And other songs I missed in 2022 apparently 🙄
If you missed my first announcement, basically instead of releasing the monthly faves for December on the 31st like I have the past couple of years, I decided to move it to the first part of January the next year.
This gives me more time to focus on other articles, and for whatever random new music to drop even on the 31st, without having to be concerned about missing someone. I have to admit, it feels better to do it this way. Idk why I thought it was a good idea to do it the old way, lol.
So yeah, December will now be like every other month now.
I’ve also got my December releases playlist all messed up. I’ve got a song from the summer on here. WTF?? I guess it’s good in a way, because if I just had the December releases, we’d have like 6 artists, lol. So let’s get into it!
FIFTY FIFTY – Higher
Okay, not a December release AT ALL, lol. But I listened to it with my December list. Idk how this happened, but I guess in my playlist I have for new releases, I put this on there and forgot to put it in with the November releases?
Anyway, it slaps. I’ve been seeing gifs of this music video on Tumblr for about a month now. I only recently listened to their album, THE FIFTY. It’s definitely gonna be on replay. It’s so good. The only song I didn’t care for was the ending song, “Log in”. It’s something I’d listen to in passing, but not something I’d look for on purpose. At least not at this time.
I haven’t decided on a favorite song yet. “Tell Me” and “Lovin’ Me” are probably the top contenders. “Higher” is a solid third fave. But we love a midtempo bubblegum pop vibe. We love a pink heavy music video. And a space concept. So on those two things alone, I’m hooked. I’m keeping an eye on them. I can’t wait for more.
oceanfromtheblue – Come Back Home (feat Yeeun)
Another song that fell through the cracks. And this one is totally up my alley too. I love soulful midtempo dance songs. You know how Spotify will suggest songs to add to your playlists?
Well, the same one I have for new Kpop songs, they recommended oceanfromtheblue. This one also came out in November. So after about 40 seconds in I decided to add this to this post, and my likes and a few other playlists I have. I liked “Treasure” too. I gotta check out his other stuff.
Hoody – Amazing
Okay, on to the actual December releases now, lmao. I feel like it’s been a minute since Hoody released a new song. Nothing noteworthy going on with “Amazing”, just a good tune. I’m never not gonna be excited about a new Hoody project.
GEMINI – Love Is Banned
Gemini was one of my most talked about artists on ATK in 2022. So I was excited and surprised to see a new ep from him. My main fave songs from Still Blue are “Love Is Banned”, “Bad” (which kinda gives me pH-1 vibes), and “Rollercoaster”.
Right now, “Love Is Banned” is my favorite song off the album. I like the production of it so much. After all the R&B tracks Gemini released/featured on last year, I wasn’t expecting this album to have rock and alternative elements to it. Now I wanna hear more like this from him.
NCT DREAM – Tangerine Love (Favorite)
How are we already reusing song titles for NCT units? LOL. “Candy” is alright. But “Tangerine Love” and “Walk With You” are the stand-outs to me. I haven’t listened to these songs as much yet, but I think I’ll be jammin to them a lot this year.
KISSXS – YEPPY
Okay, another non-December song snuck its way on here. We haven’t talked about KISSXS in over a year. How funny the song that brings her back to my attention, has a music video with visuals and musically similar to “Love Is Callin”. I love the poppy upbeat songs from her.
Blonde is sooo cute on her. I think the was some type of brand collab with Merry monde. From a quick Google search and looking through their site, they are a makeup brand, with cute packaging. I think you can also find some of their stuff on YesStyle also.
For a four minute or so ad, I really like how they pulled all this together. I couldn’t tell if they only sold makeup or if they also made clothes too because of the scene towards then with all the hangers. But yeah, love this song. Might check out some products from them in the future.
Woody – Say I Love You
I’m happy I love this song, because I was just talking about Woody and his new song (this one) and hoping it’d be something I’d like.
Music video wise, I really like how this was set up. I really love this blonde gray hair he’s got going on. I did add the deep dive to my notes, so look forward to that in a few weeks.
PoshGirls – Alien (feat Oak Soe Khant)
After realizing my list was all messed up, I went back to my print-out list from Kpopmap. I wasn’t too sure about this group, but I added them onto my list.
And this is quite the surprise. I wasn’t expecting a dance/club like track. I love this song! I saw they have an album on Spotify that released a while ago. Gotta check that out now.
Yu Yeon Woo, Whistle – hypnosis (feat Terry)
Another surpise from Kpopmap, lol. I love the slow burn and sultry vibes of “hypnosis”. I just love finding new artists (to me) and being excited to see what else they have up their sleeves.
PIXY – Trick Or Treat
Idk why this song is just now releasing in December, lol. But this is a really good song. I love the music video that goes with it. It’s not on Spotify, so idk if this is going to be on their next album, or what. But I had to include this on here.
Stray Kids – SKZ-REPLAY
*It’s been 84 years meme* Words cannot describe how freakin excited I was to see “Up All Night”, one of my first fave SKZ songs as a Stay finally be on Spotify. I really enjoyed SKZ-REPLAY album. Some of those songs I know Stays have been waiting for some of these tracks for years. There are 25 songs on this thing.
I have 8 that I know I’ll be listening to a lottt. “Drive” was another song I was hyped for. The first song I had to listen to (out of the ones I hadn’t heard yet) was “miss you” by Hyunjin. Soooo good. Sooo sweet.
“DOODLE” by Changbin had the rap solo I’ve always wanted from him, lol. And “Stars and Raindrops” by Seungmin gives me more rock vibes, and I love that. Those two are probably my other fave solo songs on here.
Moonbyul – Chemistry
I was soooo confused with this one. I knew I talked about this song on here already, but it took me a bit of searching. It was in my December 2021 faves post, where I first asked where this song was on Spotify. And a year later, I finally got this wish too, lol. This was my favorite song from The Present. Me and my favorite songs being added to albums a year later. Name a better duo.
Changmin, Taeyeon, Winter, – Priority (SMTOWN Winter Album Thingy)
OMGGG I almost forgot to add this banger. Well, not like your typical banger. It’s definitely more jam area. I was getting bored with this SMTown album until I got to this song. Totally more my speed and you don’t have 8,000 people on the track.
Although my second favorite song from this album is “Where You Are” and there’s five people on that one (Ryeowook, Onew, Doyoung, Chenle, and Xiaojun). It’s about the parts, like you can tell when they’re trying to make sure EVERYONE gets audio time on a song. That always puts me off. I like when it flows naturally, and I feel like these two songs execute that in the most pleasing way.
Not including the boring ballads, I skipped those, so no comment on those, lol.
WayV – Phantom
Ah yes, my other favorite NCT unit, WayV is back and again, they don’t miss. I know I know, technically not Kpop but WayV is the exception to the rule, lol. “Phantom” is my favorite NCT related title in a loooong time.
I can’t remember when the title track, from a non-repackage album, had me hooked like this. I might have put this somewhere in my fave 2022 albums list had it not released like 3 days before the year ended, and I managed my time better. Probably going on the 2023 list, tbh.
“Bounce Back” is my current favorite b-side from Phantom. It’s very much a mood and feels like I’m hearing it at a perfect point in my life. Especially the, “hurt me bad, I won’t stay. I will bounce back” part. “Good Life” is highly relatable. “I want to know what that’s like, that good life” me too bestie. “Diamonds Only” and “Try My Luck” are the other songs I think I’ll have on replay this year.
One of the reasons why I also get so hyped for WayV is for the visuals. Members and the actual scenery for the music video, lol. We kinda get vampire vibes in “Phantom” and I live for that. They look so good. I think because I watched that ABC 30th anniversary Beauty and the Beast special with my mom, I’m in the castle mood. Yeah, I’m resonating with this hard. Perfect timing.
I was soooo proud of myself for having most of this article together, just for me to have to go back and make all these changes. Lmaoooo oh well. It be like that sometimes. Happy New Year btw!!! Did y’all do anything fun?
My mom and I hung out at home like we usually do. I’m still behind on some tasks, but I’ve got that new year energy boost. I know I’ll get it all done eventually. I’ve been doing a good job so far, though.
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram.
What songs did you enjoy last month? Let me know in the comments! I’ll see y’all next article. Idk what I’m talking about next 😅
Ash 💫