October 2022 Best Kpop Comebacks & Debuts

Look at me getting this post up early.

I worked so hard to keep up with new releases, so I didn’t get overwhelmed by the end of the month. And what do you know? It helped me stay on track and get this post out earlier, lol.

I would have had this up on the 1st of the month, but I decided to wait until the national grieving period was over in South Korea because of the Itaewon tragedy. I didn’t want to post happy, upbeat articles, during such a sad period. So it’s up a bit later than planned.

October went by so fast. All I remember was seeing ENHYPEN, early voting, and working, lmao. This is why I keep a journal, I remember like 3-5% of what I do in a day, the next day.

Time doesn’t really mean much to me. I think I’ve talked about this before on here. I just feel like I’m floating in time. A week and five minutes can feel the same to me.

Anyway, let’s get to the tunes.

Baekho – Absolute Zero

I have no idea what’s going on in this music video, but he looks amazing. “Festival in my car” is my favorite song off Absolute Zero at the moment. I saved every song except for “No Rules” and “Wanna go back”.

“No Rules” is fine. Nothing I hyped to go back to. “Wanna go back” was also alright. I’m not in love with this album as a whole, I kept thinking to myself while listening, “This is fine. Nothing newsworthy, but fine.”

So idk maybe this album will go on me more but for now, I’m not addicted to it. I haven’t really listened to it since release.

Park Jihoon – THE ANSWER

Idk what’s going on in this music video either. But I feel like there’s some similar energy to Baekho’s music video. At least Jihoon’s tries to do that full circle story telling, so I get there’s some plot, I just didn’t get it. Similar to “No Rules”, I didn’t care for “NITRO”.

Also, a fine album. I love “Moon&Back”. “Frame” is my other fave song from THE ANSWER. I think I might like “Nitro” later on. But for now it’s my least favorite title track from mr. Jihoon. But nothing new to sit at the king or God table when it comes to Jihoon songs.

Stray Kids – MAXIDENT

ANOTHER album where I don’t care for the title track, what is going on this month? My favorite songs off MAXIDENT are “Can’t Stop” and “3RACHA”. I love a good rap line track like “3RACHA” where it’s just them doin what they do best.

I tend to have a lot of faves that are members of rapline (S.Coups, Taeyong, Hongjoong) but not too many groups have songs I get excited about, only the rappers on. So “3RACHA” was a nice surprise for me.

“Can’t Stop” felt like a Day6 song in the best way. Now I want a full on Seungmin and I.N subunit with a rock concept like “Can’t Stop”. “TASTE” is my next fave off the album. I haven’t listened to it much since release. I’m still more of a “Wow” girlie, and I hate I wasn’t there when it was initially released.

But I think they’ll be songs I’ll listen to a lot. Especially as it gets closer to my rescheduled SKZ concert and additional dates. Let’s fricken goooooo I’m so excited for March 2023. I gotta start planning outfits.

Stray Kids has like 4 music videos this era. I love the styling and plots of all of them. I think “CASE 143” is my favorite plot wise, then “Give Me Your TMI”, love a good heist plot.

Kep1er – Dreams

I listened to TROUBLESHOOTER and I thought it was alright. If I was working on a project and wanted something on in the background, and something I was listening ended and this album or one of the songs started, I wouldn’t be in a rush to change it.

But it’s also not something I’d see myself looking to listen to again in its entirety. “Dreams” is my favorite song off the album. “Lion Tamer” and “Downtown” were also songs I liked, but not enough to save them to a playlist or just on Spotify liked songs.

Kwon Eunbi – Croquis & Flash

We love a good dance track. I think that’s my favorite sound from her. No surprise to anyone who’s followed ATK for even a short amount of time.

I knew from the first few seconds I was gonna love “Croquis”. It gave me a little bit of “Glitch” vibes. I’m here for that. I love the slightly slower pace and chill vibe of “Flash”. That’s another song that scratches a very particular itch.

UP10TION – What If Love & Bloom

UP10TION is a group to me that had so much potential, but they just weren’t able to come back after that scandal that happened so early on in their career. Idk how big of a following they have in Korea, must be enough for them to still be hanging on. I’ve popped in and out on their releases.

I haven’t really had much that made me think, “Huh, maybe I am sleeping on them.” I took a chance to see if their 11th mini album Code Name: Arrow would have any gems on it. I was pleasantly surprised.

I really enjoyed “What If Love” and “Bloom”. So idk maybe I should do a deeper dive and see if there are some tunes I missed over the last few years since “Attention”, which is still one of my favorite Kpop songs ever.

PinkFantasy – Get Out

Slaps. I haven’t really checked for them previously. But I love the horror vibes with this release. “Get Out” song wise is so good. I love the spooky doll like way they sing the chorus. I’ll have to check out more of their stuff.

WEi – Moonlight & Spray

I’ve missed being excited about WEi’s new releases. So when I started listening to Love Pt.2 : Passion, I was surprised I was enjoying it, lol. I don’t love the full album, but I think we’re slowly getting back on track.

“Moonlight” is a light, chill song. “Spray” is good. I was surpised that “Spray” was the title track. This is the first title I’ve liked of theirs in a while. I listened to the album first, then looked for a music video on YouTube.

Nothing spectacular about either song really, I just think they sound good. “Know Ya” and “Twilight” still sit in the God tier for me when it comes to WEi songs.

ALICE – Lavish & Dance On

FINALLLY. Alice finally give us some upbeat bops to jam to. I love both of the songs on this single album. I wonder when we’ll get a mini or full length album from them. Maybe early next year?

The styling in “Dance On” is sooo good. I love all their outfits. I think the tennis ones were my favorite, but I’d wear anything from this video.

Side note, I noticed since they rebranded from Elris, now my saved songs from their old name are gone. So now I gotta binge their music to remember which ones I had saved again. It’s been so long since I’ve listened to all their music, so that’ll be fun.

CLASS:y – Tick Tick Boom & Zealous

Another group I see and don’t pay too much attention to. I loved both of these songs. “Tick Tick Boom” is my favorite out of the two. But I see myself listening to both frequently. I might need to revisit some of their other stuff.

ATBO – Magic & Boost

“Magic” feels like an AB6IX song in a good way. I was afraid I wasn’t gonna like any songs from The Beginning : 始作. But once we got to “Magic” my faith was restored.

The “Boost” being right after was such good placement. The rest of the album after “Boost” is fine. I just didn’t save those. But it looks like I’ll be keeping an eye on ATBO.

Jiselle – Way U Are feat BIG Naughty

I wasn’t expecting another single from Jiselle after just releasing a mini album, but I will take everything she gives us.

“Way U Are” is a little bit of a slower paced song but not full on boring ballad. I love it. I think this is the second song, Big Naughty has been on recently I enjoyed. I think he was also on that Gemini song “1,2,3” as well.

Side note, I need a fur hat like hers in this picture. It’s so cutee.

Gemini, Mirani, & GroovyRoom – Rollin’

And speaking of Mr. Gemini, I almost forgot to add “Rollin’” to this list. I listened to it the same day it was released on Spotify and I said I was gonna take a screenshot to remind myself to add it to the October faves, and then I forgot. I love it. It’s your typical Gemini song. I like Mirani’s rap. I just don’t think you can go wrong with a GroovyRoom production.

Alright, October is done! I can’t believe we got two months left of the year. I’m expecting there to be a bit of a rush to get the remaining 2022 music out. I’m excited to see how we’re gonna end the year music wise. What were y’alls fave songs this month?

I have a lot planned over the next two months. Bringing back some series, starting new ones, a few sponsor posts are in the works as well. So please look forward to all that.

I’ll see y’all next post!

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Ash 🦦