The Best New Music: May 2024
A ranking and review of May’s best releases from Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai artists!
#20: Violette Wautier, “DANCING ON A GRAVEYARD”
The “DANCING ON A GRAVEYARD” music video tells a story similar to Black Swan about a dancer simultaneously motivated and tormented by her instructor. His wish is Violette Wautier’s command, even as flickers of self-awareness cross her face about him being more harmful than helpful. The most summative lyric of her mindset is “Kissing you is heaven / Loving you is hell;” she can’t help but maintain lust alongside the desperation to break free. By the end of the video and song, Violette realizes there will never be an endpoint to this puppet master’s demands: “What was once holy is haunted / I hope that this is not too late / I’ve got to get away.” Knowing that she will never be “good enough” for this master manipulator both kills her and gives her a chance at a rebirth, and while the music video primarily shows that first reaction, it ends with a focus on the latter. Holding hands with a new man and no longer wearing a literal mask, Violette turns and walks away from the toxic person who had a “feast” at her metaphorical gravesite, indulging on her blood, sweat, and tears. “DANCING ON A GRAVEYARD” is a catchy pop song with a strong sense of purpose.
#19: Bodyslam & Jeff Satur, “แผลเป็น” (“Scar”)
“Scar” both agonizes and marvels over how permanent a trace of past love can remain on one’s psyche. They are shocked at how “such a small wound can hold such depth” and wonder “How long must [they] wait” for the scar to fully fade. The fact this wait feels eternal is dramatized through the intriguing music video. Black-and-white scenes, presumably flashbacks, interrupt in-color scenes to draw both comparisons and contrasts. In both types of scenes, there is pain and uncertainty. In the black-and-white scenes, that presents itself through a couple’s angry but passionate dance routine and Jeff Satur’s hovering in a long cape, as if he is a vampire-ghost hybrid. The in-color scenes show distress through symbols like a house on fire and a fallen chandelier. A shared trait among both types of scenes is light snow falling. The snow has both a gentle presence and one that implies a never-ending winter. Are their metaphorical spring days gone forever? Eventually, a woman disappears as if made of sand; she is gone like the wind, as suddenly as the light snow could stop falling. The presumed equal likelihood of something vanishing or lingering is artfully depicted, and this wailing rock ballad further leaves an emotional “scar” thanks to superb vocals.
#18: TRiDENT, spice “X”
These songs range from mildly to wildly chaotic! Right out of the gate, racing guitars and drums set the stage, with strings, piano notes, and even a saxophone tossed in here and there. Just as jolting are abrupt exclamations and periods where instruments suddenly fall silent. Unpredictability is the name of TRiDENT’s game, which makes “SPICE!” the perfect album opener and the epitome of the album’s essence. A frantic tone replaces a mystic, hushed one, and the rest of the song holds a tight grip on listeners’ attention with distinct tonal and spacial qualities. The instrumental hype continues in “Bite the bullet.” Made for the video game Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, the lyrics insist that one has to take an active role in one’s own life, “shooting through” past hesitation. Other songs’ framing is less intense but no less indicative of TRiDENT’s assertive and uncontainable nature! Whether made with a game in mind or made to just be a personal anthem, TRiDENT’s typical in-your-face attitude remains on full display.
#17: ENHYPEN, DARK MOON SPECIAL ALBUM <MEMORABILIA>
As detailed at length previously, ENHYPEN is a very conceptually specific group that tells an ongoing, multimedia story about part-vampires who are also reincarnated knights. The sprawling fictional universe forms the foundation of everything from song lyrics to short films, and now a Webtoon soundtrack too! <MEMORABILIA> is a way to become even more immersed and invested in DARK MOON. From groaning over a blood craving to contemplating the cons of immortality, the songs cover topics that only ENHYPEN can, both due to their unique talent and because of their need for context! The songs are also simply high-quality and let the members convey new sides to their characters through first-time subunits. <MEMORABILIA> is a natural extension of an already sweeping story, and ENHYPEN can handle the tall order that is doing that extension justice.
#16: Kenshi Yonezu, “Mainichi,” aka “Every Day”
Although Kenshi Yonezu points out to himself all the little things that make daily life more annoying (“A cat [that] gives [him] the stink eye,” “insipid chow”...), he wonders if it is okay to still see his days as good ones: “When nothing changes despite giving it my best… Can I still carry on loving it?” Kenshi Yonezu emphatically declares that the answer is “Yes!” “Every day,” aka “Mainichi,” becomes his catch phrase, and he repeats it with conviction and exaggerated body movements in the music video. The rollicking piano and bouncy beat are worthy of the dancers’ relentless exuberance. They perform in bright costumes with fast footwork, while Kenshi Yonezu interacts with TV sets before entering one! “Mainichi” screams “scene-stealing” on many levels, right up until the last few seconds, when he gets a sudden pie to the face!
#15: ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR : Part.1
ATEEZ are clearly in their “doing whatever we want” era! The “WORK” music video is inexplicable on every level. The dress code appears inspired by everyone from Willy Wonka to Orville Peck, they both make money and fight a monster made out of it, and their hobbies include everything from flamenco dancing to ostrich-riding! The B-sides have a similar sense of ATEEZ being in on the joke; they know they are acting goofy, and that is the point! They insist there is no time to dwell on the past in “Empty Box.” They interrupt themselves in “Blind” to say “Come and dance with me,” and they end the song shouting “Hooray!” They begin “Shaboom” with a door knock and by saying “I don’t care about what you think,” and they insist they “need mindless play time.” They end the album with “Siren” and a dismissal of letting anyone else dictate how they behave (“Broke down this era, those critics are not fine / Born with natural talent, and luck is also a skill, prime-time”). The song starts off with a laugh and switches tones part-way through, as they sing about only getting louder.
The album’s opening monologue asks, “[W]hat should we dream of and hope for, as these fleeting moments pass?” This leads into songs that show their ideas. Life is short, and ATEEZ’s enthusiastic music is a testament to their sense of urgency to make the most of it, starting right now. There is no time to choose between one bizarre plot over another, so they combine them all! The “no time to waste” sentiment is also expressed in the B-sides, which seem to put conversations and songs on collision courses! GOLDEN HOUR : Part.1 screams “Seize the day!” in typical ATEEZ fashion - meaning in no narrow, predictable fashion at all!
#14: MY FIRST STORY, The Crown
The Crown combines new and old songs for an album that is both a trip down memory lane and an exciting re-introduction to MY FIRST STORY. New listeners get to witness the band’s multitudes, from operatic leanings to more pop-rock offerings. The band proves to be as ready to deliver the perfect score for a movie’s opening sequence as they are the score for an ending one. The final treats are a live version of “Home” and a remix of “I’m a Mess” that is just as good as the original version. Besides these two, the most can’t-miss songs are “Tokyo Midnight” and “Ambitious.” The former is about throwing caution to the wind for a night, with the dance-remix-ready instrumental to match, and the latter has thought-provoking lyrics about how people often unconsciously make things harder than they need to be on themselves. The Crown will please pop and rock fans alike and speaks to the group’s earned broad appeal.
#13: E’LAST, EVERLASTING
“Intro Dystopia” proves to be the perfect scene-setter for EVERLASTING. It starts out like the “Gasoline” music video does: innocuously. Both the intro and video evolve into something much darker and more dramatic. The album features dynamic and climactic mixtures of rapping and singing, backed by fast BPM rates, and an apocalypse unfolds in the video. This story ends with an “All’s well that ends well” sentiment. The album ends with softer songs, including the consoling slow song “Forever and one.” Similarly, the “Gasoline” video ends on a relatively peaceful note. The E’LAST members have made it through the storm of all storms, and the fact they still have each other is enough to stop them from despairing. They seize the first day of their post-apocalypse reality, beautifying and reviving the remnants of the last world, such as its plants and butterflies. Through both video and audio, EVERLASTING tells a full-circle story with the needed dexterity.
#12: MC Jin, Roller Coaster
This trilingual album excels at encapsulating the “roller coaster” that is life. MC Jin draws from a range of experiences, from specific times (like reality show days) to periods of life that are harder to put specific timestamps on (like the journey from losing to regaining confidence). The mix of Mandarin, Cantonese, and English lyrics might be for the sake of things like syllable counts, but the linguistic choices also add personal depth. For example, “My Lover Loves HipHop” has Cantonese lyrics, making it extra meaningful to MC Jin, who bonded with his wife over similar childhood memories involving Canto-pop. Another particularly meaningful track is “HipHopMan2023,” a remake of his 2017 hit on which Nana Ou-yang pleasantly accompanies him on cello. The album’s emotional ride is suited well by revisiting this song from a past life chapter and older mindset. Roller Coaster tells MC Jin’s life story in an effective and thoughtful way.
#11: YOOK SUNGJAE, EXHIBITION : Look Closely
Each of the three songs on this mini-album packs an equally powerful punch. First is “BE SOMEBODY,” on which YOOK SUNGJAE repeats his desire to be seen and loved for who he really is. He sings, “I won’t go back to who I was before,” yet he also sings, “You never judge me; you take me for who I am.” It seems contradictory to sing about a new and improved YOOK SUNGJAE while showing appreciation for the love he is already getting without changing, but the music video offers an explanation. YOOK SUNGJAE is among many people in the video, but he is still lonely. Later, he remains alone in a crowd, but in a different way, appearing behind glass that the others gather around, as if he is a museum display. Coupled with the lyrics “In the mirror… You never judge me; you take me for who I am,” it appears that the person SUNGJAE is thanking for making him feel like a “somebody” is himself! He doesn’t seem to mind the admiration of onlookers, but he doesn’t seem to mind keeping his distance from them either! His comfort in his own skin adds conviction to the album’s B-sides. On the pop-rock “Without you,” he insists a lover tried to turn on the charm too late for it to matter and decides his time is better spent without that person. On the pop ballad “The Ghost,” he goes from agonizing over a lover’s memory haunting him to realizing that he has the power to stop letting himself be haunted. “My butterfly / Won’t you flutter right out of my life?,” he sings, showing an understanding that he does not have to wait until he cannot think fondly of his ex anymore to fully part with the memory of that person. He goes from saying “let me move on” to “It’s time that I give up the ghost;” he gains a sense of autonomy that perfectly circles back to the first song’s message.
#10: SUHO, 1 to 3
In memorable and endearing ways, SUHO confronts what it means to grow up. As the text on screen in the “1 to 3” music video puts it, he learns to accept “that life is in the form of a question mark.” That video shows him traveling through space, exploring the unknown and loving it. He has a celebratory take on life’s ambiguities in other songs, too: “Cheese” analogizes a relationship to the food in many ways, from a sharp taste that can linger to a sticky mess! “A line becomes an edge, if you see it differently,” he says in “1 to 3,” acknowledging how perspective is everything. Therefore, he consciously decides to see edges as lines, to see youth as something capable of prolonging (a view he elaborates on in “Alright Alright”), to see a lack of direction as a great opportunity (“Zero Gravity”), and to see unproductive days as just waiting periods before he really shines. Regarding that last message, SUHO compares “Moonlight” to a spotlight. When others have productive days and he feels insecure because he does not, he decides not to worry, because when the “spotlight” comes out is when it’s his time to shine! The text on the screen during the “1 to 3” music video includes “It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be,” and SUHO impresses with how he sends that downright-cliche message with original characterizations.
#9: Yves, LOOP
LOOP contains compelling contradictions. Yves sounds flirtatious yet somewhat hesitant on “DIORAMA,” confused but content on “LOOP,” and nostalgic for a relationship and glad that it’s over on “Afterglow.” She ends with a slow song called “Goldfish,” about wishing to take on the life of a pet. The “LOOP” music video leaves audiences asking the same question posed by these songs: Is Yves happy or not?! In the video, backup dancers swarm her, she sprints away, she hides, and then she proceeds to do their choreographed dance anyway, which they loyally follow, although now from a distance and without her in their line of sight. People follow her lead, and she shies away from that at first. However, she eventually leaves her hiding place to finish the dance routine in the open. As she does, she keeps going back and forth between two outfits. She doesn’t exactly break out of a “LOOP,” but she does gain some control over her actions and appearance; her movements stay correlated to those of others, but she gets to choose to engage with them from a farther distance than they wanted and in outfits of her choosing. The answer, then, to the question “Is Yves happy?” could be “She’s getting there.” Yves grows more confident as she practices taking charge. She goes from looking like a nervous new kid at school to being okay with all eyes on her in “LOOP,” and she tries being playful with some of the B-sides (“Sorry just for me,” she says in “Afterglow;” “Just give me the good love / Or give me the good luck,” she says on “DIORAMA”). Yves interestingly makes “breaking out of a loop” synonymous with breaking out of her shell.
#8: imase, BONSAI
BONSAI is an album-length reminder to look on the bright side. imase speaks to youths with a mix of pragmatism and optimism. He advises people to spend more time off their phones to find true happiness (in songs like “Bokurada,” “Period,” and “Analog Life”) and to enjoy the present moment while it lasts (in songs like “Utopia” and “NIGHT DANCER”). He acknowledges there are days when that is hard to do, like when he complains about having to pick up an extra shift in “Happy Order?,” and when he becomes an official adult and is confused by how he doesn’t feel the anticipated sense of preparedness in “Bokurada.” But he focuses on rolling with the punches more often than not, singing about living without regrets in “Heroine,” hoping everyone can “Have a nice day,” and overall performing upbeat, fast-paced jams. imase compounds his album’s sense of authenticity by circling back to the same metaphors and expressions across different songs. He starts the album by calling BONSAI his “monologue,” so it is only natural for the songs to stay topically connected, like each song is a different entry from the same journal. The metaphorical voice throughout BONSAI stays imase’s, and that voice is a likable one to which a wide audience ought to be receptive.
#7: Sheena Ringo, Carnival
Carnival is about living loud and living large! A flute and rattling percussion start the party with “offering sake,” which leads into a big and bold warning to not get on Sheena Ringo’s bad side in “i’m free.” With few exceptions, the rest of the album stays loud in every meaning of the word. Even the more low-key instrumentals are shaken up by sporadic piano notes, a sudden switch into a mocking tone, and/or strange sound effects! A stomp-along-ready, big-band sound is a staple, sometimes to a comedic extent, like in “open secret,” which belongs in a movie’s sped-up chase scene! What is commendable about Carnival is not its aptly party-ready atmosphere, though. What makes this a “carnival” worth hearing is its depth. The full sound is not just for the sake of bells and whistles; important reflections lie underneath them with surprising frequency. For example, “as a human” backs away from the previous song’s rambunctiousness and lets a dreamy harp take over, as Sheena Ringo personifies the concept of justice. In songs like “closed truth,” she bemoans how fast this party flew by and how she didn’t stop to appreciate it enough while it lasted. In “FRDP,” she laments having an indecisive nature, over a boisterous mix of guitars, pianos, and the occasional tambourine. Finally, “a grand triumphant return” celebrates the vibrancy of life, “the greatest honor” to ever experience. Sheena Ringo makes her zeal contagious and palpable.
#6: D.O., aka Doh Kyung Soo, BLOSSOM
BLOSSOM is a touching ode to what love is all about. This set of gentle love songs sticks to an acoustic guitar or piano most of the time, allowing this charming crooner’s voice to stay the focal point. He celebrates how love makes ordinary days feel extraordinary on “Simple Joys,” likens a butterflies-in-stomach feeling to popcorn popping in “Popcorn,” and promises to be there for his loved one through both the best and worst times on “My Dear.” When he isn’t earnestly expressing his commitment to and joy over a relationship, he sings words that are meant to soothe. On “Good Night,” he encourages someone to try to fall asleep despite it being difficult, trusting that the worries of today might disappear by tomorrow. “About Time” is sonically similar but lyrically different, reminding listeners to cherish relationships before they are gone. The other song on BLOSSOM is “Mars,” which combines both the album’s instincts to console and to celebrate. In the music video, D.O. sets up a makeshift lab in an open field and spends literal hours (as the timestamps on the screen confirm) trying to communicate with someone on another planet. His tenacity makes the eventual success even sweeter, and he beams as he gets a response, even though he now stands in the rain and still cannot physically see his lover. Just knowing his lover knows he is there is enough to lift his spirits. The beauty in BLOSSOM lies in its simplicity and straightforwardness, and D.O. has just the voice to talk about love in such a way.
#5: HANRORO, HOME
Great albums find the sonic equivalents for all that words fail to encompass. By this description, HOME is a great album; it mines a deep well of emotions in ways that allow listeners to intuitively know how HANRORO feels, often feelings that are hard to neatly summarize. HOME begins with “After Landing,” which is the soundtrack for either an alien visiting Earth or simply a human with her eyes truly open to the world’s cruelties for the first time. “H O M E” and “System Error” are the soundtrack for a world in ruins, with the latter instrumental going haywire and both songs having lyrics about tearing down old norms and definitions. After chaotic turmoil comes the type of unsettling calm that follows a potentially-returning storm. Backed by guitar-strumming and whistling that has a sense of bleakness to it, HANRORO sings about her wistfulness for the innocent “before times” on “Playground.” “Ashes” conveys the feeling of a new beginning, complete with horns and drum rolls. But the sadness for what is long gone lingers, and she sings about running out of tears to cry while wondering “How To Go On.” “Restart!” ends the album on a relatively lively note, with fresh resolve to be patient and trust that a new and improved future is coming. HOME is the musical score for a rebirth - a chance to find a true “home” - with the attention to detail and variety that do the heavy subject matter justice.
#4: ARTMS, <Dall>
With this comeback, ARTMS show an impressive range in both style and substance. The strong suit of each track video differs: the kaleidoscopic visuals in “Flower Rhythm,” the group chemistry in “Air,” the retro fashion in “Candy Crush,” and the artsy format of “Birth.” The final video, “Virtual Angel,” features all of these strong suits and then some. Its eye-catching nature is thanks to angelic looks, a backdrop of bright blue skies filled with bright pink clouds of smoke, and a rapid reel of images. While variety is the name of the game visually, this era’s songs are strongest in their commonalities. Dreamy synth hazes carry the members’ harmonies like alluring waves over the instrumentals. Lyrically, there are numerous references that, whether intentionally or not, remind LOONA fans of the “LOONAverse” (such as “Butterfly Effect,” in the song of the same name, and “Eden,” in “Virtual Angel”). A strong desire for connection is also a recurring theme. The story begins with them saying “Wait for me” during the intro, “url,” and they strive to get in touch even across different planets in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Their hopefulness ebbs and flows somewhat, but their drive to experience a rebirth is everlasting. “Dall” is an acronym for “Divine All Love and Life,” and the songs and videos accurately present that theme in myriad ways.
#3: aespa, Armageddon
aespa embrace a throwback style in more ways than one. “Supernova” borrows from an electro-hip-hop song from the eighties (“Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force), and they have channeled the early aughts with their fashion and marketing choices, posting behind-the-scenes content on Pinterest and selling album copies with physical CD players! As they are prone to do, aespa combine these nostalgic factors with futuristic ones, like Black Mirror-esque technology in the “Armageddon” music video and lyrical references to their digital alter egos. The vocabulary that comes straight out of The aespa Universe is not just thrown into songs haphazardly; it is often clever and indirect. One of their buzzwords is “synk,” and “deeper I sink” is a line in “Set The Tone.” Another example: They sing “You’re my whole world” in “Melody,” and the term “MY” is a key noun in their story. There are also references to breaking out of an illusion (“Mine”), reclaiming protagonist roles (“Live My Life”), and other reminders of aespa’s alternate reality. Armageddon gives long-time fans plenty of new narrative fodder, while the throwback elements will excite the uninitiated. Regardless of how much people enjoy and understand this chapter of aespa’s story, though, everyone is sure to be entertained! The group continues to expand their repertoire, with unignorable, distorted instrumentals and breezy, simpler ones alike; with blends of 2D and 4D action in their videos in surprising ways (“Long Chat (#♥)” being the best example); and by shifting gears while still in character, like confronting a new villain in “Licorice” and using new superpowers in “Supernova.”
#2: RM, Right Place, Wrong Person
Right Place, Wrong Person is RM’s most genre-averse and purposefully meandering work to date. The instruments and his words alike conjure up nuanced atmospheres and hard-to-pinpoint emotions that clash in the corresponding music videos. The unsettling scenes in videos like the literally dark “Domodachi” are by design; viewers are put in the middle of situations as RM is, nothing if not uncertain. Besides defying genre classifications, terms like “characters” and “plot” do not quite apply to Right Place, Wrong Person either. The music videos start without exposition; viewers have to figure out the premise and the players as the story unfolds. The videos end anticlimactically, with an “Oh, I guess that’s it!” feeling!
Interpretations of the music videos vary widely, but the underlying message is that life often feels the way RM depicts it: like something being constructed in real time. Life cannot be fully planned out; life happens simply as one lives it, like how RM’s video scenes unfold as he roams through them. Forging connections is similarly unable to be planned out in advance, hence why many video characters’ reactions have questionable sincerity, why the line between RM enjoying and merely tolerating others’ company is often disputable, and why RM’s thoughts pertaining to each song’s subjects are tangled balls of emotions. In sound and spirit, with and without music video accompaniments, the songs on Right Place, Wrong Person have a “Ready or not, here life comes” takeaway.
#1: tripleS, <ASSEMBLE24>
This tripleS comeback is defined by constant juxtapositions. Just to name a few from the “Girls Never Die” video: two girls in dark angel wings cheerfully play hand-clapping games while standing on top of a skyscraper, which they abruptly jump off of; a black bird appears to be dead in some scenes and alive in others; the girls enjoy some “typical” youth hobbies uninterrupted, like doing each other’s makeup, while others take a sinister turn, like when ants crawl over a live-streaming gamer’s hand; and the girls face many dangerous scenarios, but they stay near-fatal. The innocent and the morbid undercurrents are never far behind each other and are sometimes intertwined. As for the songs on <ASSEMBLE24>, dark characterizations tend to be accompanied by words of encouragement. For example, there is a reference to a “small and narrow world” in “Dimension,” but the song is about leaving those traits in the past: “I break the limits with my own hands.” Similarly, in “White Soul Sneakers,” they anticipate the world doubting them but then tell themselves to “keep going.” Countless other lyrics are about gaining strength through adversity, something epitomized best in “Midnight Flower”: “A nocturnal wanderer like an outsider.” Overall, <ASSEMBLE24> takes unconventional routes to tell a powerful story of resilience. The music itself compounds that power; listeners gain determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other as they listen to wailing guitars, fast beats, and throwback sounds mixed with trendy ones - a pairing of the old and new that matches the message of being fueled by past and future challenges alike.
To learn more about these picks, stay tuned for the return of new 17 Carat K-Pop podcast episodes!
Subscribe to the show on Spotify here!
Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts here!
Subscribe to the show on other platforms here!
And subscribe to this newsletter to find out which of these make the “Best of 2024 So Far” lists!