It’s time for Kpopalypse roundup! Let’s take a look at some new releases!
It’s still January and Astro’s Eunwoo is already a strong contender for 2026’s “Bling Bling Jewelry Chain” award.
XG – Hypnotize
Sounding much like a latter-day Kylie Minogue club dance track, XG come back with some reasonable enough disco vibes and the beat moves along at a cracking pace but it’s all a little light on the elements that made their better songs work.
Kiiikiii – 404 (New Era)
Completely crap vocal melodies in this new KiiiKiii song, but fortunately the song barely relies on them, putting 90% of the energy into matching chants and raps to that stomping beat. It’s a winner because the song barely even acknowledges that such a thing as k-pop vocals exist – which of course is completely true.
Underscores, Yves – Do It (Yves Remix)
Yves with this rando just sounds like Yves usually does these days. And don’t talk to me about how she’s well known or whatever, this is Kpopalypse not westernpopalypse.
Hwina – Hello, Sara
Can Hwina, the amazing singer who pretty much hard-carried 2025, tackle the “extreme ballad” format and still come out on top musically? Well… no. Some quality instrumentation helps in places, but songs like this live or die on their melodic choices and that constantly descending vocal melody just isn’t all that interesting.
D.O & HA:TFELT – When the last tear dries
Absolute poop. I don’t think I’m done crying my tears yet for the state of the Korean music scene.
Dodree – Just Like a Dream
An awkward song that changes from a lazy swing feel in the verses to completely squared-off synthpop rhythms in the chorus. Both rhythmic feels sound acceptable in isolation but they definitely don’t belong together in the one song, at least not like this. With JYP off in the woods preaching about some nonsense, nobody at his old office is remembering the simplicity that made his better tracks shine.
MOMOLAND – White Spring
Nothing white will be springing when listening to this.
ONEUS – Grenade
Even though I knew what the name of the song was, I swear he said “gremlin” at the start there. I suggest that you don’t water this song or feed it song after midnight.
TWS – Here For You
It’s not bad, but if TWS were really here for us they’d be starting an ex-Pledis girl group members counselling support unit.
idnnt – Yes We Are
Nothing much here to see. Apparently this is Jaden’s boy group but you wouldn’t know it from how generic this is.
TNX – Call Me Back
Millennial-whooping nonsense. Don’t pick up the call it’s probably your dad saying he loves this song.
AxMxP – Pass
Trying to recapture the feel of Seotaiji from the 90s but the thing is, you need actual guitar riffs for that, not this Johnny-one-note stuff that’s trendy in metalcore these days and nowhere else. You know, move your hand on the neck a bit, change a chord occasionally. Amazingly, it helps!
AxMxP – Thereafter
Their other song is better beacuse it’s clearly just them being a bit more in their comfort zone.
M.O.N.T – History
Is it the eminently qualified M.O.N.T teaching us our much-needed lessons on Korean history? No, it’s just some shitty love song. Come on boys don’t cockblock us like this, share with us more of your sexy knowledge on Korean rainfall levels.
ZEROBASEONE – Roses
Bland amination and a bland song. I’d call this “for the fans” but I’m really not sure if this is even for anybody.
1VERSE – WABIF (Wide Awake before I Fall)
I don’t think too many people were wide awake during the creation of this.
LA POEM – Meant To Be
I like La Poem even though their songs are always kind of cringe because their mere existence proves that nobody who listens to kpop gives a single fuck about vocals, because if they did these guys would be at BTS levels of fame. Not that anyone should care, but pretending to care just to elevate your bias is even worse than actually caring.
Ki:XÉ – Bomb
Who this person is I got no idea but this song is probably better than some crappy solo from your favourite boy group singer.
Choi Hari – Jumper
A decent song but I have to mark it down for incorrect Shure Super 55 microphone use.
Luli Lee – King of the New World
Luli Lee solidly rocks here but makes the unfortunate choice here of swapping out her killer distorted bass tone for synthetic bass in the rap part. I guess rapping and playing an instrument at the same time is hard, so I get it, but we would have fogiven you for just miming it live, after all that’s what everyone else in Korea does.
Luli Lee – Unknown Artist
This other song has a lot of promise but spends too much of its time fluffing around in semi-ambient “buildup” territory.
Hornless Deer – Hand
Don’t be fooled by the rockin’ thumbnail, this is super bland once it gets going.
Lucid Beats feat. Noise Mob, DJ Tiz – Stay Classy
Nice beat actually, but there are men in the song, so that’s a problem. Why do rap guys think that we want to hear what they have to say. I know enough of them personally to tell you that most of them don’t have a lot going on up there to share.
FRankly – We’re Never Going Back
Korean rock bands have mastered the art of the intense looking YouTube thumbnail for the most boring rock song ever.
Luminous Day – Mirror Dive
Hey this is okay, some annoying screechy vocal showing off aside.
UNXL – Maze
Weird how there’s a rock band lineup here for the most synthetic programmed-sounding song I’ve ever heard. They really are relying on the fact that people don’t know what instruments sound like.
Purynn – Matter
They’ve been dumping k-pop singers out in the frozen wastes lately to stop them singing ballads but somehow a few of them still find their way back to a recording studio.
The Mark Of Cain – Battlesick
Since it’s Australia Day, this week’s totally random Kpopalypse music pick is from my town. I’ve generally always avoided covering music that’s very local to myself (I literally met the singer by accident at a local pub once without realising) but there’s enough degrees of separation between me and this band where I don’t mind. The Mark Of Cain started seeing some international success when Henry Rollins played a show with them (which was my own first exposure to the group also) and fell in love with their sound, leading to him producing their “Ill At Ease” album. However their best song “Battlesick” was from way before that time, where they’d already solidified their sound. Their music is pretty unique but isn’t quite like any other band out there, heavy like a steamroller but without the saturated chug-chug guitars and double-kick drums that define heaviness for most groups in their genre. The closest comparison points I can think of are Joy Division and Helmet (the latter of which they pre-dated, and Helmet drummer John Stainer even joined The Mark Of Cain for a while when his old group temporarily folded in 1998). Many years ahead of their time, and definitely underappreciated to this day, their whole catalog is worth a look.
RANDOM BONUS VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
Oh My Girl’s Hyojeong x LeLe – Let’s get rid of the villain who suffered in the morning and evening!
This was submitted for roundup but doesn’t qualify just due to it not even really being a song in the proper sense. I just wanted to share this with you all anyway because I have a perverse desire to make you suffer, you’re welcome.
Korean Comic – When KPOP Groups Start Debuting a bit TOO YOUNG
Presented without comment.
Uhm Jung Hwa ft. T.O.P – D.I.S.C.O
Some neat keyboard and drum sounds here, but annoying childish melodies and lame track songwriting ruins what little potential this song had as a concept. T.O.P doesn’t appear until the breakdown and it’s not worth the wait, he doesn’t add much of interest and can’t save this. If you want second-generation k-pop disco tributes, go directly to Roly Poly, do not pass Uhm Jung Hwa, do not collect $200.
That’s all for this week! Kpopalypse roundup returns next week!