM Station’s existence and purpose remains an enigma, it has been putting out so many amazing releases that those answers are irrelevant at this point. The newest is the brilliant collaboration between miss A’s Min, Girls’ Generation’s Hyoyeon, 2am’s Jo Kwon, and Mr. Park Jinyoung (JYP) himself, “Born to be Wild.” I generally stand clear of EDM bangers, but the amount of sass and fierceness overpowered it whole; I was slayed. Min and Hyoyeon are known to be awesome dancers, and Jo Kwon brought back his “Animal” concept (which is his true artistic self), proving that they are the true queens of K-pop. I don’t really know what JYP’s doing on the track, but I love the fact that he did his signature whisper on an SM Entertainment song. “Born to be Wild” proved that Hyoyeon, Min, and Jo Kwon are all underrated, underappreciated, and misused in their respective groups. This supergroup needs to be a permanent thing since they pretty much brought back the slayage to K-pop (which has been dead since 2NE1 is on “hiatus” or whatever).
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”Secret Time” by SPICA (Released Aug. 25)
It’s no secret that SPICA is one of the most vocally expressive girl groups to ever descend on K-pop, but for a variety of reasons their songs have never brought the group much success. Their latest, “Secret Time,” is their first since the group’s 2014 attempt to break into the English-language market with “I Did It” and it’s exactly what fans have come to expect from the group: a belt-filled, pop R&B track. A bit more upbeat than many of SPICA’s songs, “Secret Time” seems a lot like something I’d expect from EXID, which makes a lot of sense considering the two groups have a lot of similarities. Incorporating a bevy of electronic sounds, including a full-fledged EDM bridge, it’s clear that SPICA’s trying to attract a larger audience than just their dedicated fanbase. Unfortunately, the sound comes off as a tiny bit dated so it’ll be interesting to see if this is the song that will be able to relaunch their career.
What’s your favorite song from last week? Did it make our playlist? Share your thoughts in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.
