The Best New Music, Part 2

A ranking and review of the best new releases from Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai artists!

View the Substack version of this piece here!

Since the first priority was releasing the “Best of 2025 So Far” series, the “Best of the Month” series was put on hold, so thank you for your patience! It’s finally time to reveal the Top Twenty of September!

#20: ALALA, “SWEET LIES”
This T-pop earworm sounds like the sister song of TWICE’s “THIS IS FOR,” but the orchestral flourishes and unique video premise keep “SWEET LIES” a fraternal twin only!

ALALA’s divine harmonies come with a catchy hook, a rap detour, and a show-stopping instrumental breakdown for a bridge. The group sounds angelic while singing about devilish behavior: “You fooled me, but I let you… I waited for you to let your guard down… you’ll see who’s really been played”! They admit, “I never believed you / Just felt like having fun with your little games”! They make sure fellow partygoers in the music video have fun messing with their target, too; they pass out fliers encouraging their payback participation!

Besides making sure the deceiver is not just outsmarted but outnumbered, ALALA show their side is one step ahead through the details in the party decor, including mannequins with recording devices instead of faces and a marble bust with red tape on its mouth. The latter appears right after the words “Let them eat cake” appear on the screen, reinforcing the sugar coating in which their sinister scheme is wrapped! 

#19: XG, “GALA” 
XG are famous for their elaborate hair, makeup, nails, costumes, settings, backgrounds, plots… Nothing about their music videos is benign! “GALA” is a case in point, and their alien personas take the “XG Gala” by storm! While some artists keep all eyes on them with one major attention-grabber after another, XG never have that patience! There are always multiple “look at me” elements on the screen at the same time, making the viewing experience inherently immersive and intensely impactful. At the same time as the fashion is maximalist, so are the settings and antics. A non-exhaustive list of what viewers will see: fire, water, lasers, vogueing, acrobatics, runway-ready strutting, kaleidoscopic replications of close-up images, and a full-on cyborg appearance - complete with computer wires for pigtails!

Besides the sheer spectacle of it all, it is easy to understand XG’s appeal when watching the video for the smaller details. For example, the members dance together in matching outfits - their distinct take on spacesuits - on their spaceship, for an audience of no one but themselves; on the red carpet, for a human audience; and in outer space, for an audience of fellow aliens! They can instantly get into “Group Performance Mode” anytime and anywhere! XG’s behavior around masked figures is also worth zeroing in on; one member break-dances for them, another turns them into her red carpet entourage, and another reacts to photo shoot developments while they watch. The masked figures are an audience and assistants who are willing to adapt to whatever the XG members need.

“GALA” dives headfirst into XG’s uncompromisingly grandiose world, with big and small details alike screaming “Get with XG’s program or get out!”

#18: Hinatazaka46, Onegai bach! (Special Edition)
“Everyone has forgotten something / Something they couldn’t do in that distant childhood / That frustration, I will reclaim it,” Hinatazaka46 assert in “Expected value.” Those words define this album, which treats the “silly” dreams of young-at-heart people as essential sources of fulfillment. In “Sora tobu kuruma,” they sing, “The next future… starts with something ridiculous,” “Impossible things are fun,” and “Someday, the times will catch up [to] dreamlike delusions and illusions”! All real things start out as ideas, and Hinatazaka46 see ideas and dreams as essentially the same thing, so why not dream big?! Better yet, why not see continuous, limitless dreaming as an asset? Instead of being a defect that adults “know better” than to maintain, it might be the opposite sign, that they are ahead of the curve! Rather than adapt to the world, Hinatazaka46 sing about expecting the world to adapt to them! Their attitude fills this album with hope and happiness, and while the songs stay very compatible, the lyrics range widely, while staying centered on a refusal to compromise one’s daydreams and manifestations. Their approaches include a Zen one (“Kotoba no genkai”), a comical one (“Halloween no Kabotya ga wareta 2025”), a more grounded and direct statement (“Expected value”), and more. The most appealing approach, though, is taken in the title track, one to which any music lover will relate. They sing about being so flustered by a crush that mere words fail them. They need a full song to express how they feel, and they know just the person for the job! “Please, Bach, the moment you fall in love / Let me hear it!,” they plead. Even those who don’t care for classical music will relate to the sentiments about how music can provoke clarity (“Can you give me a hint? / A sad violin that only I can understand”), console (“I want to calm down / Bach always help[s] me”), move people (“It resonates beautifully, the five-line score of love”), bring people together (“I’ll adapt to you properly / Would you like to play the violin and piano together?”), and fuel romance (“Concerto in which humans fall in love”). 

When all seems lost, one can still turn to music and their favorite artists to cope, and the trust and loyalty listeners put in certain artists is touched on when Hinatazaka46 express zero doubts about Bach staying in their corner: “Bach is always on the side of the lover”!

#17: Lee Hyun, A(E)ND
These soulful R&B songs show Lee Hyun’s different vocal colors, but in a purposefully subdued manner. He clearly wants the lyrics to speak for themselves and gives them the spotlight to do so. The song titles and lyrics do not obscure their main points: “You know I want you back / Just like you want me back” (“Day & Dream”), “I hope it’s not too late / I hope there’s still love” (“What’s On Your Mind”), “I’ll try to move on” (“Let You Go”)... There are times when Lee Hyun turns to metaphors, but never at the expense of keeping his bottom line apparent. For example, he compares a relationship’s end to broken clocks in “Let You Go,” with his attempts to outsmart time proving futile and their “fate stay[ing] sealed.” And in “Tree of Life,” he compares a relationship to a “Mulsum,” also known as the “Breath of Greed.” It refers to the breath that free-divers take that surpasses safe limits.

The best two songs, though, are “Gravity” and “To Come to See You pt.2.” “Gravity” would sound incomplete without a partner, and fromis_9’s SONG HA YOUNG sweetens the duet and its reciprocal promise to “lo-lo-love you” forever! “To Come to See You pt.2.” is a fan-dedicated song that also speaks to all kinds of intimate bonds, with comments like “I know the pain you cannot speak of.” The song alludes to both “To Come to See You,” a song from an album of the band 8Eight’s, and the cover of A(E)ND, which is a blur. Lee Hyun’s final thank-you message in “pt.2”: “When the colors of my flower had faded… And began to blur… The one who came to greet me / Was you.”

#16: Girls2, New Era
This bubbly J-pop release is a short and sweet artist introduction. With dynamic deliveries that span both rapping and singing and both more melodic and more digi-fied tendencies, Girls2 prove to be vibrant and versatile. They made the right calls for pre-release singles; “LET ME DANCE” and “MOMOIRO KATAOMOI” are the cutest and the catchiest! The latter has clap-along-ready parts, group chanting, computerized sound effects, and an overall bubblegum style that amusingly contrasts with lyrics about unrequited love! “LET ME DANCE,” naturally, is of the same mindset, turning sad energy into dance fever! It rises above the rest with an acapella phase and a clubby sound mixed with hushed tones, as if whispering gossip with best friends while on the dance floor! Girls2 are preoccupied with having a good time, and that fun is contagious! 

More colorful and crush-themed components of New Era: “SAKURA TODOKE,” full of horns and harmonies; the slower and piano-oriented “First Love,” which, like “MOMOIRO KATAOMOI,” could easily be just a sad song but looks on the bright side instead; KIRA’s rap song, “Pretty Boss,” which is commanding but in a much different way than the songs preceding it; and three live versions of songs, enticing listeners to see the group in concert someday!

#15: CxM, HYPE VIBES
Everything about this debut subunit project from S.COUPS and MINGYU screams “easy-breezy”! The songs bounce from hip-hop to pop to rock to EDM, they stick to straightforward declarations about how it’s time to “party like a rockstar” (on the opener, “Fiesta”) and to “dance ‘til the end” (on the closer, “Earth”), and the corresponding videos ooze California cool. The party never stops in “5, 4, 3 (Pretty woman);” it just changes locations and times repeatedly, as they let loose in a crowd to their new and infectiously upbeat take on “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison.

A teaser trailer for this project introduces alien alter egos named Kuute and Mante, who fall to Earth with grand ambitions but end up just vibing, taking a liking to the chill humans they encounter! They make themselves at home, much like aliens do in SEVENTEEN’s “THUNDER” music video, and another sly nod to SEVENTEEN is the HYPE VIBES runtime of approximately 17 minutes!

Overall, HYPE VIBES is just S.COUPS and MINGYU being their likeable selves!

#14: P1Harmony, EX
Read a separate write-up about this album here!

#13: KARDI, When The Lights Out
When The Lights Out is a rapturous adventure! Instrumental mergers and meltdowns alike keep listeners on their toes, and the times they sing the same lyric again and again (“We’re living in the mosh pit!” and “The time is now” are both repeated lines) ensure people hear KARDI’s confident commands to make the craziest things about life the motivation to party through it! KARDI’s messages range from self-aware commentary about music’s magnetic power (from “TOKKEBI-BULL”: “Bewitched by a vicious song / No one can turn back”) to a reminder people are stronger than they think (from “Wipilapilore”: “You can deny the bruise, be blind to your blue… But I can see your own light, and it will carry you through”). The sonic zigzags and the exuberance with which they both tout their knack for making intoxicating music and offer sincere consolation make each song its own extreme experience. 

KARDI’s work is best enjoyed when one just stays along for the ride, letting the members lane-switch at will without warning. KARDI refuse to leave the driver’s seat anyway! Even their brief moments of humility (especially in “Back!”) come with an “I told you so” sass!

#12: Fujii Kaze, Prema
Fujii Kaze fills this collection of crisply-produced 80’s and 90’s homages with his own worldview and personality. Although this is his first full-English-language album, physical album copies come with Japanese translations, and one of its main singles is “Hachikō,” named after a dog who became famous in Japan for extreme loyalty to his owner. Fujii Kaze also embeds his spiritual sensibilities into these songs: “Prema” refers to a supreme form of love in Sanskrit, and he sings in the song “Prema” about meditating on a relationship that opens his “third eye.” Terms including and similar to “blessing,” “salvation,” and “prayers” appear throughout the music, and his laid-back demeanor during disco-tinged jams and lower-tempo R&B grooves alike makes his inner peace believable. Even when singing about messier, more negative emotions, a sense of contentment emanates out of each song, and he has a “free at last” way of thinking about cutting ties with what and who do not satisfy his emotional needs. Prema has a widely accessible and appealing sound for pop music fans worldwide, but its soul is solely rooted in Fujii Kaze.

#11: JUNHEE, The First Day & Night
Associating each song on The First Day & Night with a different mood and time of the day is smart for several reasons. First of all, it shows JUNHEE’s trust in each track; there are no songs that he would consider worth skipping. Second of all, it is a universally understandable premise that befits his down-to-earth nature. Third of all, it allows JUNHEE to both stay thematically consistent and show his multitudes. He satisfies curiosity about his new solo style without coming across as overdoing it. People grow and change gradually, minute by minute, and JUNHEE’s interest in that piece-by-piece narrative approach does him favors. 

Long-time fans of his group, A.C.E, will love the fan tribute song “Tattoo (12:30).” Those hoping to see a new version of JUNHEE also win. “Too Bad (15:00)” is a bitter country-rock confession with an expletive and a music video that shows a tattooed JUNHEE hitchhiking, as if physical distance can equate to mental distance. He looks more like “JUNHEE from A.C.E” with his clean-cut “Supernova” video look, but the bar setting is another sign he is growing up. Another album highlight is the self-written, acoustic “Night (02:00),” on which JUNHEE reconsiders how equal the emotional investment in a relationship has really been split.

The First Day & Night is an organic introduction to a matured JUNHEE and an equally organic re-introduction for those who already thought they knew him well.

#10: MONSTA X, THE X 
This is such a MONSTA X album! First of all, the title is a reference to their band name, the Roman numeral for the ten years they’ve been a band, and an unknown variable in math. The message is not just pride in who MONSTA X are but in who they could still become. Second of all, THE X is an epilogue for lore-laden past eras. The MONSTA X Music Video Universe has had a deep and dark story centered around sins and inner beasts, and THE X has more in common with those themes than it seems. They are still showing their “inner beasts” - the “‘MONSTA[s]’ INSIDE” that they acknowledge in the “N the Front” video - but they consider much lighter, friendlier possibilities for what those monsters could look like! 

The pre-release “Do What I Want” music video has a self-explanatory theme and no set premise; the members do everything from DJ to wash a car to play Dokkaebi characters. The group has described the concept photos for THE X as also being about exploration more than definition. The images are meant to show them “not fully formed,” so their outfits are not just all over the map thematically, but not always fully put on or buttoned up properly! And in the “N the Front” music video, they continue to “do what they want,” which includes setting an audacious example for the next generation. Some members crash the set of a live TV show, one that a child watches. Afterwards, a group of kids become MONSTA X’s karate mentees, and they later enjoy a giant cake with the song title in icing on top, their reward for following the mentors’ lead and putting their true selves “N the Front.”

A key theme of THE X is how earned the group’s confidence is; their much-deserved self-hype is not just excusable but feels necessary! Someone has to tout MONSTA X’s artistry; it might as well be them! And although them putting aside the supernatural storytelling of the past might disappoint some fans, it does add a valuable yin to the past eras’ yang. It speaks to their fearlessness with re-branding and flexible interpretations of one’s inner “MONSTA”! Plus, there are still plenty of MONSTA X-isms throughout the album! They are still hands-on with composing, producing, and writing, and the only song without any member contributions (“N the Front”) still sounds made for them, in terms of both lyrics (they start out confidently declaring, “Game change, switch it up”) and sound (a return to their hip-hop roots).

#9: CIX, GO Chapter 1: GO Together
There are some clever connections between the start of the “GO” series and the “HELLO” series. A key symbol from the latter is a magical Rubik’s Cube, which is what one CIX member grabs in the “Numb” music video. In that video, one of them sets fire to a classroom, and the world around them is in ruins. In the new video for “WONDER YOU,” the cube is back in their possession, the members are surrounded by debris, and a member starts a fire that burns away a wall with wings painted on it. On the other hand, “Numb” and “WONDER YOU” contain crucial distinctions. “Numb” does not have a happy ending, whereas “WONDER YOU” hints at one on the horizon; the members follow the “sailing through the sky towards the Gates of Heaven” experience with walking up a floating staircase that is also presumably towards Heaven. 

Another important difference is between the new song “UPSTANDER” and its predecessor, a song from HELLO Chapter 2: Hello, Strange Place called “Bystander.” In “Bystander,” the members cast themselves as cowards: “You’re in such a hurry to distance yourself / Are you just gonna keep watching the damage?;” “It’s none of my business;” “You habitually avert your eyes / Hoping you won’t feel guilty.” In “UPSTANDER,” they recognize the folly of that mindset: “Even if I close my eyes and turn away / The blackout grows deeper;” “It’s time to change… Opposite from the steps that retreated.”

During the HELLO Chapter 2: Hello, Strange Place era, CIX struggle and stumble through a cruel world, but their self-isolation does not equate to self-preservation. The “GO” era shows how life can be more like Heaven (or at least less like Hell) if they keep their eyes open. Ignorance is not bliss, and staying curious - full of “WONDER” - is what enables CIX to see the good in the world they have been previously too overwhelmed and inward-looking to recognize.

The “GO” era is just getting started, but one takeaway is already clear: CIX refuse to let the world harden them again. They actively resist the inevitable moments when life tests them, when their warmth and vulnerability are used against them. They pledge to stand firm in their belief that compassion and staying in-touch with one’s emotions is always the better way.

The best song on this mini-album is the last one, “IN MY DREAMS,” a mid-tempo ballad about wishing a current feeling of bliss could linger forever. Given the context of “WONDER YOU,” CIX are closer to making that happen than ever.

#8: CORTIS, COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES
Being backed by one of the “Big Four” K-pop companies comes with some expectations: music videos that are high-gloss, grand spectacles and songs that are the winners of heated competitions among A-list writers and producers. BIGHIT MUSIC’s newest boy band, CORTIS, delivers something different. Despite their big-time backing, they take an indie approach and have a spontaneous spirit. They do prove they can afford to make music videos for multiple tracks on the same project, and they do work with industry heavyweights, but they otherwise act like underdog up-and-comers. The members co-wrote, co-composed, and co-directed the “GO!” music video, which has shots ranging from static moments to 360-degree rotations. “What You Want” comes across as an average boom-bap hip-hop K-pop single, but not so much with their additions of 60’s psych-rock guitar riffs, video effects that make it look like the members are transcending visual frames, and corresponding choreography involving treadmills! The trap/hip-hop song “FaSHioN” seems like a generic Gen Z song about savvy thrifting skills, but the members each contributed choreography ideas, and they filmed the video across varied New Zealand landscapes. “JoyRide” was self-produced and filmed on a camcorder. Lastly, “Lullaby” is what happened when they challenged themselves to film a video in one take. The pseudo-home footage corresponds with a sound that ambles between acoustic and electronic, lyrics that include a literal wake-up call the group has used on each other (“I got work / You got work”), and subtle message reinforcements (like an octave jump when they sing “driving so fast”). In each of these cases, CORTIS represent how it is a false choice to say they must either reinvent the wheel or sound like bored artists who are just spinning their wheels! Getting creative is quicker and easier than it might seem, and this group puts their own spin on what is handed to them.

#7: CHAEYOUNG, LIL FANTASY vol.1
Everything CHAEYOUNG touches has a bit of whimsy, which makes these songs and videos a delightfully all-encompassing invitation into her imagination! Her songs are like entries from a glitter-covered diary. Two songs about insecurities are called “SHADOW PUPPETS” and (bonus track) “Lonely doll Waltz.” “BF” references “dolls piling up” in her room as she hesitates to leave it. “GIRL” seems to allude to music box figurines (“Why do we live spinning around and crashing into each other?”) and a rag doll (“Why are you being dragged here and there?”). And “DOWNPOUR” also expresses being treated like a toy: “Kick me when I’m down… I won’t make a sound;” “Now I play this game without you.” CHAEYOUNG projects her feelings about fame onto more than just toys. In “RIBBONS,” she describes hiding her anxiety and questioning the motives of the people attaching themselves to her: “I pull up in lace, customize… Friends turn to fog, I analyze…” And she questions who will really stay to “hold [her] down on dark days” in “BAND-AID.” Reaching for childlike analogies to convey her present-day fears and concerns speaks to the child that still exists within many people, and while CHAEYOUNG’s inner child gets a voice in these songs, present-day CHAEYOUNG gets to be seen in the corresponding music videos, set in her customized “Wonderland.” That fantasy world originated as CHAEYOUNG’s sketches, and nearly every piece of it is handmade, in formats ranging from paper mache to clay-mation! CHAEYOUNG’s drawings and crafty colleagues have created by hand the world she sings about, and in both “AVOCADO” and “SHOOT (Firecracker),” that world is a cross between a fairy tale, a Tim Burton movie, and a format-mixing children’s show.

CHAEYOUNG’s songs leave listeners with a clear sense of her self-perception, and her music videos leave viewers with a clear understanding of how that self-perception translates into self-presentation. Her pop culture and aesthetic influences blend together and form a lyrical and musical style that is all her own. As for the genre choices, CHAEYOUNG sometimes skips and sometimes saunters through psychedelia, pop, and R&B, reinforcing the “world” aspect of this tour through her fantasy world!

#6: YdBB, CODA
CODA follows a meandering, mild-seeming yet momentous path back to one’s inner child. With lots of references to leaving a metaphorical island to navigate new waters, a nice mix of the group’s classic indie-rock sound with more stripped instrumental portions that zone in on their main message, a new extent of hands-on involvement in making each song, and a heartfelt music video about bringing the drawn and dreamed-up worlds of children to life, CODA tells an observant, understated tale.

The first half of CODA is about bracing for a metaphorical plunge. The intro features a ticking clock and spaced-out drumming, and the following songs describe standing in front of a sea and needing to catch a wave before it inevitably and shortly disappears (“A wonderful day always runs away,” they sigh in “DROP”). After “Sandcastle #Intermission,” rollicking and high-energy numbers celebrate what has stayed preserved in the sand after the tide has receded. They fondly remember “The footprints left in the dancing places” in “Promises” and are eager to go “In search of [their] own sea” in “SALUD!,” where they will “engrave new footprints.”

CODA is about focusing less on what the passage of time takes away from YdBB and more on what traces that are left behind can form a new map. They actively make the most of what life leaves them, not knowing for sure how long the results will last but continuing to make it anyway. After all, as the “20s” music video shows, people often get more do-overs in life than they expect. Rather than treat circumstances as set in stone, YdBB treat them as shifting sands. They open listeners’ minds to this wise interpretation through uplifting songs that exemplify how good life can feel when letting go and riding its waves, and through gentle nudges of encouragement in the form of the slower, quieter songs.

#5: WeiBird, LOVE WEI BACK Vol.1
LOVE WEI BACK Vol.1 treats fandom life as cheesy sitcom fodder, but WeiBird’s starring roles keep that portrayal nonjudgemental. WeiBird plays different characters, including a superstar and idol worshippers, and each character is described as looking identical but having a very different backstory. As people in his music videos press “Play” on a tablet or a laptop, they start to watch a retro-futuristic episode of a show laden with pop culture references and purposefully corny, old-school commercial qualities. In “the TV show” and the related songs, characters yearn for the elusive “Jennifer,” described as “everyone’s first love” but someone no one has ever been able to physically find. She is, therefore, less of a person and more of an idea, a face for the aspirations of fame and fortune, a symbol of the things her admirers aspire to be. How much a love or a lust for the face of their desires is actually for her specifically remains unknown, perhaps even to the fans themselves. 

Going to extreme lengths to show unyielding devotion to an idol is the stuff of scary and comedy stories alike, and while WeiBird focuses mostly on the latter, “Stan” by Eminem comes to mind when hearing “Unchanging;” the song narrates a super-fan’s complaints about his ignored fan letters!

Amidst a neon-urban background and beneath an 80’s musical gloss, WeiBird offers meta-commentary about the always-evolving definitions of “coolness” and “celebrity,” how fame and desire are conceptualized differently over time, how stars’ allure is inescapable but takes different forms and goes to different lengths for different people, and how the answers to all of those curiosities remain inconclusive.

#4: hannah bahng, The Misunderstood EP 
Although The Misunderstood EP holds its own, it is more commendable when treating it as a sequel to The Abysmal EP. First of all, The Abysmal EP starts with “OLeander,” a type of poisonous shrub and a song about “yearning for the sun,” “falling for [a loved one’s] pros” while being unable to “stay away… from all the lows,” and staying “wide awake for all [of that loved one’s] goals.” The Misunderstood EP begins with “Orchid / Flame,” in which hannah bahng sings, “I need the light” and “I gave you too much water, too much that you drowned.” The water reference changes to one about an ocean: “Will I swim or sink?,” she wonders in “MISUNDERSTOOD.” In “raison d'être,” she learns the answer is “sink”: “I drown, drown a little more… I’m fiddling with the lows, not the highs.” As for the lyric about being “wide awake” for all of someone’s “goals,” hannah revisits that thought in the Misunderstood song “what never lived”: “I always took the time, til dawn lit your bed / Seems like I fought for you more than you ever did…” Both The Abysmal EP and The Misunderstood EP are about an uneven give-and-take relationship. hannah bahng puts forth more than her fair share of emotional effort, but instead of moving on to someone who can reciprocate better, she is compelled to stay with toxic lovers. A magnetic pull drags her into rough metaphorical waters, and part of her seeks to ride a tide for a change, rather than be carried away by one again. She addresses this in both the Misunderstood song “raison d'être” (“Like the tides coming in to heal my mind”) and the Abysmal EP song “perfect blues” (“Swimming metaphorically / Drowning in gravity / Diving for a piece of me”). 

In the Abysmal EP’s “hannah interlude,” she simply says, “I’m terrified.” In Misunderstood’s “RIBS (interlude),” she follows up a song about being left like a cracked shell on a shelf with a statement about deserving better: “I don’t want to talk to you / I’m hungry and I’m overused / I don’t even like the view / ‘Cause I’m halfway up from you.” As the title suggests, while hannah is still metaphorically putting her entire body and soul into a relationship, she is at least aware now of that relationship’s risks. 

Abysmal ends with “perfect blues,” which is about “[s]eeking refuge.” Misunderstood ends with “IM ME AGAIN,” which has lyrics including, “Just hope and pray for a sunny mile,” “I’ll feel again / I’ll be real again,” and “Maybe I’m a masochist who loves too hard… Need to find my way before I lose my say.” Again, hannah still makes some of the same mistakes and bad judgement calls; this isn’t about being a “new and improved hannah.” Her ongoing self-doubts and lack of direction are represented in the “MISUNDERSTOOD” music video, in which she demands to know, “Where is she?!” and is likely referring to herself. 

The Misunderstood EP is not really about hannah learning to love herself, or even about hannah feeling like she has grown and blossomed. It is more about radical acceptance, of her not fooling herself any longer regarding what is and is not good for her, and no longer shying away from submersing herself in the waters of self-discovery.

#3: SUHO, Who Are You
Who Are You is aptly-titled and has a mind-blowing plot twist! Once it hits listeners and viewers what they have really just seen and heard, the confusion dissipates as to why this breakup album sounds primarily joyful! 

The album starts with “Who Are You,” in which SUHO argues he and his significant other should “skip the sad, boring stories,” move past a “cliche breakup scene” that would be “so uncool,” and end their story today: “By tomorrow, we’ll both be free.” He says it should not be a question of whether a breakup is imminent, but “Who’s gonna be the first to leave?” The following songs recall days when the relationship’s flame burned hotter. The B-sides address their spark (“Light The Fire”), describe the physical symptoms of love (“Medicine”), let loose like it’s someone’s “Birthday,” and wish for a moment together to last forever (“Golden Hour”). Then, “Fadeout” answers the “Who’s gonna be the first to leave?” question from the first song, and it’s not SUHO: “At the end of a long movie / Left alone, I call out to you / Even if I answer your monologue from the past… already too late.” SUHO remembers that holding on “would be a broken cliche,” and he “blame[s] [himself] / For ignoring [the] clear foreshadowing.”

The reason SUHO should have known how this would end is because he is a secondary character in someone else’s movie. The moment that flips SUHO’s world differs from Truman’s in The Truman Show, though (whether the Truman Show parallels are intentional is unclear but notable nevertheless). Truman realizes he is the star of a television series and has been living by others’ scripts. SUHO acts like he knew he was in a show but is shocked to learn he is not the star of it. This explains why he is relegated to a side role in the “Who Are You” music video, witnessing more than participating. Some scenes present him as a couple’s equal and a friend more than a third wheel, like when they have a jam session in a living room and when they take a road trip together, but he is literally not in the driver’s seat on that trip! Plus, SUHO alludes to that jam session being a distorted - if not outright falsified - memory, recalling being in “A band living inside worn-out lyric notes” (“Birthday”), and describing the immediate need to break up as being because “The next song’s already on” (“Who are You”). 

SUHO is not in charge of the pacing of this musical, and his cue to leave is clear in the “Medicine” music video. It ends not upon his direction, but at the discretion of a television network. In both “Medicine” and “Who Are You,” SUHO does have a role to play; it’s just not the front-facing one he has assumed. 

As with all great music and art, this is just one of many interpretations that does SUHO’s project justice, but the bottom line is that he reinvigorates a “Maybe it was all in your head” premise, adding mysteriousness to his presentation of an identity crisis.

#2: GoodBand, Epiphany
No detail gets overlooked in GoodBand’s music. Songs with fragile lead vocals (like “The Last Straw” and “The Very Last Time”) sound so unquestionably on the cusp of a breakdown that one cannot help but get emotionally invested, and songs with soaring and strong vocals (like “Buried (Full Band ver.)”) make their stance feel immovable (in the case of “Buried (Full Band ver.),” that stance is “I don’t insist on anything anymore / Let go of countless desires”). The instrumentals also stir visceral reactions. The strings sound like they are building slowly but surely towards a “Eureka!” moment in “We Used to Sing Together,” and the melodrama in “Sorry Mom” and “Fake It and Make It” remind listeners that this band has a humorous side, too. Each instrumental and vocal arrangement is emotionally effective, and the balancing act is done very well between funny and forlorn moments.

Another variable that makes Epiphany excellent is its deft point-of-view shifts. Frequently, they initiate a dialogue, asking “you” questions and prompting “you” to go with them on their philosophical and psychological journeys. They ask “you” and themselves the same things, including “Who am I to you?” and “Who are you to me? (“Buried (Full Band ver.)”), “Can this song bring me back to the past? / Can this song reach where you are?” (“We Used to Sing Together”), “How many streets have you passed?... How many beautiful dreams have you missed?” (“Lost In the Glow”), and “What are you chasing?” (“Thought I Was Everything”). The subject matter is also expansive: unethical and selfish ways of climbing social ladders (“Fake It and Make It”), reconsidering an insecurity as a beloved trait (“My Beautiful Nose”), considering the harm versus the good of walking down Memory Lane (“We Used to Sing Together” and “Lost In the Glow”), getting the last laugh at those who said they would never make it (“Thought I Was Everything”), and more.

This album is all about both confronting loud truths and quieting down to listen to themselves, and these parallel tracks work together to demystify the stuff of which an “epiphany” consists.

#1: DAY6, The DECADE
The DECADE is art imitating life and vice versa. It is both a meaningful milestone marker for the band and a reminder that autonomy is worth the social costs. DAY6’s longevity is due to not just talent but passion, and the new videos express their willingness to go against the grain when motivated by that passion.

In an album trailer, the members attend a banquet in a cross between a greenhouse and a warehouse, where attendees wear funeral-ready formalwear and obey the conductor’s commands for even the tiniest gestures. During the meticulous rituals, the scene changes to ones resembling self-made footage. A sudden crash triggers the return to the formal scene, but now, WONPIL is the only person there. He lies on the floor, having face-planted on the now-toppled layer cake that was so carefully sliced and decorated earlier. In both DAY6’s real experiences and in the trailer, one tiny slip-up makes everything that has been carefully curated crash down and suddenly feel like it was all for nothing. One mistake soils an entire endeavor, a fear that must be common among musicians when making potentially career-altering decisions.

In “Dream Bus,” DAY6 go on a seemingly endless ride, holding tight to a bus handle. The bus scenes are juxtaposed with ones where the band rocks out in a grassy field, a similar contrast to the “feels like we’re on a road to nowhere” sentiment of the greenhouse-meets-warehouse teaser trailer setting. While on the “Dream Bus,” one DAY6 member applies the concentration skills that the conductor has so highly valued in him to his own personal definition of “good use;” he moves items with his mind just for fun!

In “INSIDE OUT,” DAY6 perform at a dance while dressed sharply, and they play elsewhere while dressed casually. They are received well by both crowds; they again attain desired results without needing micromanagement. The video ends with a mask-wearing partygoer pushing a cake to the ground. Around this once-pristine cake fall several matching masks. The partygoers’ facades are shed at the same time as the sense of obligation is to put forth someone else’s precise vision of “perfection.”

In all of the videos described above and in DAY6’s lives in general, they discover different routes that are more enjoyable but lead to the same results. Once they see how they do not have to chase dreams in a by-the-book way, they take the more satisfying routes. This is why the soul of the album lies in “My Way”: “I know myself better than you do;” “I switch on the sparkle in my eyes as I want / What I want, I’ll just go ahead and do it / If you don’t like it or got a problem / Too bad;” “farewell to you… I already have my own thoughts.” “My Way” is followed by “Before the Star,” in which they sing, “Though it took quite a long time, I feel [like] I’ve really arrived.” Their patient perseverance pays off, a theme that “Dream Rider” revisits: “Today, it’s finally here… What once seemed distant.”

Not all of the songs and videos affiliated with The DECADE are about striving and eventual thriving after going down roads less traveled. There are also typical DAY6 romantic odes, like the ultimate “waiting in the wings” song “Take All My Heart,” and the “Our Season” music video romance. Also keeping the classic DAY6 essence alive: the album’s pop-rock foundation and references to their older songs’ titles (“I smile,” they say in “So It’s the End;” “EMERGENCY,” they shout in “INSIDE OUT”).

Stay tuned for the “Best of October” write-up, and catch up on past months’ write-ups here!