『 maze of memories ✩ 』

I was afraid of letting go of you;

놓을 수밖에 없어 난;

But I had to let go of you;

It’s all good now.

Levanter (바람) // Stray Kids (스트레이 키즈) [x]

Omgosh I don’t even know where to begin ! Of course Stray Kids now hold a special number 1 place in my heart and I don’t see any other groups overtaking anytime soon; then things happened; I realised I did not even posted anything in related to Astronaut :( Took time to cope and the boys are now back with a vocal-driven track, easily my favourite title track ever ! The moment Chan started singing, I started sobbing.. from the start to the end. Jeongin’s verse and Felix’s “It’s all good now” he sounded so reassuring. I feel like all burden when it comes to this amazing have been lifted. I don’t feel worried anymore I think the boys would be able to do well.. Also I love Minho’s falsetto ! I’m so happy they have decided to give Minho more singing lines this time around !

니가 등장하면서부터 Ever since you entered;

내 삶과 꿈 미래 그 모든 게;

My life, my dreams, my future;

바뀌어.

Everything has changed.

Sweet Chaos // DAY6 (데이식스) [x]

Ahhhhh I love this comeback so much ! It took me 2 long days to finally write a long write up about them (I skipped elaborating on the previous post too despite posting about them because I’ve been feeling very upset over irl things and now that things have gotten slightly better, I can definitely talk about the boys who save my life time and time again with their music, no other than DAY6 !

This comeback is amazeballs; I don’t even know where should I begin. Initially upon first listen I couldn’t really connect with Sweet Chaos; but then suddenly something hit me right away; it sounded like a My Chemical Romance song ! Ahhh my first band loves. Then I began falling for the song more and more and now it’s as high up as #2 in my album ranks ! (Will rank them later below; heh) The drums reminded me of House of Wolves and the chord progression reminded me of Dead! ? Just that this song is definitely the more pop-rock version instead of angsty-emo. I love Brian’s compositions so much he truly carries DAY6 if not for him, we wouldn’t be getting all these bops (and the other members too ! But Brian is *throws hearts* 

I’m also super thrilled to see them doing so well in digitals ! They are truly that superband that every celebrity would event recommend haha. And I’m grateful they got the chance to perform live with plugged amps for MNet Countdown omgosh. This is a hugggggeeeeee achievement cause no bands have ever done it outside Studio M and they get to do so on the normal stage ! My super talented 5 boys, who excel in live performance too. I’m still having PCD and it has almost been a month already and I still cannot get over that I managed to see them live in Singapore. Amazing, amazing day and it will go down in history as one of the best fandom days in my life;; ever. 

Anyways I hardly do this but since I love DAY6’s music way too much I actually ended up ranking their songs ! The ranks will probably change over time but what wouldn’t change is that this album is definitely my album of the year. Nothing will ever be able to top this this year. ♡

1) 마치 흘러가는 바람처럼 (Like a Flowing Wind)

2) Sweet Chaos

3) Not Fine (나빠)

4) Not Mine

5) Deep In Love

6) Rescue Me

7) Emergency

8) 365247

9) 막말 (Stop Talking) (TMI; I didn't like the Latin Beats but the Chorus slaps so hard haha)

10) 지금쯤 (About Now)

멈추지 마 너와 난 Make it right. You and I can make it right.

Shake off confused worries in my head;

어디로 갈까 하는 질문;

이젠 상관없어;

Where should I head to doesn’t matter anymore;

발길이 닿는 대로 어떤 곳이든

Whereever the steps take me,

난 Runnin'

느슨해진 신발 끈을;

다시 묶어 Movin'

I’m runnin’, retie my loose shoelaces, movin’

Now I’m free, get up;

어디든 나는 갈 수 있어;

Get up, I can go anywhere;

Free, get up !

갈 길을 가지 뭐든 비켜;

Spread the wings and start the dream.

“Double Knot” // Stray Kids (스트레이 키즈) [x]

I’m finally back to announce that over the past few months, Stray Kids have gone from becoming one of my ultis to MY #1 ULT. It seems crazy when I think of it, but I’ve grown to love these boys so much it’s not even surprising anymore (among to close friends and mutuals at least !)

Song is very “Stray Kids,” disjointed and loud noises, with adlibs and obvious their catchphrase “Stray Kids,” which is evident in most of their songs. The “da dadada, dadadada da” part is so catchy I’m so happy Seungmin was given the chance to sing that hook  !he choreography is amazing as usual, when would SKZ’s choreography not be amazing anyways ? I’m a bit overwhelmed by the amount of content they release every week though I will always have them to catch up with them. And that means neglecting other groups (guilty as charged !) Also, the more I listen to this song, the more I love it. I guess I’m just trapped with Stray Kids for life, not complaining. They will probably be the ult group I’d end my kpop career with haha.

Flying higher and higher through the sky, yeah; 

이 세상 끝까지 모두가 놀라 놀라게; 

Until the end of this world everyone is surprised; 

기대해도 좋아; 

You can look forward to it, 

뻔하지 않잖아; 

It’s not obvious at all; 

시작할게 멋지게 끝을 모르게 울려 퍼져. 

That I would start ringing it wonderfully.

BIM BAM BUM (빔밤붐) // Rocket Punch (로켓펀치) [x]

Well, I expected a new girl group from Woollim this year but still I cannot help but to feel slightly thrilled when the first teaser dropped, low-key feeling excited cause I watched all the teasers and I know this is my ‘type’ of girl group that I would stan. And yes, these girls are totally my type ! I cannot wait for their Idol Room appearance next week, I want to see how funny Suyun can be (she’s tall and pretty and sing and has craaaaazy charisma; definitely my bias for now and her vocals (again) I love her voice so much !) I really like these girls’ vocals, very stable but considering the fact that this is a Woollim group, I guess it’s a given thing. Maknae also sounds really good as well ! And Juri of course, glad Woollim picked this girl up cause she’s a talent. :’) 

I hope Woollim would eventually add Eunbi and Chaewon in but considering the circumstances, I’ll try to be as optimistic as possible. If Eunbi joins the group in the future she would have a 10-year age gap with Dahyun omg gasp.

내 안에 있는 Dream 난 자신 있어. A dream inside me, I’m confident.

ICY // ITZY [x]

I’ll jam the heck outta this. It’s such a bop !!! I love these girls for releasing busy, disjointed but still super catchy bops because this is exactly the type of songs that I’ll dig haha. They really fill the void of that girlgroup that I used to ulti before their company screwed them over, shelved them disbanded them after more than a year of doing so (well is it too much to guess which group anyways *big sigh*). Everyone looks so pretty here ! And I guess they probably filmed this in the states, I also laughed at the fact that JYP’s 4th gen groups have been using foreigners for their music videos lately haha it feels like a trend.. Chaeryeong and Yuna totally stole the show for me. Yuna is so charismatic for being a 15 year-old teenager omg !! And as usual my girl Yeji is being her fierce self I love her so much !! From the glimpses of the choreo from the MV, I have a feeling it’s going to be so good. Well, this group’s strongest element is their dance choreography anyways so my expectations are always high and I know I won’t be left disappointed. 

Woots ! Currently on a work-cation, finally gotten around to write a quick post about my favourite superband; I wish I could write more but it’s going to be difficult for the time being because my brain’s all over the place ! I have 6 (YES DAY6 SIX 6 SIX) research papers to read for tomorrow’s course, I still haven’t gotten around in writing my proposal and I have an exam next week haha. Gotta keep this short and simple ! The whole album is amazing from start to finish, and of course they picked the most mainstream song as their title track; it’s a bop ! More like an anime opening title, which explains why is it so. darn. catchy. ! I’m still bummed the boys are skipping Malaysia for their World Tour (again) .. so this time around, I’ll be flying to Singapore to see them instead ! I do not want to live a life with regrets, and this form of YOLO-ing might seem small as compared to my other fandom friends who would probably do 300 times more than what I’d do, but to be able to see them live; that is my goal already. Also, that’s a very very big form of YOLO already. Can’t wait to finally see them in October !

The boys whom I love from the very beginning; it’s amazing to see how much love you’ve gotten over the years. The growth is immense, and I’m proud to be there every step of the way.

Gasp. When I heard that they are tackling the psychedelic trance genre, the only thing I could think of is “oh noes; another clubbing track ?” So I approach all the teasers with caution because I was afraid that I would dislike it. And the album got leaked earlier today ! So listened to all three songs without any idea of how the choreography would be like; and I was quite iffy with 부작용 (Side Effects !) Probably cause the rave chorus took too much of the song and it felt empty to me, but soon; the song grew on me rofl. It is chaotic, but isn’t messy, disjointed but feels complete. 

Then the music video dropped at 6pm KST and watched it together with the song and everything suddenly falls into place. I kind of love the screams ! Complements the headache-vibes well. Well people who don’t like the song would probably complaint that the song gives them headaches, haha it gave me the right form of headaches though ! It’s very rap-heavy though so props to rapline who made the song really great. Vocal line though woah;; Woojin’s part is my absolutely favourite ! And Seungmin’s and Chan’s deep vocals too ! The music video is soooooo pretty ;; I love the aesthetics ! Storyline is probably something that I might need to figure out soon (ie. why is Seungjin fighting and the ending ! 9 or none !) but the colours ahhhh ;; too pretty. Minho driving ! Outdoor music video ! Everything that I want and more.

As for the other two songs, I love 밟힌 적 없는 길 (Road Not Taken) ! I wished they would have developed the song more and made it a proper full-length track instead of the intro; Woojin’s voice before the beat drop once again made the song so pretty ! If Chan said that this was supposed to be the title track, then his laptop might have the full song hah *winks*.  별생각 (TMT) is basically Young Wings 2.0, I cannot wait for the music video because it gives me Grow Up vibes and I absolutely love Grow Up (the music video I always come back to.. all the time)

AHHHHH I LOVE STRAY KIDS ! I love how experimental this whole group is, obviously there will be songs that one would love more, and songs that one would love less; but it’s something that the 3RACHA boys put so much hard work and effort into, you can truly see how passionate they are in making music and deliver the music and the right message to us. And this alone has completely won me over in this fandom. Definitely staying, no doubt.

Everything is too pretty !!!! Took me long enough to calm my thoughts and really write about this solo debut, it still feels like a dream to me. It’s my first time liking a soloist this much; I’m glad I made the choice to watch Produce back in Year 2017 because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to be on this amazing ride, seeing Jaehwan growing from strength to strength to become the singer he is today.

I’ll remember you in memory;

잠시만 내 얘기를 들어줘; Just wait and listen to me;

네가 필요해 다 와 가잖아; I need you to come with me;

대체 언제 어둠 속을 벗어나게 할 거야. I’m going to get you out of this darkness.

Sunrise (해야) // GFRIEND (여자친구) [x]

It’s 2019 ! 10 days to Korea !! 14 days into the year and we’ve found ourselves a great release to kick off the new year. GFRIEND is back !! This is definitely one of my favourite title tracks by them, probably up there with Navillera, Time for the Moon Night and Fingertip ! I love how consistent their sound has been in the past 4 years, kpop listeners might complain that they show no growth and development in their music, play safe etc. etc. To me, I’m just glad they choose not to evolve much but to show slight changes to their music (well we did see slight growth when you compare stuff from debut days ie. Glass Bead and Sunrise). With that aside, I love this song so much ! I think Umji has more singing lines this time around ! I especially love the bridge that connects the chorus and the verse.. song might come off as disjointed on paper especially when the verses are completely different than the choruses but for a disjointed track, they managed to execute the song quite well ! And the ending ! It has been a while since we’re gotten a key change in a girl group song haha I was pleasantly surprised ! This sounds like a song composed by Jinyoung (I almost typed B1A4 omg sorry but you know I mean ;;) .. and I’m a key change enthusiast so I approve of this ! We even got a relay high note by Yuju-SinB-Eunji at the end ! Girls be slaying with those high notes.

ah what happy days; 꿈만 같았었지

it was like a dream; 이제 더는 없겠지만;

now though there won’t be more; 지난 날로 남겨야지.

"행복했던 날들이었다" (days gone by) // DAY6 [x]

The boys have outdone themselves, yet again. So good ! The 80s retro pop feel heyyyy; when you say DAY6 can slay any genre; that’s nothing but the truth. I’ve been listening to the entire album for hours now and it just gets better every, single, freaking time. I still don’t know how I can love this group for 3 years and counting and not buy a single album by them. Hah; that’s about to change pretty soon too ! Will see what I can get in Korea. MIght just do a mini JYP winter haul tbh.  Fingers crossed. Anyways this album is soooooo good ! Aside from the obvious tearjerker "아픈 길" (hurt road) which hits right at home.. “121U” is my personal favourite ! I love the chorus ! As expected of collapsedone and its history of having melodic choruses in their songs. Also I like that this theme have a certain throwback feel to it, as compared to Youth Part 1 .. the songs from this album have mid 90s vibes to it ? They picked the right song as the title track too ! (I always think that JYP groups are smarter when it comes to picking title tracks ㅋㅋ) . Easily my favourite release out of my ultis for the past 1 month (I love the rest too, but DAY6’s music will never do wrong for me; 3 years and counting).

At the end of the winter;

봄이 되어준 널 만난 건;

I met you who became the spring;

Oh miracle 내겐 너무도;

Oh miracle, for me, it’s such a;

기적 같은 일인 걸;

Miraculous thing;

네가 온 후로 난;

Ever since you came here;

이제는 겨울이 춥지만은 않아;

The winter’s not cold as it used to be anymore;

날 바라보는;

Because I have you;

네가 있기에.

Who is looking at me.

Miracle // GOT7 [x]

Of all the words in the world, the one I could never hate; 아픔을 가진 말은 oh 너 뿐이야.

But the one that holds so much pain oh is you. 

Help Me // NU’EST W (뉴이스트 W) [x]

We’ll meet again; 봄바람이 지나가면;

When the spring breeze passes; 환하게 웃을게 (웃을게);

I’ll smile brightly; 봄바람이 지나가면 (다 지나가면).

When the spring breeze passes.

Spring Breeze (봄바람) // Wanna One (워너원) [x]

So I was on a family trip when Wanna One’s final comeback album dropped, and obviously I forgot to write my musings about the entire comeback. Hah, I better do it before more comebacks flood my way (there are NU’EST W / Lovelyz tomorrow and DAY6 in December !) 

Wanna One ahhhh. The boys who literally took away my money in the entire 2018. It has been a ride, hasn’t it ? 11 amazing boys came together for 1.5 years; took my heart (and money away). I have to admit that Spring Breeze was a snoozefest when I listened to it for the first time. I wasn’t focused at all ! Was in the car, with mom and sis’ sister-in-law both next to me, when I watched the MV and started sobbing like a baby, I definitely cried because of the boys and not because of the song hah. Then I ripped the album from youtube (I have no melon, no apple music because I’m cheapskate and poor like that) and the songs all sounded mediocre to me. Then I realised they sounded below average due to the fact that all the .mp4s I ripped were of 320p haha. The songs sounded so much better on spotify ! (Maybe it’s just an excuse for me being a typical trash) Ahhhhh; everything is coming to an end. It feels so surreal. I really hope the boys would have a successful career in 2019. I’ll definitely miss them, I’ll miss Jaehwan too. Someone actually commented that Jaehwan won’t be able to do adlibs anymore if he goes solo, and it actually broke my heart a little. I mean, they can edit his adlibs into his main singing parts but the flow might not be as pretty as when other people are singing the melody. ifywim. Enough about Jaehwan. Daniel’s singing kinda mirrored Jaehwan’s improvement in dance too; I’m incredibly proud of him. Daniel has been my number 3 from the start of Wanna One ;; and it’s great that we’re ending things with him singing more because singing Daniel is what captivates me the most.

Songs-wise, the entire album is really pleasant to my ears (was a snoozefest at first but things changed quick phew thank goodness). My favourites are Track 1 to Track 11 ! But if I had to pick, it has to be 집 (One's Place), 술래 (Hide & Seek), 소나무 (Pine Tree), Beautiful Part II (duh !) and 12번재 별 (12th Star). Basically the ballads are tugging at my heartstrings, I can totally imagine them singing them one last time at final con and breaking my heart (for that one last time) along the way. Sigh; I’m not ready. But guess all things must come to an end.

This would be my last Wanna One tumblr post, I guess…. Parting is inevitable, some goodbyes might be painful, but it would also mean that better things are coming in the near future.