Part 5: Songs that Defined 2019

Good evening, and I’m back yet again to list more songs that made my year more enjoyable. Forgive my word usage but I’m neither a music expert nor an articulate music writer. Ignoring that, these are songs I loved in no particular order.

“All Night (Call In)” by ASTRO

ASTRO is a group I was lucky enough to come across right before a comeback. The song just has such a light, R&B sound. I can’t listen to it without it improving my mood. I just have light thoughts whenever I hear the introduction. You can’t be upset listening to this.

The choreography is so well done. I recall one comment on the dance practice video mentioned that all of the members are visible throughout the song. Also, I just love that this comeback produced a montage of ASTRO slut-dropping in the dance.

I haven’t known ASTRO as a group for long, but they’re pretty good. All of them are talented and funny as hell when they’re on variety shows.They’re just these light-hearted boys. I need to stop. They had another comeback this winter called “Blue Flame.” It’s worth a listen.

“Trick or Treat” by Grace

This is another song that wasn’t released in 2019 but became an instant repeat. I was looking for k-pop music I could sneak into my Spotify Halloween playlist when I came across “Trick or Treat” on other k-pop playlists. I liked how it sounded grungy or more like a club banger that was still in the Halloween spirit.

Grace is also has a YouTube channel where she shares experiences of being a k-pop idol and interviews other idols. She’s informative and friendly to listen to.

“Twilight” by ONEUS

The is a dance-type song about seeing the sun “fall” out of their lives which leaves them with a feeling of emptiness. The sun meaning a lover, and night meaning the time they’re no longer together.

The music video was beautiful. I wasn’t expecting the visual effects involved. And the video was filmed partially outdoors in Italy. Most music videos are confined to a set or an in-door setting. I always take note when k-pop film music videos outdoors. They always pick such beautiful locations.

“Butterfly” by Loona

And the chorus has this deep EDM-house bass that drops with higher synths above it. That is the best part of this song.

The video for “Butterfly” is just stunning. Loona was featured in this open set involving columns and standing water. The costumes for “Buttferly” were beautiful and there were several versions of it in different colors.

Women and girls from all over the world were featured dancing, embracing who they are and being free. Prior to “Butterfly”‘s release, they dropped a trailer of the women featured in the music video. The gist was that Loona juxtaposed the viewers or Orbits (their fandom) as a part of Loona.

The hashtag #WeAreLoona trended and it really struck a nerve that Loona made it a point to tell Orbits that we’re all Loona and to include women from different parts of the world to emphasize that. This tweet by Affinity magazine and a fan’s tweet describes it better than I could.

“ME” by CLC

Okay, CLC’s back at it again with expressing that they’re beautiful and not within the lense of their society’s beauty standards. There’s so much being said the words “My beauty doesn’t stop” and “Beautiful me” within the chorus.

Also fun fact, the chorus is a play on the words ‘me’ and ‘beauty’ in English, Korean, and Chinese. I’m not a linguist but it’s just cool when you can make puns across language barriers.

My only compliant is that “Me” was a digital single, meaning it was available to stream on all platforms that play music, but it isn’t available on iTunes. That’d be the one song I’d buy if it were.

The drop during the chorus would startle and hype me up if my volume was too high. All the members had such great outfits and set designs for their solo moments. It was great. Beautiful.

“Deja Vu” by Dreamcatcher

Again, pushing that Dreamcatcher agenda. They’re such a good girl group to get watch. Yet again, this comeback was stunning and deserving of all praise.

“Deja Vu” was released right after their Japanese comeback with “Breaking Out.” The song was on the soundtrack for a game called King’s Raid there’s another music video for the game.

I’ll let you interpret what you will, but the song is basically watching a role reversal hence the deja vu. Also, ladies with swords. All seven members looked stunning in the outfits featured. The visual effects were beautiful. My only complaint is that the choreography appeared in the video for two seconds but I can overlook it because it was all still perfect in my eyes.

The choreography performed live is beautiful as well. Dreamcatcher has such steady live vocals also, so it was just an artistic performance. And yet again, they didn’t win 1st place on a Korean music show but they were in third place one week. Wins don’t actually matter to me that much. I just wish more of k-pop fans noticed how talented Dreamcatcher is.

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Thank you for reading a post from this series Songs that Defined 2019. I enjoy compiling my favorite songs and trying to adequately explain what I think is so great about them. Honestly, my writing ability and musical knowledge could never do them justice.

Anyway, have a good post-Christmas night!