#like EIGHT mini mvs leading up to the release though?? this is too much
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stray kids have discovered the most stressful and overwhelming way to come back i think
#once the unveil tracks start dropping…#why are there so MANY they don’t officially come back for almost a MONTH#i am like panicking about it and immediately missing stuff#i have a job i can’t keep uppp#one prerelease sure ig two ok we’re pushing it but i’ll allow it#like EIGHT mini mvs leading up to the release though?? this is too much#i think its 8 anyway maybe i miscounted lol#also it seems like so much work for the kids to film all that when do they sleep#(they don’t lol)
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Q2 2021 GOLD STAR MEDIA SCHEDULES & REVIEW
Members may earn up to 18 points for writing, by the end of June 30 KST:
Up to three solo paras of 400+ words based on their quarterly schedule (does not count toward your monthly limit). (three points each)
Up to three threads of eight posts (four per participant, including the starter) based on the monthly schedule. (three points each)
Threads and solos do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.
These schedules may be updated if new information needs to be added.
Reminder: Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.
Schedule posts for this quarter can be tagged with #fmdgsrq221.
OVERALL COMPANY
News of Element’s disbandment spreads fast through staff whispers even before the news is publicly announced. They’re the first group Gold Star’s ever debuted that has disbanded, and the preparation of a new boy group and girl group debuting under Gold Star as a result has the company staff spread thinner than they had already been. It’s not yet apparent if having three new groups debuting under Gold Star in the next year will help the company thrive or be its downfall, but with their soloist leaving earlier in the year still being talked-about news, Gold Star can only hope it at least diverts the talk around them to something else.
Important dates:
June 8-13: Triple Fantasy Festival in Indio, CA, USA.
SILHOUETTE
Riding high off of their latest comeback’s success, Silhouette continues to prepare for their Japanese comeback this quarter up until the single release in May and the album release at the very end of the quarter. It’s also not long before they begin preparing to make their Korean comeback, and they’ll record the songs off of their new album in May. Once their album is finished recording and off for mastering, in June, they’ll quickly fit in the rest of their pre-comeback preparations, from rehearsing the choreography for “Kill Bill” and b-side “Recipe”, shooting the photo book, and filming the music video to wrap up the quarter. It’s a faster comeback preparation process than usual, but after eleven years in the industry, their team trusts they can handle.
Important dates:
April 5: Pretz CF filming.
April 26: B.L.E.S.S.E.D. comeback teaser photo and photo jacket shoot.
May 10: “B.L.E.S.S.E.D.” M/V filming.
May 28: “B.L.E.S.S.E.D.” M/V release.
June 3: Black Box photo book shoot.
June 28: “Kill Bill” M/V filming day one.
June 29: “Kill Bill” M/V filming day two.
June 30: Release of B.L.E.S.S.E.D. Japanese album.
ARIA
This quarter, Aria will hold the concerts they prepared for last quarter (which include the solo stages they prepared) in Seoul and Tokyo. On their tenth anniversary on the nineteenth of April, they’ll release their new fan song and will also hold a special lottery fan sign for their fan club members for a special physical edition of the single. In June, they’ll leave their round of concerts behind to begin to prepare for their second comeback of the year. This comeback will be with a full album, but there won’t be that many more songs for each member to record than usual since several of the tracks are solo songs. At the end of June, with the rough versions of the tracks ready, the Aria members will turn to choreography practice of the title track, “Firework”. The solo tracks are assigned as follows:
“Stay There”: Leader/vocal/rapper
“Two Of Us”: Main vocal
“Actually, This Is A Secret”: Main dancer/lead vocal
“Hush”: Lead dancer/vocal
“Diary”: Main rapper/lead vocal
Important dates:
April 10: Pink Collection: Red and White concert at SK Handball Stadium in Seoul.
April 11: Pink Collection: Red and White concert at SK Handball Stadium in Seoul.
April 19: Release of “Everybody Ready” fan song, Tenth anniversary fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.
May 1: Aria Japan Live Pink Collection concert at Toyosu Pit in Tokyo, Japan.
May 2: Aria Japan Live Pink Collection concert at Toyosu Pit in Tokyo, Japan.
ORIGIN
For the year’s second quarter, Origin is once again set to pumping up company profits (and meeting fans) with their continued world tour. This quarter, they see Japan, England, Germany, and Spain over the course of several flights out and back into (and back out of) Seoul. In mid-June, they’ll release their Japanese single which is, as everyone is expecting from them at this high a point in their careers, a success. When they’re in Seoul between tour stops, beginning in May, the members will start to prepare their next Korean comeback. Though it will be considered a Korean comeback, it will be their first all-English single — “Dynamite”. Recording will be done by the end of that month and, in June, it will be time for them to use the extra free time that comes with fewer tour dates to spend hours rehearsing the choreography.
Important dates:
April 25: Map of the Soul tour concert at Fukuoka PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan.
April 26: Map of the Soul tour concert at Fukuoka PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, Japan.
May 7: Map of the Soul tour concert at Twickenham Stadium in London, England.
May 8: Map of the Soul tour concert at Twickenham Stadium in London, England.
May 12: Map of the Soul tour concert at De Kuip in London, England.
May 15: Map of the Soul tour concert at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.
May 16: Map of the Soul tour concert at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.
June 4: Map of the Soul tour concert at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Spain.
June 5: Map of the Soul tour concert at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Spain.
June 18: Release of ‘Stay Gold” Japanese single.
IMPULSE
They come back pretty early into the month and the comeback is well-received by fans, though also slightly overshadowed by the news that Element will be disbanding that comes out less than a week after Impulse releases their new album. Public attention directed at Gold Star may be diverted, but fans are paying attention and they have to be given content, so the members will have several promotional videos to film over the course of their comeback promotions, as well as a few fan signs. They’ll also make two television appearances on live performance shows. Fan support also earns the fans a special “angel version” dance practice. After Impulse finishes promoting, they’ll be mostly off the radar save for a fan sign in their role as ambassadors of the Face Shop as they dive into rehearsals for the tour they’ll be embarking on beginning next quarter. They’ll perform their recent songs, so they’ll need to brush up on their last few comebacks, and each member will also get to choose a solo stage to perform (as long as it matches their position).
Important dates:
April 6: “All Night” M/V reaction video filming.
April 7: Release of “All Night” & All Light album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through May 7.
April 8: Relay Dance video filming.
April 10: Yoo Heeyeol’s Sketchbook appearance filming (to air: April 23).
April 11: Open Concert appearance filming (to air: April 18).
April 15: Fan sign in Yeouido, Seoul.
April 17: Fan sign in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.
April 22: Mannequin MV video filming.
May 2: Fan sign in Yongsan, Seoul.
May 3: All Night Special Dance Practice video filming.
May 7: End of music show promotions.
June 15: The Face Shop fansign in Yongsan.
↳ PULS2
No schedules for the quarter.
Important dates:
N/A
FUSE
April proceeds similarly to what Fuse’s schedules have been for the past few months. They begin the month with a photo shoot for the US edition of W magazine and at the end of the month, they’ll give a military performance. In May, the Fuse members not in Fuse B&W are given a mostly free month before June comes around, when they’ll finally begin working on their next comeback, which will release just over a year since their last release. Gold Star has only approved a digital single comeback for them, but by the end of June, they’ll have it recorded and ready to continue preparing for their comeback next quarter.
Important dates:
April 4: Photo shoot for W’s May issue.
April 28: Performance (Psycho & Umpah Umpah) for military at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam (also performing: Lipstick and BEE).
↳ FUSE B&W
Choreography practice continues to be a pivotal point of focus leading up to the actual song releases, but April and the beginning of May will also involve shooting music videos and other promotional videos for the era, as well as photo shoots for the album jacket and teasers. Once they make their subunit debut, they promote for almost two months straight into the next quarter. “Monster” outperforms “Naughty” by a lot, but the latter is intended more as a follow-up track to extend their promotions than a true single focus anyway, so Gold Star isn’t too bothered by it and the fans are happy for the sub-unit to promote so long after an extended period without as many schedules as fans would have liked to see them have.
Important dates:
April 12: Monster photo book and teaser photo shoot.
April 20: “Monster” M/V filming.
April 30: “Naughty” M/V and episode 2 filming.
May 2: Episode 3 (Uncover) filming.
May 17: Release of “Monster” & Monster mini-album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through June 17.
May 30: Fan sign in Mapo, Seoul.
May 31: Fan sign in Yeungdeongpo, Seoul.
June 7: Fan sign in Jongno, Seoul.
June 15: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.
June 17: End of music show promotions.
June 21: Release of “Naughty”, music show promotions continue through July 21.
ELEMENT
Last month, the Element members were informed shortly before their planned late March comeback that their comeback date was being pushed back to mid-March. The next day, this information was shared with the public. Answers weren’t given much at first, but at the beginning of April, the members are pulled into a meeting with a very serious mood if their managers’ expressions are anything to go by. In the meeting, they’re told by a staff member that You will be their final comeback after reviewing the company’s profits and speaking to investors and the company’s board in recent meetings. Element will be disbanding and the company will be re-debuting the members in new groups. They are told not to share this with fans, as the company will take the initiative to announce the impending disbandment the day after Element makes their comeback and the news about re-debut will be made public at a latter time.
Promotions for the comeback itself are kept to a minimum other than fan signs as closure for final meeting with fans as Element, Gold Star apparently seeing little purpose in a big budget for the group’s farewell. Element officially disbands on May 13, 2021, and the members will henceforth be under the schedules of Element’s new upcoming boy group Quicksilver or their new upcoming girl group Marigold. Element members must be moved out of their dorms into their new dorms between May 13 and May 31.
Important dates:
April 5: Company meeting.
April 12: Release of “You” & You mini-album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through June 17.
April 18: Fansign in Gangnam, Seoul.
April 27: Fansign in Mapo, Seoul.
May 10: Fansign in Gimpo.
May 11: Fansign in Yeouido, Seoul.
May 12: End of music show promotions.
FEMME FATALE
Femme Fatale finish comeback preparations in the first few weeks of April before they dive back into promotions at the end of the month after more than a year since their last comeback. The song is received well, as most anything seems to be with Femme Fatale’s name attached to it recently, and becomes their third number one hit. It breaks their record for highest charting in the US as well, and by the time they come to the end of single promotions, fans are once again reinvigorated despite the low quantity of promotions for the release. Luckily, fans won’t have to wait another whole year for their next comeback and in June, Femme Fatale will record their next single, “Ice Cream”, and learn its choreography to prepare to once again comeback in late July next quarter.
Important dates:
April 3: “How You Like That” M/V filming.
April 20: “How You Like That” Performance Video filming.
April 23: Release of “How You Like That” + press showcase, music show promotions continue through May 23.
April 24: Performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
May 23: End of music show promotions.
VIVE
The rumors that Gold Star is already planning to debut another boy group on the heels of Element’s disbandment puts pressure on Vive to cement their place in the company (as much as a supposedly temporary group can) before they’re facing direct competition form within the same company. Their debut rollout is no small task though and they’re getting the most dedicated resources of any other group under the company at the moment. Their debut album sells well, allowing them to mark their place as the company’s third best physical sellers behind the much more established Impulse and Origin right at debut. They manage to chart, too, not a small feat for a brand new boy group relying on fandom power. They’ve got music videos for almost every track on their debut mini-album to show for all of the attention they’re getting, too, and a first win in their second week of promotions. At the end of their debut promotions, Gold Star will reveal their fandom name (’Vivid”), their fandom colors, and their lightstick, and they’ll begin to prepare to perform a series of US showcase shows next quarter. By June, they’ll already be back in the studio to record their first full album so that they can release it before the end of the summer.
Important dates:
April 4: “Crown” M/V filming.
April 10: “Blue Orangeade” Lyric Video filming.
April 19: Release of “Crown” & The Dream Chapter: Star mini-album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through May 19.
April 22: Relay Dance video [2] filming.
April 24: M2 Be Original video filming.
April 26: “Cat & Dog” M/V & “Cat & Dog (English Ver.)” M/V filming.
May 1: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul.
May 3: Fan sign in Yongsan, Seoul.
May 11: Fan sign in Mapo, Seoul.
May 19: End of music show promotions.
May 27: “Nap of a Star” M/V filming.
MARIGOLD
The former female members of Element and two trainees newly confirmed for debut will in early May. After Element finishes promotions, all four members will take a trip for four days to stay at a house on Jeju Island together to get to know each other better with all expenses paid for by the company. When they’re back in Seoul, the members will begin to work together, though not yet officially on their debut this quarter as Gold Star needs to get them used to working together first. The team has been picked to have both standout vocalists and standout dancers, but that won’t mean much if they look as thrown into this as they are. Tthey’ll begin to learn and rehearse choreography they’ll eventually record and release only to reveal the members one by one. The choreography is as follows:
Main dancer/vocal/rapper: “16 Shots”
Main dancer/vocal/rapper & Main rapper/lead dancer/vocal: “Baby Don’t Stop”
Main dancer/vocal/rapper & Main rapper/lead dancer/vocal & Lead vocal: “No Tears Left To Cry”
All members: “River”
All members must be moved into Marigold’s dorm by the end of May.
Important dates:
May 13-17: Group trip to Jeju Island.
QUICKSILVER
The former male members of Element will meet their new groupmates in early May. After Element finishes promotions, they’ll all start moving into the new Quicksilver dorm and all members must be moved in by the end of May. At the beginning of June, they’ll follow in the girls’ footsteps and take a trip to Jeju Island together to get familiar with each other. Gold Star is conscious of not letting Quicksilver directly compete with Vive, so their debut will be later than Marigold’s, meaning there’s a bit more time for a predebut rollout for them. In June, they’ll be spending time in the studio learning choreography for some predebut videos Gold Star will upload. They aren’t filming the video just yet, but the following are the choreography they’ll be rehearsing:
“Pick It Up”
“Lick”
“CoCo” (Main dancer/lead vocal solo)
Important dates:
June 1-5: Group trip to Jeju Island.
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word count: 800 mentioned: hyeju, insik, soojin, minhee trigger warning/s: n/a synopsis: 30 Days of Character Development pt. 2 / IDOL EDITION day(s): 7-12 / FAVE ERA ; STRENGTH & WEAKNESS ; FASHION ; THREE CLOSEST FRIENDS ; SCANDALS ; BEING IN A GROUP
DAY SEVEN: FAVORITE ERA
There are quite a few that Candy thoroughly enjoyed throughout her career. One of them would be First Love, which they released in 2013. The concept wasn’t just simply mature but the preparation was intense. Having to study pole dancing for the sake of the comeback, which she pleasantly enjoyed. Then Mini-skirt for its provocative theme which not many dares to do. Catch Me If You Can is one of the best due to its powerful choreography and the concept of looking rough but still looking sexy and powerful is one of her favorite things.
As a solo artist, Candy has nothing but Fantasy era going for her which she can’t deny is absolutely good for her as well. Fantasy is a song she’s proud of. Sugar Rush on its own for her is art and a reflection of her.
DAY EIGHT: STRENGTH & WEAKNESSES
Candy’s strength is her stage presence. The fact that she can still manage to get the camera’s attention despite lacking lines in certain comebacks. But then again, Candy also is the group’s lead dancer. She has no problem picking up on the choreography in a small amount of time.
Visuals. Candy’s visuals is one of her definite strengths. BC had put her in the center a lot in their MVs and their choreographies despite having barely thirty seconds of singing lines.
As an idol, it is a must for your vocals to be your strength. Which is both Candy’s strength and weakness. Candy can deliver her lines with ease but she didn’t have outstanding and distinct vocals especially in the beginning of Lipstick’s career but throughout the years, Candy has managed to do more than just singing her lines to singing adlibs as well for their tracks. Ever since Goeun’s departure, Candy has become the third with most line in the group.
In terms of weaknesses, Candy does lack in the acting department. Which is the main reason she has not really considered doing any kind of acting in a drama even though she can act a little. But obviously, her acting is only meant for the stage. Depending on Lipstick’s concepts that is. But any heavy acting does not seem to go well with her.
DAY NINE: FASHION
Designer clothes fill Candy’s dressing room. Most of which contain the most fashion-forward pieces from the runway. From cute skirts to fancy dresses, Candy takes her fashion seriously. Mostly her fans describe her style to be sexy, modern and fashionable.
DAY TEN: THREE CLOSEST FRIENDS
Candy’s closest friends are Hyeju, Insik and Soojin.
Hyeju just so happens to be her roommate since they were trainees. The pair didn’t start off in good terms due to their clashing personalities and Candy being more of a loner and a perfectionist but they are currently known as JUDY in the fandom and one of the greatest OTPS within the Lipstick’s fandom.
Insik became a friend of Candy when MARS debuted. They later became closer when they met each other at the dance studio. They are known to be good friends to the public but are currently secretly dating since June of 2019.
Soojin is a member of WISH and Candy sees herself a lot on the young female and Candy currently considers Soojin as her and Hyeju’s “daughter”.
DAY ELEVEN: SCANDALS
Candy has never been involved in a scandal. But Lipstick has been in one. A major scandal involving their groupmate and former main vocalist Goeun. She still thinks it’s rather unfair for the group and scandals do nothing good for anyone’s career. Even publicity stunts bring nothing but attention and leave a nasty negative effect on the people involved.
Not that she was ever in a scandal but there has been controversies about her body weight. After she revealed to the public that she doesn’t gain weight, Candy had suffered some backlash about how she’s obnoxious and so on but Candy did try to gain weight, mostly in a harmful way of which she shouldn’t have done so but she was so done dealing with people who kept on calling her too skinny to be sexy and Lipstick is a group that does sexy and mature themes and concepts.
DAY TWELVE: BEING IN A GROUP
Promoting as a group is fun, they say. But Candy doesn’t like spending too much time with her members but she manages to tolerate the long schedules with the help of Hyeju. She does like the idea of sharing a room with Hyeju when they go overseas or on tours. Other than that, she pretty much has a soft spot for the maknae despite being mean to her and she tolerates the rest of the group simply because she has to and she respects them as individuals as well.
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June 2017 ⋅ Critical Cute Concept
As If It's Your Last - BLACKPINK
In the last few weeks, I’ve been fascinated by k-pop fans’ obsession with finding similarities between Blackpink and 2NE1. I was particularly struck by the huge deal made about the fact that As If It’s Your Last is not a new song, as if songs weren’t composed and left there until the right person comes along since the beginning of time (and as if all Teddy songs didn’t have elements in common).
Just to make one example, Russian Roulette had been doing the rounds at SM since before Red Velvet even debuted, but I didn’t see anyone reacting with outrage to this, even though the song might well have been for f(x) for all we know. I am seriously shocked by the amount of energy that the k-pop fandom is putting into trying to take Blackpink down, as if that even made any difference in their favourites’ career.
That said, before the comeback actually happened, I had one real problem with it: the fact that it would be a single digital release. Blackpink have never been generous with their releases: they only put out two couples of songs so far, with no b-sides. I’m not sure why they would waste a perfectly good song and delay their “actual” comeback (and a physical release) even more.
All in all, I think it still worked out well for them. Even though it is just one song, it’s clear that YG is not doing things cheaply (despite people finding problems with the MV as well, of course): each member has seven or eight changes in the video, there are a thousand sets, everything is lusciously designed and studied down to the last detail.
As If It's Your Last is the limit of how many mismatched sections I can take; it switches quite jarringly from the head-spinning bass of the verse to the slower pre-chorus to the super-pop chorus to Lisa’s intense rap section (which is also, quite confusingly, entirely in English). It could have done with being a bit more cohesive, but with more listens, the haphazard structure of the song is drowned by how catchy it is.
Before the song was released, it was described as the first “pink” release from them, as opposed to the “black” of the previous edgier songs. I think that they made a seamless transition between their signature style and this colourful, more joyous version of themselves. They are cute, but not saccharine, “innocent”, baby-voice-y.
I’m waiting for Blackpink to do something I hate, but for now, I will keep following them as if they’re my last love (get it?).
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Kwon Ji Yong - G-Dragon
June has been a terrible month for Big Bang fans.
The short story for people who have been living under a rock is that T.O.P was charged with smoking marijuana (a criminal offence in South Korea), expelled from the police where he was serving his military service, he overdosed on anxiety medication, was unconscious for a couple of days, then recovered and was moved to a mental health unit, then was tried and sentenced to two years of probation with ten months in prison if he breaks the terms.
In the midst of this, G-Dragon had announced his comeback and had to go through with it because he was about to start a tour with 30+ announced dates, which would have been pretty complicated to cancel.
I don’t think it’s necessary to explain that, like anything put out by G-Dragon, it’s a masterpiece. As usual, it has very little to do with what people expect when they talk about k-pop, and I would argue it doesn’t have a lot to do with pop in general.
To me (and to him, considering the title is his real name) this is the definitive G-Dragon album. Even if he didn’t put out anything else, this would complete and explain his oeuvre. Each of the songs captures a particular time and feel of his career, and he has space to examine his public life, his persona, and his personal struggles. This comment on Reddit really explains the trajectory and the meaning of the album and I don’t think there is a lot to add.
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Ceremony - Pentagon
I love everything that Cube is doing with Pentagon right now. Fresh from the good run of Hui and E’Dawn in Triple H, as well as the stellar success of the song that Hui penned for Produce 101 Never, Pentagon have a lot going for them right now.
In a sea of tropical house (drink!), they reference Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock and find their voice with a hooky chorus and an image built around being ironic instead of trying to be edgy at all costs (which, granted, they had tried to do before).
The costuming of this comeback deserves an honourable mention: they have been wearing some extraordinary suits on stage, and they are always tailored perfectly. Some favourites: M Countdown on 15/06, Music Bank on 23/06, Inkigayo on 25/06, Music Core on 01/07.
I have especially come to appreciate the fact that the members of Pentagon have different enough physical builds (some tall, some short, some bulky, some skinny) to never look like a shapeless mass of people even though there are ten members. Each of them gets a moment to shine on stage, which is not always the case when a group a lot of members. I don’t like big groups, but this one just works.
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Cherry Bomb - NCT 127
I have a long history of loving NCT despite the mess of their structure, but why do they always look so unhappy and try-hard on stage? I can’t find a single performance where they seem to be enjoying what they are doing.
While I appreciate that they are trying to be edgy and experimental - something k-pop always needs more of - I feel that they missed the mark with Cherry Bomb. The dissonant voices, the distortion, the intense bass, the mismatched sections are too much to work as a pop product this time.
The repetition of various sentences (“I’m the biggest hit on the stage”, “빨리빨리 피해 right / Cherry bomb feel it yum”) in Cherry Bomb makes up for almost the entirety of the song, which gets really obnoxious really quickly. I found “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands” funny the first five times, then I was tired of it.
Differently from Cube with Pentagon, SM just can’t seem to find a song that gives space to every member of the group. Johnny and Haechan are basically invisible in the performance; WinWin and Yuta get to mouth to some of Taeyong’s lines, without actually singing any of them.
Once again, the rest of the album is quite good, but sounds like they were given the scraps of other groups (especially SHINee, in this case). What’s important to note is that literally any song would have been a catchier single than Cherry Bomb (full disclosure: they’ve still sold like 70,000 physical copies).
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Archangels of the Sephiroth - Stellar
I ended up sort-of following Stellar because they were someone else’s unfortunate favourite - that group that’s always on the edge of disbanding or worse, wallowing in their trainee debt until the end of time.
Archangels of the Sephiroth is a sharp turn from their previous concepts; they have added a new member, and to celebrate this they have gone down the fantasy/dark route with a music video in which they literally drown the new girl in a bathtub full of blood.
I don’t know why I’m so excited by the pseudo-satanic concept, but I love it and I love their new song. I like the intensity, the sort-of-mystical vibe, the shouty chorus, the big drums. I’m not so enthusiastic about the weird use of the Kabbalah they made in the insane additional material/game/alternate universe for the comeback (I was sure it was a Final Fantasy reference, oops), but I don’t have the instruments to understand how bad it is, so if you do, let me know.
It’s bizarre to consider the title track Archangels of the Sephiroth in the context of the mini-album; the rest of the songs definitely belong to the “old” Stellar vibe, and most of them could have been good lead singles without the witchcraft.
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RAPID FIRE ROUND
Stroke - Gummy
Whether Gummy qualifies as k-pop is part of a larger debate on what the label actually means, but this is hands down my favourite album of the month, so I will put it here anyway because I want to. Don’t miss Stop Talking and Room Service.
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Shine Forever - Monsta X
Is this at all meant to be a conclusion to the story Monsta X started with All In (aka the song that got me into Monsta X)? Who managed to give some decent hair to Jooheon for the first time in his entire career? “I’m fascinated by the bright light of your beauty”?
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Jinsoul - Loona
I’ve been following Loona very very closely since the beginning of their debut project and I’ve been loving almost all of their releases (my favourites are still Heejin and Haseul). This second sub-unit of the final group has been receiving much more interest than any of the first five girls ever did, and I have to admit that I have fallen for Jinsoul’s future bass track Singin’ In The Rain. I’m curious to see how she and the other “girl crush” members will fit with the “innocent” ones ... in a year or so.
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MORE SONGS OF NOTE
I Smile - Day6
Finally - Mamamoo
Never and Hands on Me - Produce 101
What’s My Name? and Diamond - T-ara
Happy and Babyface - WJSN
STRAYS
Dreamcatcher save the day once more with their amazing rock covers:
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iKON’s Bobby on King of the Mask Singer. His singing voice is incredible:
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Is there anything better than Taemin’s Japanese releases? I don’t think so.
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Day6 cover a bunch of Twice songs:
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Kings of everything Seventeen on Immortal Songs:
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