This is not your abuela's Asian funk!

ATEEZ - Lemon Drop
cw: shirtless (and soaking wet) men, camera motion

Some day I'll have the time and energy to resume long form Music Monday profiles, but in the meantime, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Song of the summer right here, never mind that summer's only just barely started.

Are you old enough to have caught the significance of that key twist or did you have to have your elders explain it to you? 🤣

((I've talked before about how I'm trying to highlight queer artists (and queer joy) this month...and I've also talked about how, while he's very careful with his words, Seonghwa has said enough for us to claim him as a fellow queer. And that's not even getting into the canonicals or Jongho being consistently ace-spec-coded. So while there may be a heterosexual explanation for this MV, I'm gleefully in denial of it. 😝🤣))

Kwon Soonkwan - Scenes of a Moment (feat. Jongho (ATEEZ))
cw: lens flare, potential hanky warning

Jongho's voice and ballads really are a match made in heaven. He could sing the telephone book and still bring you to tears if he wanted.

NMIXX - KNOW ABOUT ME
cw: flashing effects, surrealism

Airports really are such liminal spaces, especially the larger ones. But I have some questions about why a Space Battleship Yamato reference here 😅

( +2 BONUS tracks: Mingi's Autobahn and ATEEZ's Limitless )

ATEEZ - The King (audio only)

This entire week has been one shitshow day after another, so here is my VERY delayed #KpopMonday selection, from my emotional support boy group. This song deserved more, but Japanese releases tend to get the short end of the stick for whatever reason.

ATEEZ - Pirate King (Zombie ver)
cw: ZOMBIES, unsteady cam, flashing lights

Throwing back to Halloween 2018 and as part of their debut promos, ATEEZ took the show on the road, literally, and in full zombie makeup.
Yeah, these are some very well preserved and able zombies as the boys execute the choreography exactly right, but shh. XD

Yeah, I'm still not fully back on track with posting things, but hey, it's ATEEZ, we knew I was going to have to feature them on here sooner or later, right? (I'll get around to their second BE:FIRST collab at some point. Probably)

Song: Ice On My Teeth
Artist: ATEEZ
Release: November 2024
Genre: Kpop
cw: flashing, surrealism, arson, mafia

(official lyric translation available in CC » Eng)

I'll be honest, when they first revealed Golden Hour part 2's title track, I was both wary and confused. It's the sort of title I would expect from NCT 127 (and oh the irony there, put a pin in that) or even Stray Kids, especially in a collab with a Western pop artist (yeah, stick a pin in that, too), which this showed no signs of being. It's not entirely in line with their previous A titles, stylistically, and other than knowing it was going to be amazing (because ATEEZ's title tracks are always amazing), I really didn't know what to expect. A danceable beat was almost a given, but other than that ... what would be the sound? The story? How would it fit with the A-line lore? Would it fit with A-verse or were we going back to Z-verse already? Or some secret third thing?? So many questions, but 2024 has been the year of questions and surprises and the lore going in interesting directions, so of course Ice On My Teeth (hereafter IOMT) continues that trend.

( the review continues! )

GOLDEN HOUR pt 2 is available now wherever you stream and purchase your Kpop, including major retailers who feed their sales data to Circle, Oricon, and Billboard (domestic and global) charts. ATEEZ are further set to resume touring, this next leg in Europe, starting mid January.


As a footnote... I'd mentioned yesterday we were still in fundraising mode to pay to have the hurricane damage fixed, that updated post is here.

Want to see Music Monday deep dives more often? Sponsor a song selection! For the low, low price of one (1) KoFi, I'll write up the song of your choice. ANY song of your choice. Yes, even that one that's been played to death. Yes, your obscure faves too. With sponsors, I can stop skipping weeks and falling further and further behind in the releases! Sponsor a current CB for the next open Music Monday slot or sponsor a throwback for a Thursday feature!
But seriously, if you've been enjoying my selections and analyses, we (me and the foster kittens) would love a KoFi in thanks.
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