KISS OF LIFE’s “Sticky” is the Vibe for a Hot, Sweaty Summer
Summer is a scorcher, and so are these five tracks from API artists, both independent musicians and idols from K-Pop.
If I could pick the song of the summer, it would be the new single from nugu queens KISS OF LIFE. “How long before we fall in love?” The girls ask in “Sticky”, a euphoric track released on July 1st. Two weeks ago, the track entered the Billboard’s 200 chart at #87, while they simultaneously cracked the top ten of every major Korean chart. This is a decisive win for a group that has struggled to find an audience over the past year from when they debuted. But perhaps one of the biggest boosts for “Sticky” came from a viral performance at Waterbomb Festival in Korea a week after the song’s release. In a festival overloaded with shirtless male idols, Julie’s confidence and playfulness about her sexuality stuck out to me. During the group’s performance of “Sticky”, she tossed off her white tan top to reveal a bikini top, flipped her hair and let out a giddy laugh. The crowd promptly went wild. In an industry where female idols are made to be chaste and wholesome, KISS OF LIFE’s embrace of sexuality is not just subversive – but fun, too.
Since the release of her brilliant sophomore album “Nicole” in 2022, NIKI has positioned herself as an artist unafraid of experimentation. She can cross genres easily between R&B, pop and, now, even folk. But her throughline has always been her songwriting. Observant in tiny details about how painful love can be, NIKI is at her best when mending a broken heart. The new single “Tsunami” off her forthcoming album “Buzz”, then, is an exercise in melancholy drama. “You came crashing in like an act of God/ Shake my earth, suck the air out, burn me down,” NIKI sings over a soft instrumentation of guitars and piano. This new love wrecks her plans and takes a chokehold on her sanity as she realizes, “Fuck, I think I’m falling for you.”
Bobo.Xx likes to punch back and he swings hardest on his new single “Falling Backwards”. It’s a bright, anthemic gut punch of a record that crashes in with drums and guitars as Bobo warns, “Go save yourself cuz I’m hiding scars.” Pain has always made a worthy subject for the Vietnamese American rockstar, but with this single, Bobo is growing sick of the fuck-ups. “It’s my fault,” he admits, “and I’m tired of falling backwards.” But Bobo knows self-awareness only takes us so far, so he takes the pain and writes another crushing blow of a song.
The heat of summer is a dizzying, dangerous place for Korean singer-songwriter 4BOUT. On his imaginative double album “Fortunate Islands”, the singer tried to escape the city and a toxic love but toxic romance followed, crashing into him like the harsh waves of a rip current. But on “Sunbed”, 4BOUT hasn’t found any relief from the summer heat – or from the perils of love. “Darling, you made me tear up,” he sings in resignation. “It’s not easy to stop once it’s started.” But 4BOUT is perhaps at his most comfortable when he’s in deeply uncomfortable, traumatic situations. The sun is a scorcher, but it’s love that burns him the most.
blish isn’t interested in easy answers in music. “Wanderland”, his fierce debut album, grappled with questions about the singer’s own mortality, the resilience of his faith, and the lasting impressions of a traumatic youth in Korea. But what made “Wanderland” truly phenomenal was it’s no-hold barred production that blish engineered. The singer-producer continues this high levell of experimentation with his new single “Last words”, a collaboration with the musician a 9uy. blish’s highly distinctive voice glides over a bubbly, hyperpop beat that explores loneliness and isolation. “Wanderland is that really you?” a9uy asks and lets the question float in the air. To find the answer, you’ll have to explore.
