Best of September B-Sides
While September has already come to an end, the month has left us with some amazing comebacks from a variety of artists across K-Pop and K-Hip-Hop. With so many great songs to choose from, not just across the industry but from many singular artists alone, here is a look at some of my favorite B-sides to have been released across September.
“Come Alive” - Jackson Wang
Jackson Wang’s latest album MAGIC MAN is one of the most impressive albums ever heard, so much so that choosing just one B-side from it was a near impossible task. The one track, however, that stood out to me slightly more than the others was “Come Alive,” the sixth track on the album. “Come Alive” lies within the alt-rock genre with instrumentation composed of a sleek yet gritty electric guitar and a staccato bass, that also gives the song a slight jazz feel. Completely different from Jackson’s previous releases, “Come Alive” allows listeners to hear a different and perhaps even more mature side to Jackson, with him showing off his amazing vocal abilities and falsetto capabilities that leave casual listeners and die-hard fans wanting to hear more.
“BREAK THE GLASS” - pH-1
pH-1 may have titled the album BUT FOR NOW LEAVE ME ALONE, but we certainly can’t leave the tracks from it alone, especially the eleventh track, “BREAK THE GLASS.” For casual listeners or those who have never heard a pH-1 song before, "BREAK THE GLASS" could be a perfect introduction to pH-1's talents as not only a great rapper, but also a great singer, as the song allows both his vocal and rap abilities to shine. Using an old-school hip-hop beat accompanied by a smooth piano arrangement, “BREAK THE GLASS” exudes a strong, nostalgic feel while the autotune effects on his vocals and the switch-ups between rapping and singing keep it fresh and modern. So, sit back and start "sipping on some white wine" and check out pH-1’s live performance of “BREAK THE GLASS” for ESQUIRE Korea below.
“FULL MOON” - ONEUS
The penultimate track from ONEUS’s latest album MALUS, “FULL MOON” gives off a dark and sultry vibe that leaves you wanting more from this concept once the song comes to an end. With mesmerizing falsettos, a sudden yet powerful rap section, and an intricate, distorted beat and vocal effects, “FULL MOON” delivers an exciting and bold style of R&B that we can’t get enough of. Throughout their career, ONEUS have shown themselves to be strong contenders within K-Pop, and the delivery of “FULL MOON” further ignites this, highlighting their incredible vocal abilities and vocal chemistry as a group. With such a powerful concept shining through the audio alone, the creative possibilities for a music video would be endless and outstanding—hopefully, we’ll get to see a strong visual concept for “FULL MOON” in the future.
Edited by Vivian N.