Weekly K-pop faves: Sept. 19-25
Summer’s officially done and that generally means the pace and concept for K-pop songs will change. This week marked the end of summer and the start of fall, so here are our faves from this transitional period.
“Thank You” by INFINITE (Released Sep. 19)
INFINITE made their long awaited comeback this week with sixth mini album Infinite Only and while their title track “The Eye” was a fantastic one, “Thank You” is my favourite track of the album, hands down. It sounded like a normal ballad on my first listen, but that was before I realised how vocally challenging the entire song was and how beautiful the lyrics of the song were. I was also hooked after watching Infinite perform it (flawlessly) on their first comeback performance on M! Countdown. It was probably the most relaxed yet sincere performance they had ever given and was full of bromance as well as fanservice. This group… is just perfection.
— Anna
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“Love Yourself” cover by Melon5 aka Super Junior-M’s Henry, B.I.G’s Benjy, N.Flying’s Jaehyun, Day6’s YoungK, and Astro’s Eunwoo (Aired Sep. 25)
The SBS live music show Inkigayo started doing this new Unplugged segment and this week’s episode featured the collaborative cover of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” performed by Melon5. For a music show without a lot of live music performances, this sweet rendition was really quite nice to hear. (Plus I’m a sucker for collaborative stages). Aside from the fact that the five men are all talented singers, you could see and hear the fact that they enjoyed being able to play instruments on stage. The highlight of the cover was clearly when Henry and (I think, sorry!) Eunwoo were having fun with their violins, using a variety of different techniques to recreate the song’s original style on stage. The only criticism I have is that YoungK only really got a chance to sing at the end, because he clearly has the most distinctive voice from within the group of otherwise similarly-toned singers. Not that it was a bad thing to hear the four others, especially Henry who is overdue for some new music either as a soloist or with Super Junior-M, but it seemed that, aside from YoungK, Melon5 was trying to emulate Bieber’s voice rather than to put their own spin on things vocally. Hopefully, we’ll get to see this grouping being a bit more adventurous in the future.
— Tamar
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“What Season Are You? (feat. Giriboy)” by Fromm (Released Sep. 25)
As we transition from summer to autumn, the mood for the season gets cozier and calmer. The perfect dose of comfort comes in the form of Fromm’s “What Season Are You?” Her long awaited comeback, as always, did not disappoint giving us just the right amount of melancholy paired with her sweet vocals and the haunting guitar that leads the melody. Moreover, Giriboy’s input in the song is interesting, since he sings a few verses here and there rather than rapping (thank god!). And we can’t forget about the music video; it’s absolutely visually stunning. From the colors to the photography, it’s simply breathtaking.
— Alexis
What was your fave K-pop release this week? Share your picks and 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.