HALLYU RELEASE RADAR: FEBRUARY 2023
BY BRENESSA ROACH | FEBRUARY 26 2023
Welcome back to the second “Hallyu Release Radar” – a monthly blog post where I share my top Korean songs released in the month.
February was one busy month in the Korean music industry with many, many comebacks and debuts. February is the month of love, a a month to be loved and to give love, so I will be sharing with you 10 new songs that I loved this month with my whole entire heart. All of the songs are from artists mostly under 150K monthly listeners. For specific comebacks, make sure you visit our “Comeback Corner” section. As always, you can find all the songs in a playlist at the end of this post.
Released on: February 1
bandi is a Korean rock/alt band I came across this month and I am a fan. In general, I love Korean rock and bandi’s music is literally such a vibe. “so we are” is the lead single on their single album so we are, which also has another song titled “non-native”. This group seems to have debuted on February 1st with this single album. They still only have less than 200 listeners which is why I want to share them and support them.
Listen to “so we are” by bandi on Spotify:
Released on: February 2
I recently started listening to Sonny Zero, hevel and DASU because I really like their vibes. “Dew” is the third song on their collaboration album titled Places We Knew. It’s also my favourite song on the album but, I did really like every single song. This song has an acoustic yet R&B vibe to it and it’s really calming to listen to. As well, Sonny Zero, hevel and DASU have other songs that are really amazing! Can’t wait to hear what else they will release in the future.
Listen to “Dew” by Sonny Zero, hevel and DASU on Spotify:
Check out Sonny Zero, hevel and DASU on Instagram: @sonny_zero, @hevvvel and @wellmadedasu
Released on: February 8
“sweet and sour” made it into my monthly Spotify receipt so that tells you how much I love this song. I love the vibes of this song and maybe I’m crazy for this but, the song production literally has a sweet aspect to it but also has a sour, tangy feel to it. I also absolutely love the album cover which is what made me listen to the song. I believe Sugarbowl is an indie rock band with a main vocalist and some musicians. Their other songs are great as well but, definitely “sweet and sour” is the style I enjoy.
Listen to “sweet and sour” by Sugarbowl on Spotify:
Check out Sugarbowl on Instagram: @sugarbowl_official
Released on: February 9
“Ferrari” is such a sweet, melodious song by the singer 40. I don’t have much information about 40 but he has about 13K monthly listeners and he has been featured on a lot of Spotify curated playlists such as; voKal, New Music K-Pop, 4:00 AM GROOVE and more. I can’t wait to hear what other songs 40 comes out with in the future.
Listen to “40” by Ferrari on Spotify:
Check out 40 on Instagram: @real40
Released on: February 9
“Traces Of Memory” is my favourite song from this blog post. I absolutely love the Indie-R&B vibes to this song. As well, the different singers all go really well together and their harmonies make this song even more enjoyable.
Listen to “Traces Of Memory” by Jayci yucca, dnss and Milena on Spotify:
Check out Jayci yucca, dnss and Milena on Instagram: @jayci_yucca, @hidnss and @moodformilena
Released on: February 12
redd is an artists I came across in the Spotify playlist “New Music K-Pop”. I really love the R&B vibes of this song. This is actually redd’s first song on Spotify so he only has about 1.6K monthly listeners. I really hope he posts more music this year because I can’t wait to see how he grows.
Listen to “ALL DAY” by redd on Spotify:
Check out redd on Instagram: @redddd94
Released on: February 12
0WAVE is a Hip-Hop/R&B group that my good friend recently recommended to me. 0WAVE consists of 5 members; VIIN, yukon, Aiboy, MODS and wooseojoon and they are signed to the label Pyrat which is owned by Korean producer/singer-songwriter Colde/offonoff. The song “time” is on their latest EP balaclava. 0WAVE currently has two EP’s now and their whole discography so far is so good! I absolutely love their vibes and I am definitely a fan of them now.
Listen to “time” by 0WAVE on Spotify:
Check out 0WAVE on Instagram: 0wave_0fficial
Released on: February 15
찰리빈웍스 (CHARLIE BEAN WORKS) is an artist I discovered through this song. I really like his vibes and I wish I knew more about him. “I should say that painful love is love too” is one of the three songs on his single album titled The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Time Travel, Pt.3. I enjoyed all three songs but this one definitely was the best one.
Listen to “I should say that painful love is love too” by 찰리빈웍스 on Spotify:
Check out 찰리빈웍스 (CHARLIE BEAN WORKS) on Instagram: @cbwcbwcbw_cbw
Released on: February 16
HELLO GLOOM is a producer and singer in the K pop and K Hip-Hop genres. He is also the head of THE FAKER CLUB label. He started releasing music in 2021 but I only discovered him through this song “Dancing In The Dark”. I absolutely loved it because it blends rock with pop and hip-hop. It’s also super catchy and got stuck in my head.
Listen to “Dancing In The Dark” by HELLO GLOOM on Spotify:
Check out HELLO GLOOM on Instagram: @hellotomygloom
Released on: February 20
Sodong is an alternative pop duo who have under 800 monthly listeners. I love their whole discography but this song “Binge-watch” is my favourite. This song is one of the songs on their new EP Tilde (~). I really like that Sodong’s music is unique because it’s in the alt-pop genre but also has elements of other genres. Excited to see what else they release in the future.
Listen to “Binge-watch” by Sodong on Spotify:
You can find all 10 songs mentioned in this article on our Spotify playlist below:
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