Man, YTM sure likes to keep us on our toes! The Spring Recap, now known as the March-May Recap, dropped on June 11. After the long wait for the Winter Recap, I hadn’t expected to see it so soon. My guess was late June or early July. It was odd for it to pop up on a Tuesday instead of the usual Friday too. But I’m not complaining. I was more than ready to explore my latest listening habits.
Overview
As its name says, this recap covers the period between March 2024 and May 2024. According to YTM, I listened for 4,669 minutes (or ~78 hours). That’s only a 27-minute difference from the winter period. I guess I’ve been pretty consistent about when and how I listen to music lately.
While my Winter 2023 and Winter 2024 numbers are fairly similar (4,797 minutes and 4,696 minutes respectively), there’s quite a difference between my spring numbers for this year and last year (6,125 minutes and 4,669 minutes respectively). I have no idea what’s going on there. I probably need more data.
Of course, there are some other numbers to look at:
- Top Musical Mood – Dramatic (33%, same as last season)
- Top Genre – K-Pop (53%, down from 66%)
- Top Playlist – N/A, I haven’t used any playlists lately.
Okay, on to the other categories!
Top Spring Artists
For the second season in a row, THE BOYZ is my top artist. I’m still having my weekly marathons of their music videos, while also diving deeper into their B-sides. I’ve even learned all of the members’ names now (finally). I’m well on my way to being a full-fledged Deobi.
The rest of the list, however, has changed a little. ATEEZ falls from #2 to #5, while NCT 127 moves up from #3 to #2. WayV and OnlyOneOf drop off the list altogether and are replaced by Tomorrow X Together at #3 and NCT Dream at #4.
Top Spring Tracks
There are some familiar faces in different places when it comes to my top songs as well. THE BOYZ’s “Watch It,” which was my top song last season, slides down to second place. Oddly, THE BOYZ’s “Roar” and NCT 127’s “Fact Check” stay in the exact same positions as before, at #3 and #4 respectively. I’m not sure how that happened.
That only leaves two new tracks, NCT Dream’s “Smoothie” and Tomorrow x Together’s “Puma.”
#1 – “Smoothie” (NCT Dream)
“Smoothie” is the lead single from NCT Dream’s latest EP, DREAM()SCAPE. I went through my usual NCT song reaction cycle—unsure on the first few listens, then totally in love. I’ll talk more about the song’s meaning when I discuss the whole album, which is my Top Album, later on. For now, I’m going to discuss the STUDIO CHOOM video, which is largely the reason why the song ranks so high.
I don’t have to tell you that the guys kill this performance, right? Cuz they do. They always do. The choreography is fire, full of NCT’s signature swagger. My favorite part comes after the bridge. The guys surround Jisung and slowly sink to their knees in unison as he repeatedly whispers “smoothie” and moves his hands like he’s the puppet master controlling their movements. It’s so cool. Plus, they look cute and casual wearing black-green-and-purple outfits that fit their personal styles.
Jaemin is the clear MVP of this video in my opinion. He has a lot of center parts, and he owns every single one. He never wastes an opportunity to flirt with the camera either, whether it’s one of his adorably mischievous smiles or a blush-inducing wink. He bias-wrecked the heck outta me in a very serious way, I won’t lie.
And if that isn’t bad enough, Jeno makes it hard to ignore him too. He’s hitting that choreo like a boss and spitting them bars like he’s on a mission. During the ending fairy section, he does something particularly evil. He slips his jacket down enough to reveal his insane shoulders, then quickly yanks it back up and saunters off like nothing happened. I was speechless.
#5 – “Puma” (Tomorrow X Together)
This is another instance where I obsessed over a STUDIO CHOOM performance for a song until it ranked. In this case, it was the older song “Puma,” one of the first songs that I ever heard from TXT. “Puma” continues to be one of my favorites. I like the beat and the lines, “West Side/East Side/ Didn’t know where to, where to go, no.” I had seen the official music video tons of times, but I had never seen the STUDIO CHOOM video. A YouTube recommendation brought it to my attention.
It’s epic in its simplicity. The image of Yeonjun—dressed completely in black, with bright yellow-blonde hair and a chain going between his (fake) lip ring and his earring—rapping while perched on Huening Kai and Soobin’s backs is impossible to forget. That moment alone is worth the price of admission. Throw in the rest of the members, who are similarly oozing awesomeness and displaying impressive stage presence, and I couldn’t stop watching.
Top Spring Albums
The only album that remains from the winter is Ten’s self-titled solo EP, which falls two spots to #3. Those songs continue to have a hold on me. Even though I purchased the album from Amazon’s Download Store, I still watch the music videos a lot, which explains why it didn’t fall that far.
Beyond that, I have a whole new batch of albums that I enjoyed.
1 – DREAM()SCAPE (NCT Dream)
For the last few years, Dream seems to have been straddling the musical fence, so to speak. On one hand, the unit has been marketed towards a young-ish audience since the members debuted as teenagers themselves, which has necessitated age-appropriate music to match. On the other hand, they’re all twenty-somethings now and the songs have been increasingly reflecting their new maturity level (hello, “Poison”). The music’s quality has never suffered, but it sometimes felt like they were locked in a battle with themselves.
Well, I think the deadlock has been resolved. Thanks to the introduction of the Wish members, whose ages range from mid-teens to early twenties, the Dreamies can finally hand off their bubblegum personas and some of their teenage audience to their NCT juniors and fully embrace a more grown-up image.
DREAM()SCAPE is a solid step in their evolution. From the moment the EP was announced, I knew something had changed. Instead of their usual bright and playful concept photos, these photos are dark, both in color and tone. In one set, the unsmiling guys are wearing black-and-white school uniforms and sport bruised and bloody bare feet. The other visuals are dark too. A series of pre-release videos show the members acting out a storyline where they’re recruits in some kind of military school who decide to escape the facility together. So much for working at the video store!
Moreover, “Smoothie” is the perfect transitional single. Just as a smoothie is part liquid and part solid, the song sounds similar to “ISTJ,” their previous album’s lead single, but it’s much grittier. The lyrics have the same half and half feeling. On the first listen, the song sounds purely sexual because of English lyrics like “Feels sticky on me” and “Sip it down real smooth, you know.” But when you drill down into the translation, it’s about the pains of growing up. During the bridge, Renjun sings, “No matter the agony, I’m fine with it/Never did I expect only sweetness.“
Most of the EP’s other songs follow a similar theme of escaping one’s current circumstances, or of navigating a path forward. Even the songs that don’t necessarily fit the theme lyrically, like “Carat Cake,” still fit the theme sonically. Kudos to them! I love this new direction. I’m excited to see where they go from here.
2 – YOUTH (Doyoung)
So, Doyoung, OG NCT member and another one of my top NCT biases, released his first solo album in April. I was so happy! Not only is he pretty as pretty can be, but he seems like a genuinely nice and caring guy. Most importantly, he has an insane voice! Even now, three years after I started listening to NCT, there are still times when he surprises me with the depths of his power and range. He’ll hit a certain high note, and I’ll think, “Okay, that’s new.” He absolutely earned his own moment in the spotlight.
Unlike some people, I’m not disappointed that YOUTH isn’t R&B. The contemporary pop/rock vibe that Doyoung chose suits him well. His vocals are heavenly. He pours his freaking heart out singing about love and heartache. It’s a pleasure to listen to. I felt every single note out of his mouth deeply.
The album pretty much has no skips amongst its ten tracks. My top faves are “From Little Wave” and “Serenade,” but “Time Machine” is the clear star of the show. I looked forward to this track from the moment it was announced because of its featured artists: Mark Lee (Doyoung’s fellow Neo) and Taeyeon.
Mark, who is generally known for his amazing rapping skills, starts off the song singing. Singing! I always savor the occasions when he uses his lovely singing voice because they don’t happen often enough for my liking. Mark and Doyoung singing and harmonizing together makes things even more magical.
Taeyeon’s parts with Doyoung are equally special. She’s unquestionably a talented vocalist, one of the few people out there who can keep up with Doyoung. But neither of them put their pipes to full use here. They’re just two singers effortlessly sailing along on the music and sounding beautiful doing so.
Well done, Doyoung! Keep up the fantastic work!
4 – minisode 3: Tomorrow (TXT)
As much as I love TXT’s music, their EPs are stronger than their full albums in my opinion. None of the individual songs on their full albums are bad, but they never work together as tightly as those featured on, say, their minisode 2: Thursday’s Child or The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION EPs. These mini albums have been consistently excellent, a cohesive five- or six-song run of hits in one package.
minisode 3: Tomorrow upholds their successful EP legacy. It has seven solid tracks, including a brief Morse code message and a remix of the lead single “Deja Vu.” The most exciting tracks, however, are the two unit songs. Taehyun, Beomgyu, and Huening Kai have “Quarter Life,” and Yeonjun and Soobin have “The Killa (I Belong To You).”
I tried not to play favorites between the units. Both songs are good. “Quarter Life” is a nice song with a surprising yet welcome F-bomb. But let’s be honest: “The Killa” was destined to win me over. It checks all of my boxes. Yeonjun and Soobin, my bias and my bias-wrecker, dancing together? Yes, please. A laid-back island vibe with some Spanish guitar and a banging beat? Living for it. Spicy lyrics like “I want you to tame me now” and a live performance full of hip-rolling and teasing touches? Absolutely yes. It’s so perfect.
5 – Science Fiction (Utada Hikaru)
Once upon a time, I was a diehard J-Pop fan and Utada Hikaru was my ult of ults. I own most of their albums, including their 2017 Single Collection, their two English releases, and all of their releases from Ultra Blue to Bad Mode. Their music was the soundtrack to my daily bus rides to community college. While I rarely listen to J-Pop these days, I still keep up with Utada’s new music releases. They will always be tops in my book.
For their twentieth anniversary in the biz, Utada released a best collection called Science Fiction. Obviously, I didn’t think I needed the album. But then I heard that some of the songs had been reworked, and I was eager to hear the changes. Instead of a bunch of remixes, which is what I had expected, Utada had completely transformed the songs. The new versions don’t necessarily beat the original versions in most cases, but the changes often present the songs in a different light.
On the first listen, I went straight to the reworked version of “Hikari,” the Japanese version of the first Kingdom Hearts game’s theme song. “Hikari” has always been one of my favorite Utada songs. Something about it is so raw and hard-hitting. It has brought me to tears on more than one occasion. I would totally slay it if I had to lip-sync for my life.
The new version definitely feels more modern. And…lighter. Their delivery is softer than before, and their voice sounds more mature. The hard guitar riff that punctuates the end of many of the verse’s lines is entirely gone. In fact, the music is barebones until it kicks in during the second chorus, and even then, it’s minimal—just a hint of bass. I love it.
After the album dropped, Utada also released a reworked version of “Simple & Clean,” the English version of “Hikari” (for lack of a better description) as a single. It’s largely the same as the reworked “Hikari,” just like the original version was more or less the same as the original “Hikari.” Utada even threw in a Japanese lyric from “Hikari” towards the end. I lucked out and was able to download this version from Freegal. It’s one of the few Utada songs I was missing.
Conclusion
So, that’s it for the first part of the year. Since YTM seems to be taking the recaps three months at a time, I guess the next one will cover June, July, and August, which means we probably won’t get the Summer Recap until sometime in September.
But what happens after that? Will there still be no Fall Recap (aka September through November)? Only the future will tell.
Header Photo © “White Headphones” @ Moose Photos from Pexels via Canva.com