daebakwhovian/ November 22, 2020/ ICYMI/ 0 comments

BTS Goes BEyond The Present In New Album

BTS released their highly-anticipated album “BE” with the title track “Life Goes On.” Each of the members had extensive roles in the self-produced album and have been sharing the process since the project’s reveal in April.

Review: Man, what a year 2020 has been. This year has been hard on all of us, and now more than ever we need consolation and comfort. That’s been the theme of much of the music scene of late, artists and producers putting to music the feelings we’ve collectively been struggling with. Whether it’s an upbeat retro track reminding of us better times, or a low-key indie jam regretting what could have been, everyone has put their own brand on this year like no other. Fans have been looking forward to this release for months, and the album is worth the wait primarily because it reminds us that there are things worth looking forward to. Instead of looking to the past, “BE” confidently looks to the future while encapsulating the feelings of loss and longing we may feel in the present. From the opening lyrics of the title track “One day the world stopped/Without any warning”, the album captures how many feel like time has passed quickly and in an oxymoronic way not at all. V’s pre-chorus line “Is there a way out? My feet refuse to move” show how many feel stuck- stuck at home, stuck in a strange new ‘normal’, stuck in a way that may make you feel powerless. And yet spring came and passed, the world continued to turn, and in the MV we see that there is in fact light at the end of the tunnel. And although we may not be able to literally ‘hold hands’ (unless you can figure out a way to do so over Zoom) like Jungkook implores in the chorus, together we can ‘run together’ to our future by remembering the good times and waiting for the things to come. The music video, on which Jungkook has directing credits, show the surreal daily routine many of us have adapted to and ends with Jin’s dream of being reunited with fans, performing on stage once again. The rest of the relatively short album (just under 30 minutes total run time) is equally relatable. “Fly To My Room” dreams of traveling beyond the stay in place boundaries, “Telepathy” emphasizes the feeling of connection between those we love even when separated,”Dis-ease” highlights the disconnect between what others do and one’s own thoughts and motivations, and stadium pop anthem “Stay” is a perfect conclusion and thanks those who will stick through the good and bad times. The melancholy “Blue & Grey” is my personal favorite, and I think each one of us at one point in our lives, and perhaps several times this year have echoed the repeated sentiment “I just want to be happier”. But if anything, this release reminds us that none of us are ever truly alone. It also reminds us that no matter what the circumstances, your feelings, your motivations, your entire existence is valid- it is enough to simply let yourself ‘be’. Overall: A 28-minute comforting hug from a close friend.

aespa Gets In Synk for Debut Track “Black Mamba”

Speaking of highly anticipated releases, SM Entertainment’s newest rookie girl group aespa made their debut with the single “Black Mamba”.

Review: Just to get this out of the way, I like this song. I just think this debut was a bit… strange? SM seemed to really be pushing this whole AI avatar concept, only for the avatars to appear for less than 10 seconds in the entire music video. Which I am actually okay with, as I think the focus should be more on the real-life members than their electronic counterparts. However, compared to the pre-debut member teasers we got, this song doesn’t really do the best job of showcasing their talents. The song sounds a bit generic, like any other girl group could have released it, and barely has any lines for rapper Giselle. Perhaps that’s the downside of being from a big company and having built-in hype- if this was from a smaller company many would have thought it was a decent debut. “Black Mamba” would have been an excellent pre-debut/pre-release single, released with a mini album to show off the members’ unique charms. As a stand alone though, it makes me feel like something is missing. There have been much stronger and more memorable girl group debut tracks this year (STAYC, Secret Number, and Weeekly would all rank higher on my list). Despite that, there are a lot of good points to this song. I know SM is really pushing member Karina on us, but vocalists Winter and Ning Ning really stood out to me, especially on the bridge. The choreography, in typical SM style, is perfectly in sync (pun intended), difficult, and filled with detailed hand movements, though I have to admit that the on-all-fours-then-twist-the-leg move is iconic but also looks very uncomfortable. And the MV does a decent job of setting up the aespa world and introducing the main villain Black Mamba (who tries to disconnect the members from their avatars). In fact, the middle part where we see the evil queen taking over was more memorable than most of the other scenes, so I kinda wish the music video went more in that mysterious direction than the neon glitch and glitter vibe. SM seems to be taking a page from the Marvel Cinematic Universe by adding spoilers for future projects at the end of their music videos (NCT and SuperM teased aespa’s release, and Boa appeared at the end of aespa’s). Since aespa is the first artist to spearhead SM’s ‘Culture Universe’, it will be interesting to see how it develops. But instead of being a blockbuster like The Avengers, this debut felt a bit more filler like Thor 2. Overall: A bit anticlimactic by SM standards, but these girls have clearly got what it takes to make it big.

New Releases and Top Headlines:

• Sibling duo AKMU is back with the single “Happening”! Lee Chanhyuk is just an amazing producer, and knows exactly how to tailor his songs to make the most of the artist’s strengths while still relaying the emotional impact. With AKMU, you know you’re going to get a solid storyline and the music video does a great job of showing the uselessness of holding on on to any (literally) dead lingering feelings. I also like the clever word play used in the title, and the use of the ‘HAPPY ENDING’ billboard in the background with the ‘Y’ and ‘D’ blacked out to explain the concept.

• MOMOLAND released their new single written by PSY “Ready Or Not”. This song is the perfect summer bop! Who cares that it’s fall! Although the song and the choreography are a lot of fun, the music video is a bit of a hot mess. I know they were going for a ‘teen pop’ vibe, but the styling looks like Spice Girls hand-me-downs and the filter makes all the members look extremely washed out. I think this guilty-pleasure song is best enjoyed with the live stages or audio only.

• Another girl group debut that may have gotten overshadowed this week, Bling Bling from MAJOR9 debuted in both Korean and Japanese with the single album “G.G.B.” I really like the latin vibe of this track, and the MV shows that you can make a decent video even without the budget of the top 4 agencies. Similar to what I said about STAYC’s debut, I appreciate how the song puts the lower register vocals in the spotlight. From the moment I heard main vocalist Jieun’s opening lines, I knew this was going to be good. (And wow, can this girl sing!)

• PocketDol Studio introduced their new nine-member boy group BAE173 (standing for ‘Before Anyone Else’, 1 for perfection, and 73 as a lucky number) on the EP “Intersection:Spark” and the title track “Crush On You”. Take notes other agencies: this is how you pull off a boy group doing a ‘cute’ concept without making it cringe-worthy. The track is high-energy with a little bit of jazz scatting thrown into the mix and the choreography is fun (even though I’m tired just looking at it). The group includes former X1 members and H&D duo Hangyul and Dohyon, but I’m glad their agency chose to focus on all of the members instead of just pushing the pair we already know. Incredibly, this is already Hangyul’s fourth debut (he was a member of the disbanded group IM, X1, project group H&D, and now BAE173) so I’m glad that this group had a solid debut.

• BTOB sub-unit BTOB 4U (formed by members Eunkwang, Lee Minhyuk, Changsub, and Peniel while the other members are in the military) released their first mini album “INSIDE” and the title track “Show Your Love”. The moombahton-esque title track feels like it was released a season too late, but b-sides “Tension” and “Alone” stand out.

• Taemin released a music video for the b-side track “Think Of You”. Just like “2 Kids”, this was also filmed in Paris pre-COVID and feels just as personal (especially since Taemin contributed to writing the lyrics on both tracks). Whereas “2 Kids” was angsty and dark, the MV for “Think Of You” is basically 3 minutes and 27 seconds of Taemin competing with the sun to see who can be the brightest ray of sunshine. (Spoiler alert: Taemin wins.)

• Henry (Henry Lau) released the EP “Journey” and the fantasy themed MV for title track “Radio”. This is his first album since his departure from SM Entertainment and forming Monster Entertainment Group with his brother.

• The remaining trio of band CNBLUE released the EP “RE-CODE” with the title track “Then, Now, and Forever”.

• LOONA released the music video for the b-side “Star” (an English version of the track “Voice” off their latest album).
• Soloist WOODZ (Cho Seung Youn from X1) released his second mini album “Woops!” with the title track “Bump Bump”.
• Rookie group DRIPPIN released a music video for the b-side “Shine“.

• SEVENTEEN‘s Dino posted “Dino’s Danceology”, a dance cover of “Thin White Lies” by the band 5 Seconds Of Summer.
• Dreamcatcher released their second Japanese digital single “No More“.

• Enlistment updates:
  • SHINee‘s back! SHINee’s Minho returned from the military this week and went straight into feeding hungry Shawols adorable group content. Minho could have been discharged more than two weeks ago, but decided to give up his final leave to help train junior soldiers.
  • INFINITE‘s Dongwoo was also discharged from the military on November 15.
  • HIGHLIGHT (aka BEAST) member Lee Gikwang (aka my first ever bias) was discharged after serving as a conscripted policeman.
• Speaking of military enlistments, a new bill was recently passed by the Korean National Assembly defense committee that would allow K-pop artists like BTS to postpone entering the military until 30 years old. The revision to the Military Service Act, drafted back in September, allows exceptional artists in pop culture who have elevated South Korea’s reputation to delay (not exempt) enlisting from 29 years of age to 30. This option was previously only available to exceptional athletes or classical musicians. Having gained preliminary approval by the defense committee, the bill only needs to pass a parliament plenary session to become law.
• KQ Entertainment announced that ATEEZ member Mingi will be taking a hiatus from all activities after experiencing anxiety. Mingi is known for being an energy booster for the group, so I hope he gets all the time and support he needs to feel comfortable returning and finding joy in his work. ATEEZ and ATINY hwaiting! #8makes1team
• Dal Shabet‘s Subin was involved in a four-car collision on November 17 and was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment. Fortunately, she was wearing a seat belt and only received minor injuries. Her agency announced that she will cautiously return to activities.
• CL has decided to postpone her album “ALPHA” until next year. Originally scheduled to be released on November 30, CL posted on her Instagram that since this will be her first physical album, and thus more meaningful, she and her team decided that the released will be moved to early next year. In the meantime if you haven’t already, check out her pre-releases “HWA“, “5 Star“, and “Post Up“.
• The contestants who were eliminated due to vote manipulation in the Produce idol survival series were revealed by the court this week. The list includes NU’EST’s Baekho,  UP10TION‘s Lee Jin Hyuk, CRAVITY‘s Koo Jung Mo, and many more (read the full list here.) The court also announced that contestants that benefited from the manipulation would not be revealed due to the potential harm that would cause them and the fact that they were not aware of the process. Mnet, the network the shows were on, also released a statement regarding ongoing talks about compensation for the affected contestants.
• All eyes were on STAYC last week for their successful debut, but some of those eyes were raised when accusations for plagiarism in their music video for “So Bad” started circulating. The MV was accused of having too many similarities to Miley Cyrus’ “Midnight Sky“. Rigend Films, the production company behind the MV for “So Bad” released an official statement apologizing for the controversy while making it clear “that there was no intention to plagiarize the scenes that were created due to the placements on set.” They added: “We have personally apologized to those inconvenienced by this controversy, including High Up Entertainment, STAYC, and all associated staff members. We also want to apologize to fans and the public for confirming details regarding the art and visuals during the production stage without appropriate research.” I’m glad that they stepped up and took accountability, especially since none of this has anything to do with the members or their agency and “So Bad” is a bop. “STAYC girls, It’s going down!”
• Forget what I said last week, Love is alive and Jeong Jinwoo saved it! On the latest episode of Video Star 2AM‘s Jeong Jinwoo tearfully thanked his girlfriend, actress and former 9MUSES member Kyungri, for staying by his side even while he served in the military. He also discussed how it was like to be serving in the same unit as other popular stars such as SHINee’s Key and BTOB’s Changsub and how supportive his girlfriend was as the came to nearly every visitation session. The two have been dating since 2017 and went public with their relationship last year. #relationshipgoals
• Big Hit Entertainment is continuing to make big moves: the company officially announced that they have acquired Zico‘s agency KOZ Entertainment. KOZ was formed in 2018 and has Zico and soloist Dvwn under its label. It’s an interesting but not unexpected move; although Zico is currently serving in the military rumors started back when PD Bang (Bang Shi Hyuk, Big Hit’s chairman) and Zico were both mentors on Big Hit/BELIFT Lab’s show I-LAND. Bang PD is already well established as one of the top producers in the industry, and Zico’s viral hit “Any Song” earlier this year proved that he can also produce record breaking songs.

K-Drama Corner:

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• Technically not drama-related, but still good news! Actress Kang Sora (Misaeng; Revolutionary Love) is expecting her first child in the spring. She recently announced her marriage to a non-celebrity back in August. Congrats to the soon-to-be parents!
• City Couple’s Way of Love revealed its official poster featuring Ji Chang Wook (Healer; Suspicious Partner) and Kim Ji Won (Arthdal Chronicles; Fight For My Way). Ji Chang Wook will play an architect who is searching for the ‘camera thief’ who stole his heart a year ago. Kim Ji Won plays a freelance marketer who impulsively pretended to be someone else and ended up falling for Ji Chang Wook (because who wouldn’t?). The first season called My Lovable Camera Thief premieres on KakaoTV on December 8.
• Jang Dong Yoon (Search; Tale of Nokdu) , Park Sung Hoon (Into the Ring; Psychopath’s Diary), and Kam Woo Sung (The Wind Blows; Should We Kiss First) have been confirmed for upcoming fantasy sageuk Joseon Exorcist. The drama will be about the undead who come back to life after being killed by the royal family and is helmed by the writer from Doctor Prisoner and the producer from Six Flying Dragons and Nokdu Flower. Joseon Exorcist premieres sometime next year.
• SBS’s upcoming drama Deluxe Taxi has confirmed its main lineup. Lee Je Hoon (Signal; Where Stars Land), Esom (Because This Is My First Life; The Third Charm), Kim Eui Sung (Mr. Sunshine; Arthdal Chronicles), and APRIL‘s Naeun (Extraordinary You) will star in the webtoon-based drama that revolves around a mysterious taxi that takes revenge on behalf of its passengers when the law isn’t an option. I wonder how long that will keep the meter running? Deluxe Taxi will premiere sometime next year.

What was your favorite headline or release this week? Let us know in the comments!