Welcome to August’s K-pop highlights blog! It’s time to review some K-pop songs from August. We got a lot of releases this month. However, I struggled to choose songs for this list, so it took me some time to select the highlights for August. But I will pick the songs that are meaningful and fun to listen to.
This list is a subjective opinion, and I would love to hear your favourite songs from August. I only had the time to listen to some of the releases in August. Still, I tried, so I will add more of my favourite K-pop songs to my Spotify playlist, “Blue Tucana K-pop Favourites 2023”, which you can check out at the end of this blog.
August was a summer month in my country, and we had many music festivals here last month. We even got a Korean group, Balming Tiger, here at the Flow Festival! The show was scheduled at almost the same time as the British band Blur, so I had a little bit of deciding there. And I decided to watch the start of the Blur and then ran to the Balloon stage for the Balming Tiger! And what an entertaining show it was! It was the best show on Sunday, and the audience was so with the music. It was a fantastic experience!
The Balming Tiger performed different styles of songs, and they had choreographies for some of them. The show was captivating and excellent from start to finish. And the whole festival ended as this show was over. The group even had to come out again for the yelling crowds to tell them that they couldn’t make an encore because of the regulations in the town. I loved the show. It is so great to end a festival experience like this 😊
Let’s hop on to the August K-pop monthly highlights!
K-pop Monthly Highlights August 2023: Late Summer Vibes
BBGIRLS “ONE MORE TIME” (Single, Warner Music Korea)
Just at the start of August, BBGIRLS, formerly known as Brave Girls, released their single called “ONE MORE TIME“. The song title gives me 90’s Daft Punk vibes, but there is allegedly inspiration from an 80’s funk song by Rick James. The BBGIRLS song is an elegant-sounding disco pop song with excellent vocals and great melodies. The song’s sound is dreamy with the synths and guitars. The other song on the single is a cute and cheery pop song, “Lemonade.” Here’s a cute car video with BBGIRLS.
BBGIRLS is one of my favourite girl groups, and I am thrilled they are back with new songs! You can read my reviews on their last single, “Thank You”, on my blog, and I ranked Brave Girls'” Chi Mat Ba Ram” as my favourite song in 2021, so check out that review too! I drew this month’s picture inspired by lemonade and some of my favourite colours: minty green, purple, yellow, baby blue and pink.
Jeon Somi “Fast Forward” (EP, THEBLACKLABEL)
One of my suuupeeerrr favourites this month is the solo singer Jeon Somi’s release “Fast Forward“. It’s a highlight of August! This song combines three things I love: 1) unforgettable melodies, 2) house/EDM style pop song and 3) this reminds me of Lady Gaga’s album “Chromatica”, which I love to listen to. So, it’s a great combo and mix of all of these! And added is the fantastic vocals of Jeon Somi, with her bright charisma. We got house music sounds here and a really catchy chorus with quite cool lyrics for a pop song about love. The song was released on an EP called “GAME PLAN”, and it has another music video out, “Gold Gold Gold“.
V “Love Me Again” (EP, BIGHIT MUSIC)
This month, we also got a solo pre-release from BTS’s V (Kim Tae-hyung) from an EP called “Layover” with amazing songs. The mini-album was released this week, so it is a September release. The song “Love Me Again” was my instant favourite and a highlight this month with the dreamy and minimalistic melody and V’s amazing soft vocals. The song is a slow R&B pop song, and the end brings a surprise element to the song with the more alternative style sounds, which I love. We also have some excellent organ sounds here.
Also, the music video fits well the style and the atmosphere of the song. The other songs on the mini album also have music videos, such as the second pre-release song, “Rainy Days“. The newest song released this week is “Slow Dancing“, a mellow slow R&B song with an excellent flute solo at the end of the song, and the music video has an engaging futuristic style and story. This project looks artistic and very well done in all of its details.
LIMELIGHT “Madeleine” (Single, 143 Entertainment)
The three-piece girl group, LIMELIGHT released a cute and lovely debut pop track, “HONESTLY” about six months ago. Now they are back with a new single called “MADELEINE“. This track has a lovely melody and a tropical, summery feeling. The vocals are soft and powerful, and this track has a very catchy chorus and melody, so it is one of this month’s song highlights!
Kwon Eunbi “The Flash” (Single, Woollim Entertainment)
Another catchy and melodic pop song I chose as a highlight here is Kwon Eunbi’s elegant dance-pop track “The Flash“. Kwon Eunbi’s bright vocals fit well for this kind of pop, as her previous release, “Glitch“, from last year, was a really catchy house/club music-styled song, which I like a lot. The dance choreography of “The Flash” with the ribbons and the finger gesture makes it stand out in television pop shows. “The Flash” is a really catchy tune!
Kwon Eunbi is from the girl group Iz*One, the project group for the “Produce 48” television survival show. She has been a solo artist since 2021.
EVERGLOW “SLAY” (Single, YUEHUA ENTERTAINMENT KOREA)
The girl group EVERGLOW is also back! Their last release is from the 2021 mini-album “Return of the Girl” with the super hit single “Pirate“, which is a classic. It is so amazing to have EVERGLOW back, as they have a signature style of music with great energy. The new single “SLAY” is an EDM-style K-pop chanting song with much power.
EVERGLOW performed in London at the HallyuPopFest in 2022; the songs and the choreographies were terrific! So I’ve been waiting for a new release, and I am glad they are finally back with a great song released this month!
Summing Up August K-pop Highlights
This month, there were a lot of highlights from girl groups in this list and upbeat melodic songs. What were your favourites from August, and did you find some new great groups and artists to follow? Musically, August was full of great songs, and we are also getting into the autumn, so we may get some different moods in the K-pop releases as we go towards the autumn and winter.
August was a busy month, and I hope you are all well and inspired by whatever you are doing and trying to achieve. I will put some sunny photos from August here to remember the warmth of the late summer.
I hope you have a fantastic day, week and month ahead! Be healthy, happy and follow your dreams 😊
