New Music Part Three - The Exploration Continues

We are now over half-way through the year, and I am still committed to my New Years Resolution of listening to new and different music! I’m continuing with my exploration of K-pop and K-rock, this time around with a focus on women groups. I’ve honestly had a harder time finding female artists out of Korea that I like than male artists, but it’s important to make the effort, especially as the music industry is sexist no matter what part of the world you are talking about. And of course while many things I listened to were misses, I found some solid hits. Beyond that, I’ve found new songs by artists I already liked and songs I like from artists I’ve not really given the time of day before this year.

You’re the Best – Mamamoo

I wouldn’t be the same woman who still unironically listens to the Spice Girls if I didn’t love some solid girl group vibes. Mamamoo is the first female K-pop group I’ve seriously explored, mainly because they are the “older sister” group (older, more established group, same label) of ONEWE and ONEUS, groups I’ve written about here and stan. It is just fun. Joyous, bubbly fun that never gets to the point of being cloying. It’s the kind of thing you could sing along with into a hairbrush or on a road trip. And the music video has the undertone saying, seriously, do we really need to all this work just to make a guy like us? Its exactly what you want from a girl group.

Eight – IU featuring Suga

Ok, I will admit the only reason I first listened to this song what because it was produced by, and featured Suga of BTS. But I fell in love with this song at first listen. It’s just bops a long in the best possible way, the kind of song you can groove to. I do highly recommend reading the lyrics to this song, as they are both beautiful and heatbreaking. IU was close friends with a few other kpop stars who took their lives over the past couple years and this song is widely believed to be about, or at least influenced by that. The lyrics are darker than the tone of the song would suggest which creates a disconnect between the two, but it’s a beautiful song and one I’ve listened to countless times.  

Started – Iggy Azalea

I found this song thanks to my newly-found enjoyment of doing dance fitness videos, specifically, the Fitness Marshall, whose videos introduced me to this song. I’d never really given Iggy Azalea the time of day before, but I truly love this song.  Started is incredibly sparse - just a basic, but hypnotic, beat for the most part, with Iggy Azalea rapping over it. What really got me was the line in the chorus “I started to say sorry but f*** that shit.” As a reflexively overly-apologetic woman, this line hits hard for me. Started might be a swagger song about wealth and being awesome, but I find it aspirational not on a material level, but on an emotional one. Because I want all of us women in a culture that trains us to apologize for pretty much everything constantly to get to the point where we see that reflex to apologize and say “f*** that shit.”

Good Night - Dreamcatcher

This song sounds like the theme song to a late 90s anime show, and I mean that in a good way. It’s fun, high-energy rock that has an anthemic quality. The only thing that bums me out about this song is that the women in the group don’t play the instruments – the women in the group are singers with backing musicians. There are so few women rockers, or at least visible women rockers (see, for example, the massive gender disparity in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame) and I was really excited by the idea of seeing more women shredding on guitar or bass and rocking out on the drums. So that not being the case here was a bummer. That said, I really do love this song, and it’s definitely on my various “pump up” playlists.

Here Comes the End – Gerard Way feat. Judith Hill

I love My Chemical Romance’s album Black Parade, and I love the Netflix show Umbrella Academy, so when I saw Gerard Way, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance and one of the creators of the Umbrella Academy comics, came out with a new song for Season 2, I was stoked. And this song does not disappoint. It’s a solid rock anthem with some excellent throwback tendencies. It’s been a while since I heard a new song that was solid, old school rock, but that’s what this song is. It’s already on my pump-up and work playlists and honestly, I put it on all the time when I leave my apartment, just for the cool-person theme-song vibes.

Bonus Throwback – How Do You Sleep by Jesse McCartney feat. Ludacris

This is not a new song for me – it’s an old song that I rediscovered and re-fell in love with recently. This is a pop song by a largely forgotten teen boy heartthrob from the 00s Jesse McCartney. And it is a truly enjoyable bop that takes me back to the late 00s and the end of college. Even better, this song featured in an ABC Family TV show that I loved called Greek. The nostalgia is strong with this one. Even so, it’s a cute song that legitimately holds up even when I hadn’t heard it in nearly 10 years. A solid enjoyable pop song.