Kpop Girl Group Wrap Up Jan - June 2023

Today I will be talking about several Kpop Girl Group releases from the first six months of 2023.

First I will share a list of songs that I was listening to more casually, but I still very much like. After that I will go more into detail about my favourite songs of the year so far.

 

Jisoo - Flower

Purple Kiss - Sweet Juice

NMIXX - Love me like this

Billlie - EUNOIA

blackswan - That Karma

STAYC - Teddy Bear

G-Idle - Queencard

Fromis_9 - menow

Fifty Fifty - Cupid

The breakout group of 2023. Cupid is everywhere, locals know it and use it on TikTok. IT IS A GOOD SONG! Fifty Fifty is on the Barbie soundtrack. Do I need to say more?

Ah yes, their company is trash and I hope the girls will get the support that they deserve. 

Cherry Bullet - POW

Cherry Bullet really only releases good songs, they deserve so much lore attention. I love the instrumental changes in POW!

Aespa - Spicy

I didn't really listen to Aespa that much before, but Spicy really caught my attention. It is a very catchy song and I am actually suprised that it got quite some hate. Like I am not following this group, but they do release some fire songs.

New Jeans - Ditto, OMG

New Jeans is the future.

All of their songs are good and they got this chill vibe, I really understand why they are so popular. Ditto is one if my favourites songs of theirs.

Still, their producer is very problematic. It's not the girls' fault but that's why I wouldn't call myself a fan.

Lee Chaeyeon - Knock

Girl is doing so well! I am really proud of Chaeyeon, Knock is such a great song and I love how everyone did her dance challenge!

TWICE

Sooo let's talk about TWICE. Moonlight Sunrise is one of my favourite songs of the year and I listened to it like crazy in January and February. Set me free is a decent song. Wallflower makes me feel many feelings, one of the best kpop songs ever.

But then the Chaeyeong thing happened and it kind of left a sour taste in my mouth. Even if unintentional, I do not condone ANY imagery of Antisemitism in general and she definitely fucked up. I do not hate her or the group, but it did make me take some distance from them for a while. 

I feel quite neutral towards the group right now, but I still wanted to mention their release. It probably would have been the top of my list, but I didn't really listen to them any more since then.

DREAMCATCHER - Bon Voyage

DREAMCATCHER is back! I really love the change in sound, Bon Voyage is such a breath of fresh air, not only in today's kpop industry but also in their own discography. Their 2022 releases were great but didn't hook me as much, so this was a great change in pace!

LE SSERAFIM

I have to admit, Unforgiven was not my favourite song. It is very decent, but I prefer the b-sides from the album. Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard's wife is very catchy and I am so happy they get to promote it as well!

LE SSERAFIM is such a great group and I love seeing them perform.

IVE

I AM is so good, IVE have yet to release a bad title track and they somehow even get better and better. The whole album is so well made, it really showed what the girls are actually capable of. To me it's somehow ironic how people were hating on them, but then this album shut them up. Some of my favourite songs are Hypnosis, Blue Blood and Cherish.

WAVE is also a great song, and I am glad that they are releasing original Japanese songs now. I think I even like it more than I AM already.. IVE definitely released the best songs of 2023 so far!!

As a former Iz*one fan, it makes me so happy to see all of the former members doing great in their respective groups/ solo. I am definitely a big fan of LE SSERAFIM as a group, and Sakura is still my favourite member. IVE releases bop after bop, it's actually incredible if you think about it. They have my recent favourite song releases and I enjoy their vibe a lot. But the soloists are doing great as well! I love them all but I am waiting for Eunbi's next comeback (Underwater was soooo good omg).

I mean obviously Hitomi has my most support though and I am still a fan of AKB (despite their questionable management), but that's for another time.

I do want to add that all the Loona members have won their cases against their company BBC, so they are finally freee! This makes me so incredibly happy, they finally got some kind of justice.

They will be active in several different companies, but hopefully we will see a reunion at some point.

Together with the Fifty Fifty lawsuit, this really shows how awful Kpop companies really are, but it makes me hopeful that conditions will be better in the future!

Sending lots of Love!

Twice - Eyes Wide Open Style Version ~unboxing~

Today I am going to do an unboxing of Twice's second full album Eyes Wide Open. It was released in October 2020 as the newest addition to the groups' discography. With 13 tracks it is their longest release since their first full album Twicetagram (and its repackage) in 2017. I will talk about the tracks at the end of this post, but let's take a look at album package first.

This is what the front cover of the album looks like. This is the Style version, and it is indeed very stylish. I really like the outfits and everyone looks stunning.

The person on the CD is random and I got Jeonghyeon. Since she is still on a hiatus right now, it makes me even happier to have her version! On the right side we can also the tracks and the names of the members.

The first page is quite simple but the gray background does look stylish as well.

Track list

And here we have the tracklist again, together with some pictures and credits.

The whole group looking very cool here.

The solo shots are starting with the eldest Nayeon. I think her outfit is a very good mix of stylish and cute and I would love to wear it! Nayeon looks really pretty!!

Damn those earrings. Also she is so beautiful.

Next we have Jeonghyeon in another really cool outfit. This fits her so well and she has so much confidence in this.

Ooooh look at her. We also got parts of the lyrics here.

Next we have my favourite member Momo with a very beautiful close-up shot.

Oh hello, look at Ms. MOMO just being the stunning visual she is.

Here we have Sana who is seriously looking so mature and may I say the gloves add a lot to her charm.

Also posing

Next up is our leader Jihyo who is wearing a very badass outfit here.

Look at her looking so freaking cool, also that hair colour is amazing.

Here is Mina looking like an actual princess.

I really appreciate that confidence she has.

Tofuuuuu looking really pretty.

She is so cute.

Excuse me, how is she looking so good?

And then she is cute, aww.

And last but not least is the youngest Tsuyu. That's some really cool make-up and her outfit is definitely one of the more creative ones.

Very pretty.

And here we are with all of them again. Just look at Jeonghyeon and Jihyo standing there in their pants, it's so cool. They are all perfect together.

I can't stop me from listening to this album.

Next up are the tracks with some more member shots.

I especially like the black&white shots of every member, it looks so cool and stylish.

Omg she is amazing

Hello queen

So cute

All of them again 

Aand we got some more credits at the end

TWICE

The back looks a little odd but apperently that's part of the design? Well I do like the track list writing

Now moving on to extras in the album

For the included poster I got Dahyun. She is so pretty and I love this red colour on her, the outfit is from a different version though.

The backside includes the lyrics in this newspaper style. 

I got some cute stickers, that are too precious to ever use haha

Here we have cards of all the members and a group picture as well. 

This is a special card with all the members on it.

And these are the random cards I got. I am happy about all of them but I especially love the Jeonghyeon card (I hope she is doing fine) and Chaeyeon (she looks so good!!).

The backside with autographs.

And there is this different special card and I pulled Nayeon. Yayyy!

And this pig poster is hanging in my room right now. It's so cool that I got a poster of them!!

 Tracklist:

1. I Can't stop me

2. Hell in Heaven

3. Up no more

4. Do what we like

5. Bring it back

6. Believer

7. Queen

8. Go hard

9. Shot clock

10. Handle it

11. Depend on you

12. Say something

13. Behind the Mask 

This is such a solid album. With the amazing title track I Can't stop me, I also especially like Hell in Heaven, Up no more, Go hard and Handle it. This release does not only have amazing songs but it is also showing amazing vocal skills and some songwriting done by the members as well. All in all you can see how the girls have matured a lot and grown into women. The slight change of their style has become visible over the years but they still are Twice.

From the packaging, the cool outfits and the overall sound, I love this album so mich and it is definitely one of my favourites of 2020.

With this being said, I am excited to see what they will do next. I do hope they will get some time to rest though.

And I will see you in my next post.

All the best!