Category: Music Reviews

Dear, readers; welcome to Letters From Liz!

The time has come to write possibly one of the most important posts for Lizmas each year! Fun fact about this particular post: This is something I work on throughout the year. I make sure that if I come across a bomb album in the duration of the year, I write it down to remember to include it for this post.

It’s my Top 5 Albums of 2024!

For 2021, it was no surprise that Victon’s full-length album, VOICE: The Future is Now, was on the top of my list. For 2022, Demi Lovato took first place with her no-skip rock album, Holy Fvck. Last year, Kpop took their throne back on my list with New Jeans’ Get Up taking the number one spot! This year, I think my Top 5 has come down to a very interesting set of albums that honestly, I didn’t think would even come across my way this year.

Without further ado, here’s my top 5 albums of 2024!

5.) Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet

It’s no surprise that 2024 was the year of Sabrina Carpenter. She skyrocketed to mainstream when her witty outros of Nonsense went viral on social media and adapted to this vintage, lacy, pastel image that has set her apart from the other rising pop stars of the year. When she released her first single of the year, “Expresso”, during the weekend of Coachella, the world went into a frenzy. It was the perfect song to start off the Summer and in many people’s opinion, was the Unofficial song of the summer. Her album, Short n’ Sweet ended the summer and did not disappoint. While she has some cheeky songs like “Juno” and “Bed Chem” on the album, I feel like her songs were very country influenced, which wasn’t my cup of tea at first. The songs definitely grew on me, the same way that “Please Please Please” became one of my favorites on the album. It’s no surprise that she dominated the music industry this past year, and it was so deserving considering the decade long career she has had already.

4.) Charli XCX – brat

Come on, it was a brat summer this year, and it was a damn good reason why it was! Just like Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX has been in the music industry for a decade now and was well known for being the features for Iconia Pop’s “I Love It” in 2012 and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” in 2014. She was also the featured singer in John Green’s book-to-movie adaption of The Fault in Our Stars with “Boom Clap”. She has been in the scene for quite some time now, but when brat was released early in the summer, it was officially declared a “brat summer” with hits like “360/365”, “Apple”, and the many remixes that came after its initial release. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this album when it first came out, but it was only after I got hooked on “365” when I started to branch out to the rest of the album. Currently, I am loving “Sympathy is a knife” after enjoying the remix she came out with Ariana Grande not too long ago. It was a different sound in the world of the mainstream Top 40 music; it brought back a nostalgic sound from the early 2010’s when dance music was popular. The album has a whole was a pop cultural moment; everyone had lime green backgrounds with black Arial font wording on it. (I kid you not, the Bertha Harris Women’s Center at the college I work at currently has a brat-inspired album with the words “bertha” in the middle. Iconic.

3.) LE SSERAFIM – CRAZY

Of course, we have some k-pop on the list! I feel like for die-hard k-pop fans, this was a good year in music. Sure, I have my opinion on how over saturated the genre has become, but for the groups that I still follow and enjoy, some of them definitely flew on the top of my list. LE SSERAFIM is a 5-member girl group in 2022 under Source Music, a subsidiary to HYBE Labels. The members include Chaewon, Sakura, Yunjin, Kazuha, and Eunchae. This year was a busy one for the group; having released two EPs and their first English single, “Perfect Night”. Personally, it had been awhile since I actually liked a release that the group put out. Their 3rd EP, EASY, was not my cup of tea and possibly my least favorite of their discography. I didn’t have high hopes when they announced they would be releasing their 4th EP at the end of August, but boy was I wrong. LE SSERAFIM always had this “fashion model” concept since their debut, and this album ties together that concept with the storyline they also have tied to it as well. Besides aespa’s “Supernova” and “Whiplash”, “CRAZY” was the k-pop baby of brat. All the songs are unique in their own way (“Pierrot” being the outshining underdog that should’ve been promoted as a b-side, but who am I to say what to do) but they all sound… well, crazy. I really enjoyed this creative direction that the girls had for this album; so much that this was their first physical album of the groups’ for my collection. It was THAT good.

2.) NewJeans – How Sweet & Supernatural

Woo! The second year that this group has been in my Top 5 because I am still personally hooked on the style and sound these five girls bring. Although with the recent news (after months of feuding between the two CEOS of the labels) of NewJeans terminating their contracts with ADOR; a subsidiary under HYBE labels, I guess you can say that these two albums were their “disbandment” albums. They aren’t disbanding! Just… without a label at the time I am writing this. Anyway, How Sweet was the title track of their 2nd single album of the same name, and “Bubble Gum” was the accompanied b-side. “Bubble Gum”, like I mentioned in my mid-point roundup of top songs, has such a nostalgic and bright feel to it and really wish that it was the title track instead. It was hands down my favorite song of 2024, and wish it got the same love that their previous releases did.

A couple of months after having their Korean comeback, NewJeans ventured out to debut in Japn with their first Japan single album, Supernatural. Now, I’m not one to really enjoy Japan releases from K-pop groups solely due to the fact that (obviously) their sound is changed to target a different audience. Some groups stay true to their concept, and NewJeans was a prime example. This new jack swing inspired beat really makes me feel like I’m watching the intro of an early 90’s sitcom (which they actually pay homage to in their music video). Again, this song was so incredibly good, but I feel like with everything that was going on with the group and their labels, these gems were overlooked to the general public. These girls, being possibly one of the biggest girl groups to be recognized in both the genre and general public in 4th generation k-pop, made a gutsy move to stand up for what they believe in (despite what people think of their decisions). I hope that the group is able to continue making music together because, well… hate to break it to the community, but they were one of the first groups at their time to change the sound of K-pop music and do it in a way that was unconventional to the formula that entertainment agencies generated for their K-pop groups.

1.) Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

It’s been a long time since a debut album of an artist truly was a straight-up masterpiece. They are truly a dime in the dozen; many artists coming out with a discography of music for the first time heavily rely on the music that is given to them that got tossed around different artists before it landed on their laps. Sure, some artists get the privilege to make the music their own by writing and composing it; Chappell Roan was a part of the entire process of her debut album and it shows tremendously. Chappell Roan, although did not start out being on television like Sabrina Carpenter or featured in big summer songs like Charli XCX, was literally just some normal girl in the Midwest making music about her experiences for the past decade. Born and raised in a small town in Missouri, Chappell Roan (which is her stage name as a nod to her grandfather’s last name and his favorite song, “The Strawberry Roan” by Curley Fletcher. She quickly gained a following after her first few songs (which were then added to this album) like “Pink Pony Club”, “Casual”, and “Naked in Manhattan”, and was even invited to be an opener for Olivia Rodrigo’s tour for her debut album, Sour. Both Roan and Rodrigo worked with the same producer for their debut albums, but when it came to working on Chappell’s album, it unintentionally needed to be placed on the back burner due to the overnight success Olivia go when “drivers license” was released in 2021. But hey; good things come to those who wait!

Chappell Roan’s debut album is a no-skip album. There isn’t a single bad song on this album and it covers pretty much very emotion you can possibly think of. It also covers just about every type of pop music subcategory you can think of, which is so hard for an artist to successfully do these days. I think that just plays on Roan’s aesthetic and image; she draws inspiration from theatrics and drag queens in her wardrobe, making music that sounds like you’re listening to it in a car ride in the 80’s (I’m talking about “HOT TO GO!” obviously). I also can’t describe how or why my brain makes this connection, but “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” is the song that Hannah Montana would’ve sang later in her career (Hannah, NOT Miley. You get me?) In a nutshell, her album made me a fan of her as an artist. She was not wrong when she said she’s your favorite artist’s favorite artist (inspired by Sasha Colby’s quote). I’m excited to hear what her sophomore album is going to look and sound like; something tells me it’s not going to disappoint.

And that’s it! I feel like this was the year that I started to get back into mainstream music (kinda) and strayed away from just listening to K-pop. I’m excited to see how this list looks like in 2025!

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters From Liz!

Earlier this year, I decided to document the top 5 albums of 2023 (so far), and was very curious to see if the lineup would change by the time December came along. So, here we are doing just that! It’s interesting to see just how different this final list is compared to one back in July; I feel like my list has gone back to almost all K-Pop music, but let’s save it for the actual list!

So without further ado, these are my top 5 albums of 2023, starting with number five!

5.) Qveen Herby – MUSE

Despite my list changing drastically since first writing it in July, this album still reigns as one of my favorites of the year. For the first half of the year, this album was on repeat and on various Spotify playlists of mine. Like I said in my July post, Qveen Herby was once part of a couple duo back in 2013 called Karmin, best known for their song “Brokenhearted”. She’s been rapping under this persona for a couple of years now, and although I liked some of her previous EPs, this full-length album was really a no-skip album, with songs like “THANK GODDESS,” “5D”, “MARIE ANTOINETTE”, and “DRESS CODE”. She’s super talented and really deserves all the love she gets on social media.

4.) (G)I-DLE – HEAT

This album is straight heat, no pun intended. This album kind of dropped out of the blue, or perhaps I was late to find out about this release. For those who may not know this group, (G)I-DLE is a 5-member (formally 6) K-pop girl group under CUBE Entertainment. They debuted in 2018 and these girls are known to experimenting with different concepts and slaying them effortlessly. These girls are named Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi, and Shuhua; this girl group has more foreign members than Korean, which is something that wasn’t common in the time that they debuted. Many groups had foreign members in them prior to their debut, but the number of Korean members always outnumbered the foreign members in groups. What also makes this group unique is that Soyeon–the group’s leader, center, and main rapper–writes, composes, and produces all of their Korean comebacks and she never misses. While the group was always high in popularity since debut, the song that really took the group off was their first full-length album, I Never Die, which featured their title track, “Tomboy”, back in 2022. Since then, the girl’s comebacks have all been so different from the last; you truly never know what direction (G)I-DLE will go down. Like this English studio album.

This album very much feels like what y2k artists would put out back in the day. It’s dancey, catchy, and something you would hear at a club in your business casual attire. Their first single off of the album, “I DO”, is a little slow in pace, but it fits with the vocalists’ sound so well and really showcases the different colors that the group has vocal-wise. The second single, “I Want That” is so y2k-club coded; it instantly gets stuck in your head after a few listens. My current favorite song off of the album is “Eyes Roll”, which honestly all these girls ate, but this was Yuqi’s song forreal. Anyway, I hope that these girls do get the recognition internationally (I mean, they already do, but I mean in a mainstream, Top 40 way) because these girls are versatile and can definitely hang in the western music category.

3.) WOODZ – OO-LI

Another album that has survived the list is this masterpiece of an album… but are we surprised since we’re talking about WOODZ? WOODZ, also known as Cho Seungyoun, knows how to make hit, no-skip albums. Fans were ultimately worried when he initially left his old agency, Yuehua Entertainment, after his contract expired and went under EDAM Entertainment, a much smaller agency with only one or two known solo acts (i.e, one being soloist, IU). This album was much different than the previous things he had put out, but he was known for experimenting with different genres when he released new music. OO-LI felt more mature and not so much in the mainstream K-pop realm. While the title track isn’t my favorite off of this particular album (for some reason I never really vibe with them), the B-sides hit so hard. I think my favorite song of 2023 is his b-side called “Drowning”, which I have deemed to be a part of the soundtrack of my life, and that says a lot. In the time I’m writing this, I am actually going to see him live in concert in early December; man, I am ready to sing and cry at the same damn time.

2.) Demi Lovato – REVAMPED

Demi has gone to be one of my top favorite artists since going back to her rock roots in her music, and I’m so glad that she released this album of her old hits and revamped them into rock versions! I don’t care what anyone says, I think it’s a great idea for artists to re-record their older stuff and change it in ways that fits to their current style. Taylor Swift wasn’t the first to do this, but her popularity in the music industry has made re-recording albums a thing in it, so I’m glad Demi decided to put a twist on her older hits and make them “rock versions”, or, “Demi Versions”. The album consists of ten songs from her previous discography: “La La Land” and “Don’t Forget” from her debut album Don’t Forget, “Skyscraper” and “Give Your Heart a Break” from her third studio album Unbroken, “Heart Attack” and “Neon Lights” from her fourth studio album Demi, “Confident” and “Cool for the Summer” from her fifth studio album Confident, and finishing off with “Tell Me You Love Me” and “Sorry Not Sorry” from her sixth studio album Tell Me You Love Me. I would’ve personally loved to hear some revamped versions of songs from her sophomore album Here We Go Again and a revamp of her debut single, “Get Back”, but maybe she’s going to make a part two since this was well received by her fans! Anyway, there’s nothing I can say besides that I’m so glad Demi has reconnected with the sound that she felt was being true to herself, because let’s be honest; this is where she should’ve been throughout her entire career. If you were once a Demi fan during these different eras of her career, definitely give these rock versions a chance as they are all so good.

1.) NewJeans – GET UP

Little fun fact: this was the first album that came to mind when listing my top 5 favorite albums of the year since I knew this was making the list when it first came out. Also, it’s a K-pop album! Although most people might know this group, NewJeans is a five-member girl group under Ador, a sublabel within HYBE; home of groups like BTS, TXT, Le Sserafim, Seventeen, and Fromis_9. These five girls, Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein, debuted in 2022 really out of nowhere since they came into the K-pop scene without any visuals or teasers of the members announcing this new rookie group. Instead, they came out with their first single, “Attention” and then released their first debut mini album shortly after. These girls blew up, as they re-introduced a sound to K-pop that is fresh and nostalgic during a time when girl crush and loud music were popular in K-Pop. While they had a small comeback earlier this year in January, their long-awaited (and anticipated) second mini album was released during the summer and man, the chokehold this album had on me for the entire summer was intense. Every song was so good on their, even the shorter, interlude song, “Get Up”. We were robbed of a real good song with “Get Up” being only 30 seconds. Anyway, they pretty much promoted the entire album on music shows upon it’s release; “NewJeans” and “Super Shy” were pre-release singles up until the album’s release date, and “ETA” being the official title track along with the promotional b-side, “Cool With You”. As much as this group gets a lot of backlash for its choices for music videos and earlier song lyrics not being appropriate for its minor members, these girls have a distinct sound that works for them and I’m curious to see how they reinvent that sound throughout their career as a group.

And that’s pretty much it! I did not think that more K-pop albums would be on my list considering I don’t really identify with my K-Pop self anymore, I guess the albums were just too good to ignore this year. Anyway, I hope that if you guys haven’t yet, give these albums a listen as they are all so good!

I guess we’ll see what we’re vibing with in July 2024 to count down those top 5 albums. Until then, readers!

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters from Liz!

I know this blog has become more of my “writing universe just typed out in blog format”, but I really do like coming back to my roots every holiday season and writing more pieces like music reviews, overexposed posts, or even something simple as telling you my top 5 favorite albums of 2022! I did this last year for Lizmas, and thought it was only right to continue this tradition for 2022 just to see just how different my favorites were from this time last year to now!

So without further ado, here are my top 5 favorite albums of 2022!

5.) “BORN PINK” by Blackpink

Alright, y’all. So I wouldn’t call myself a Blink, which is the fandom name for Blackpink. I’m a very casual listener when it comes to them and for the most part, I enjoy their music when they release new music. Prior to this release, their last comeback was way back in 2020, and it is uncommon for K-pop groups to wait so long between releases since the industry is so fast-paced. So when “Pink Venom” was released back in August as their pre-release single, many people felt robbed of the anticipation that these girls has around them when they announced that they were making their comeback after a 2-year hiatus. I can’t lie, I was one of those people that had a love-hate relationship with the song, but when their second full-length album came out a month later, my jaw was to the floor. This album is seriously a “no-skip” album. Months later, their title track for the album, “Shut Down” still gets played every single day on my way to work and vice versa. The album showcases some vocals that we never got from the rap-heavy group, and although they experiment with more “trendy” sounds, they somehow still make it feel very much Blackpink-esque. I do hope that YG Entertainment gives them more comebacks, because as much as people want to the on them because of their popularity, as someone outside of the fandom: I understand why they are so popular, and literally with the right guidance and direction, these girls can stay on top in the midst of the fourth generation girl group battle.

4.) “ADMARE” by NMIXX

So unpopular opinion: I really enjoyed this debut album from NMIXX. Just for some background: NMIXX is a seven-member girl group under JYP Entertainment; the same company that Twice, ITZY, and Stray Kids are under. They debuted earlier this year in February, and despite everyone not liking their debut album due to it’s experimental genre, I actually was hooked when I first listened to their title track, “O.O”, and their b-side, “TANK”. The group’s concept is to literally mix genres in their songs, which is something not new to the K-pop scene, but it’s new for a girl group’s entire concept to be just that. Many listeners did not the concept or felt confused about the song’s structure, but I didn’t mind it too much because I was always a fan of the type of songs that would change melody or beats within the song. Some examples that come to mind are SNSD’s “I Got A Boy”, and last year’s mega-hit “Next Level” by aespa. Needless to say, despite their complex concept, these girls are possibly some of the best vocalists within 4-gen K-pop groups. Lily, their eldest member, has a vocal range so insane, she can literally sing high notes the same way we speak regular words. Plus, her duets with other NMIXX member and leader, Haewon, are literally so lethal and magical; I would definitely want a sub-unit promotion further down their careers because those two together are whoa. But yeah, I think for a debut, this was really strong and unique and I am excited to see their range when they release a mini-album in the future!

3.) “Colorful Trauma” by WOODZ

I need to know what crack Seungyoun puts in his songs because he’s had 5 releases since 2020 and every album he’s put out has been a favorite of mine or a “no-skip” album. Seungyoun isn’t my ult bias once Seungsik of Victon took that spot, but he’s definitely number 2 on my list. Seungyoun, or known by his stage name “WOODZ”, released his fourth mini album back in May with a pop-punk concept and I swear, he knows how to do a motherfuckin’ concept right! The title track, “I Hate You” literally is anyone’s anthem that got their heart broken and feeling angry as fuck. It definitely had my happy ass singing out loud “I hate you! I don’t need you! I forget you!” and then go over to my guy’s place and be all cute and lovey-dovey. In this case, I really enjoyed the b-sides of this album; while most still staying in that pop-punk genre, all the other songs have different messages and honestly, a lot of these songs have become inspiration for my writing universe because of the diversity and atmosphere that they all have. “Better and Better” makes me feel like I’m skateboarding down a hill with my crush as a teenager wearing baggy pants and a zipped-up hoodie and overly worn Converse. “Dirt on my Leather” makes me feel like I’m at a bar chugging cans of beer while I stand on the bar table dancing. “I Hope To Be Like You” makes me feel like I’m telling all of my mentors and my support team that, well, I hope I can be like you one day. The album takes you on a rollercoaster of feelings and I’m just saying, Seungyoun knows how to make good music. Of course; besides Victon, any other K-pop act I would want to see on tour is Woodz because every song is a fucking bop. There’s a reason why his new releases come into my top favorites every single year.

2.) “Chronograph” and “Choice” by Victon

Am I completely biased for including two Victon releases? Absolutely. It’s for good reason, I promise.

Anyway, 2022 was the year of Victon’s “Time Trilogy”, meaning that we were going to get three comebacks within the year, and honestly; as an Alice, I was excited that our boys were now getting multiple comebacks after going radio silent for the entirety of 2021 after releasing their full-length album in January 2021; VOICE: The future is now. If you would like to read more about the three releases, feel free to read my completely biased music reviews for Chronograph, Chaos, and Choice.

Chronograph was the first installment in the trilogy and was released in January 2022. This was also the first comeback since the eldest member, Seungwoo, enlisted in the military back in July 2021. It was a single album, which meant there were only two songs released. I really enjoyed “Chronograph” as a title track because it was so different than their previous release, “What I Said”. The song is super catchy and fun, and the styling was so futuristic and fun; also, Red-hair Sik is one of my top favorites ever now because of this era. Their second and only other song on this album, “Want Me” had me in a chokehold for the first latter of the year. It showcased the member’s vocals and also kept to that classic Victon sound and the lyrics are heartwrenching. It was a strong start to their trilogy and I was literally obsessed; I still am considering that I have the English version of “Chronograph” memorized word for word. Such a great era for our boys.

Choice was the third and final installment in the trilogy and was released in November 2022. It was the first comeback since former member, Chan, had left the group in early October after his DUI came out in the media. It was a weird transition for the group, and I know that this last part of the trilogy was most likely planned and recorded before this news came out, and seeing the boys dwindle down to just 5 members felt wrong. I was nervous about this comeback to say the least. But when the album was finally released, I gasped in shock. Even before I became such a die-hard fan of Victon, I was always impressed at how most of their discography had “no skip” albums. this album is the definition of a “no skip Victon album. The title track, “Virus”, has a nostalgic vibe to it, making it feel like a 2nd or 3rd gen K-pop group (which is crazy to think that these boys are a 3rd-gen group but didn’t get the recognition they deserved until K-pop was in its 4th-gen) type of song. The album tells a beautiful story; starting off being about tragic love and loss yet ending with songs like “Better Place” and “Feels Good”, which are some of the cutest fucking songs to be released by Victon ever. Needless to say, this has been the strongest mini album since Continuous, which was released back in March 2020. This album has become one of my favorites that Victon has released, and that says a lot since I am, once again, very biased for my favorite group.

1.) “HOLY FVCK” – Demi Lovato

For the first time since getting into K-pop, my favorite album of the year wasn’t actually a within that genre! Coming in at number one is my Disney Channel 2008 queen, Demi Lovato. As most of us know, Demi has had a really hard time getting her groove back when it comes to her life but also her career as well. She’s had some bops and bangers of albums even after her Disney days, but none of them truly reign in the same success as her earlier stuff did. I think a lot of Deni fans can agree that she was always our pop-punk princess; her first album, Don’t Forget had hints of pop-punk and teenage angst. Even at a young age, she slaughtered it, so it was a shame that when the music trends changed, she had to change with them as well. Don’t get me wrong, I think one of Demi’s strongest albums post-Disney years was her album Tell Me You Love Me, but when Demi began to release singles off her new upcoming album, I was hyped.

Her first single, “Skin of My Teeth” had me in a chokehold all summer. It was so fucking good and I was so excited for Demi and going back to her more pop-punk but now a little more heavy rock days. Then, she released “Substance”, which again was so fucking good and was on repeat for most of the summer as well. It was gearing up to be an awesome album so when it finally was released in August 2022, I was blown away. The album as a whole tells a story of Demi that we are not strangers to but still remains to always give us glimpses of her story that she never told before. We see this in her third single of the album, “29”, which is basically her talking about a relationship she had with an older man and how now, being 29, realizes that wasn’t okay. Other songs, like “EAT ME”, “HOLY FVCK” and “FREAK” are such fun and hard songs to rock out to, and even after it being months since her album release, these songs still are on my everyday playlist. When she announced her HOLY FVCK Tour dates and I saw that she was coming to NYC, I had to go and see her and it was no doubt the best night of my 2022 year. Hands down.

Anyway, that’s it for now! I’m excited to see how 2023 is going to be within the K-pop scene and even in the western genre! K-Pop prediction: Seungsik making his solo debut before he has to enlist in the military next year? Please and thank you. 🙂

Dear, guys – welcome back to Letters From Liz!

The end of the year means that it’s time to countdown my favorite albums that were released this past year! I feel like withi the kpop community alone, there was so many new releases and amazing albums, and it’s honestly so hard to just pick five of my favorite albums. But, let’s just jump right into it because oof, I have a lot to say about my favorites this year!

5.) “SAVAGE” by aespa

So, aespa has been on my radar for the past year, specially since they released their comeback track “Next Level” earlier this year. I personally wasn’t crazy about their debut, but once I got into them, I realized just how insane their vocals and concepts were. For a little introduction of these girls, aespa is a 4-member girl group under SM entertainment that debuted in November 2020 with their debut track called “Black Mamba”. Their whole concept is this alternate universe futuristic type of thing, but these girls honestly slay it and do it well! They finally released their first official mini album, “Savage” back in October and wow, this album is so good! I had to buy the physical copy because the concept of this album was bomb and the tracks on this album were so good! It’s different than your typical girl group type of song, but these girls honestly fit each other so well and I’m so excited to see where these girls go next!

4.) “BLAZE” by DO HANSE

Another year, another Victon member making their solo debut! This year, our main rapper of the group, Hanse, made his official solo debut with his first album called “BLAZE”. Now, I didn’t know if I was going to like this album because I’m such a sucker for a vocal line, but I was honestly so surprised to vibe with the title track, “TAKE OVER”. It’s definitely such a different type of kpop song, and honestly I’m so proud that Hanse got the chance to create music the way he wanted to since he’s such an interesting and eccentric type of kpop idol. The other tracks on the album showcase such a variety of music genres and bops; this album easily became one of my favorites of the year, hands down!

3.) “The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE” by Tomorrow X Together (TXT)

Prior to 2021, I was not a TXT fan. Their music didn’t really get me going, so when it was announced that they were coming out with their 2nd full-length album, I was pretty indifferent about it. But when it was finally released, my heart was a mess. The title track, “OX1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” was so amazingly good and completely brought me back to my teenage emo days! The styling as amazing, the vocals were out of this world, and these boys really made it clear that they are the 4th generation kpop boy group. To give some context about these boys, they are a 5-member group under BigHit Entertainment; the same company that BTS is under! TXT debuted back in March 2019, so they are no strangers to the industry! This was the album that really got me into these boys, and now I am complete TXT trash; a MOA! The rest of the album was also amazingly good; it was on loop when it was first released and since then, they have been releasing other comebacks that are just as good and I’m so beyond sorry i for sleeping on this amazing group. If you’ve been skeptical about listening to TXT, this is the album that will get you into them for sure!

2.) “VOICE: The Future Is Now” by Victon

My boys, y’all. On the blog, I wrote a music review about this release back in January when this gem came out to all of us. Victon released their first full-length album and it’s honestly just full of songs that truly describe Victon perfectly. It was their first ever album to have solo tracks in the track-list, and it showcased such a variety of music genres, as well as writing among the members. Their title track, “What I Said” still reigns supreme. It was such a different direction the group went, and to this day I’m still hooked to the instrument behind the song and just the amazing charisma each member portrayed within the songs. Again, every b-side on the album showcased a taste to the “new Victon sound”, but also paid homage to the sound Victon started out with 5 years ago! Since then, the group have been doing some solo activities and Seungwoo enlisted in mandatory military, but for their 5th anniversary, they released a song for the fans and it’s honestly the cutest thing ever, like I cried. Nevertheless, I am so glad the boys had an opportunity to release a full length album and have so much creative direction for the album, and I hope to see them have a physical album release soon!

1.) “Only Lovers Left” by Woodz (Seungyoun)

Man, if there’s anyone that comes out with a banging album, it’s Seungyoun! Last year, his debut album under his stage name Woodz was my top favorite album of 2020, and since then, I didn’t think there was going to be an album to top it. His previous releases were just okay, but when this album came out back in October, I was literally in love with this entire album. The title track “Waiting” wasn’t my favorite, but the rest of the album is so fucking good! This is the first time he released three fully English songs, and with Seungyoun’s versatility and writing abilities, all the songs had that “mmph” factor in them! Although Seungyoun isn’t my ult bias anymore, he holds a special place in my heart, and his music always reminds me that I stan talent and only talent. If you want to get into some Kpop that doesn’t feel like Kpop, definitely check out this album and Seungyoun in general! He doesn’t disappoint.

That’s all for now! I can’t wait to see all the new rookie groups that yet to come out, and so excited to see how much this lineup changes! So many new girl groups are coming out within this time period, so perhaps they’ll be more girl groups on this list next year! Until the next one!