Favorite K-pop Comebacks of Winter 2024
- Chynna Williams
- Mar 31, 2024
- 7 min read
Hello everyone and welcome back! It’s been a while since I last posted anything here, mainly because there’s been a lot going on in my life at the start of the year. But now I finally have time for myself and feel settled enough to get back into writing.
There has been so much happening in the world of K-pop since I last wrote to you all. Many comebacks have happened and hit the charts, more new bands have debuted, and we’re only about to hit April. I’ve only been a fan of K-pop since late 2019/early 2020 so it’s been kind of crazy to be a part of this rapidly growing music genre. Every year I think this has been the best year of K-pop (since I have been a fan of it), and it just keeps succeeding. Not only that but I have gotten into many new bands since because the music has been that good. All that being said, here are my favorite comebacks for the first quarter of the year.
*I will discuss my favorite comebacks from January 1st to March 19th, aka the Winter quarter.
*Before we get into some of my favorite albums from these months, I want to share a few singles that have stood out.
Singles
“Love 119” by RIIZE
Release Date: January 5th, 2024
This song took a minute for me to get into because it was a departure from the usual upbeat and funky RIIZE music. I love this group because they have such an old-school hip-hop feeling. They have a very different feel than the normal “K-pop” sound and their music sounds almost nostalgic. “Love 119” felt different than “Talk Saxy” and “Get a Guitar,” and felt like more of a chill love song. This isn’t the type of sub-genre, within K-pop, that I usually gravitate toward. The more I listened to this song the more it grew on me because it still gave me that nostalgic feeling I always get when listening to RIIZE.
RIIZE is one of the more unique bands I've come across since getting into K-pop and “Love 119” is a good reflection of that. This is a love song, to its core, but we still have that funky feeling. The music video is also fun as it feels like an actual K-drama. RIIZE has quickly become a group that has moved from “ones to watch” to being a part of my “casual stan” list. I can’t wait until the day when we get a full album from them, despite all the drama surfacing behind the scenes. I look forward to seeing them in person for their “Riizing Day” Fan-Con tour in May.
MV to watch:
“Not Okay” by Ateez
Release Date: February 27, 2024
There were a couple of stand-out Japanese singles released at the start of the year that I had to shout out. This includes a two-song Japanese album from one of my ult groups, Ateez. Ateez ended the year 2023 strong with their The World EP.Fin: Will album, giving us our first unit songs from the group. I was surprised to get a few more singles from them in 2024 since they had just released this full album. “Not Okay,” blends many genres from hip hop, techno music, and even a little bit of rock. I am used to this from Ateez as they always push the boundaries when mixing genres. Even though this is a Japanese single it still feels very Ateez with heavy sound-mixing, a hard-hitting chorus, and powerful lyrics. To me, the lyrics within this song feel like they’re talking about feeling suffocated, trying to break the walls, and making their presence known. The music video is just as strong with a color wave of black, red, and white. It feels suffocating but also like we’re at a rave once the chorus hits. There’s a lot of lore within the music video which I will not dive into because Ateez’s lore is very extensive. The music video also has nods to another past music video, “Hala Hala,” and the song also gives callbacks to that song.
It's kind of crazy how deeply I’ve fallen for Ateez and how quickly it’s happened. I remember seeing them at K-Con in 2022 and being impressed/confused by their performance. But I quickly forgot about them because I was diving into Stray Kids. Once “Bouncy” came out they caught my attention again and I became an Atiny for life. I hope that after Coachella they will announce a US tour because I would love to see them in concert, now a fully-fledged fan of theirs.
MV to watch:
(제로베이스원) 'YURA YURA' by Zerobaseone
Release Date: March 8th, 2024
“Yura Yura” is another Japanese single that has captured my heart and one that I have been playing non-stop since its release. Zerobaseone was a band I quickly fell in love with when they debuted because of their catchy music and vibrant music videos. “Yura Yura” is another perfect reflection of them as a band and quickly stood out to me. It is a fun, upbeat, cheerful song about falling in love in Spring. The music video is just as vibrant and gives off the vibes of a high school drama. Much like “Love 119,” by RIIZE this song isn’t my favorite genre within K-pop. But for some reason, I keep playing this song in the car on my way to work. This song showcases the groups' vocals and their impeccable dancing so well. It is a vocal-heavy song and every one of the members’ vocals stands out. Zerobaseone is another newer group that has stood out to me since their debut. Unfortunately, they are under a short contract of 2.5 years because they were developed on a survival show. I’ll be sad if they don’t extend their contract because they have been extremely successful and their music has been amazing. I have been genuinely impressed by this band which only debuted last year.
MV to Watch:
Albums:
A lot of albums have come out at the start of the year. Many of them have quickly become my favorite albums of the year. For this section, I will dive into my highlights for the albums and list my favorite songs from the albums.
NMIXX
Album title: 2nd EP ‘Fe3O4: BREAK’
Release Date: January 15, 2024
Title Track: “Dash”
Pre-Release: “Soñar (Breaker)”
Highlights:
Strong vocals - This girl group has some of the most impressive vocals I’ve heard from a girl group at least within K-pop. I don’t follow many girl groups but NMIXX are incredibly talented and have stood out with this album.
Concept - They have a cool concept within their songs that is unique. About halfway through a song, they’ll call out “NMIXX” and switch up the melody. It will be a completely different sound than what it was in the beginning. I never know what will happen when they do this and I’m always surprised when I hear the change.
Favorite Songs:
“Dash”
“Passionfruit”
“XOXO”
MV's to watch:
P1Harmony
Album title: “Killin It” -- First full album
Release Date: Feb. 5th, 2024 (MV Release), Feb. 7th, 2024 (Album release)
Title Track: “Killin’ It”
Highlights:
I don’t think there are a lot of highlights to discuss with this album because I genuinely enjoyed it as a whole. It’s a no-skip album for me and I think it’s because of the genres within the album as there are a lot of R&B and Hip Hop sounds. In general, I always gravitate toward the more R&B-sounding K-pop songs so I think that’s probably why it stood out.
I am very impressed by the vocals of this group, they are a smaller group but all of their vocals from singing to rap stand out individually.
Favorite Songs:
“Killin’ It”
“Late Night Calls”
“Countdown to Love”
“Emergency”
MV to watch:
LE SSERAFIM
Album Title: “EASY”
Release Date: Feb. 19th, 2024
Title Track: “EASY”
Highlights:
I love that LE SSERAFIM is starting to play around with different genres, there was a mix of hip-hop, rock, and afro-beats. In the past, this group stayed in a very straight line with their genre and style. There wasn’t a distinct genre for this group that I could point out and I thought they were the typical K-pop girl group. I liked some of their songs and title tracks but they didn’t stand out for a long while. But within this album alone, there were so many different genres, and I was impressed by how they handled them.
Their vocals and dancing have improved within this album, and they are trying to tell a story that they are “ones to watch.” In the past, I always thought their choreography was simple. But with their title track and b-sides on this album, they showcased their dancing in a new light.
This is my favorite album from LE SSERAFIM because there is a huge range within this small mini-album, and it is another no-skip for me.
Favorite Songs (This is a short album and I truly liked all the songs, so I’ll list them from my favorite to my least favorite):
“We Got So Much Love”
“Smart”
“ Easy”
“Swan Song”
*“Good Bones” isn’t a full song so I’m not including it on this list but it is a fun intro! “Smart and Easy” are honestly tied for me, I like them the same amount but for different reasons.
MV's to Watch:
Honorable Mentions:
“I Got You” by Twice
Release Date: February 2, 2024
^ I didn’t love their new album, in its entirety, but I loved this pre-release from the “With You-th” album. It gave me the feeling of Summer in the middle of Winter, and the music video was very calming and beautiful.
MV to watch:
“Girls of the Year” and “Only One” by Vcha
Release Date: January 26, 2024 and March 15th, 2024
^ I loved this debut for the first American girl group under the K-pop system. These were both catchy and entertaining and I’m looking forward to more music from this girl group out of JYPE.
MV's to watch:
“FRI(END)S” by V of BTS
Release Date: March 15th, 2024
^ This was such a cute song and music video from V of BTS. I didn’t love the song as much as the songs off his solo album but I loved the theme and the concept of the music video.
MV to watch:
“Nectar” by The Boyz
Release Date: March 18th, 2024
Album: 2ND ALBUM [PHANTASY] Pt.3 Love Letter
^ The Boyz, is a group that keeps catching my attention, especially with their recent albums. I thought this was such a cute and pretty song and The Boyz are always in the back of my mind.
MV to watch:
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the post and look forward to more as we are in full comeback season... which, at this point happens all year round!
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