I’ll be making my 2026 K-pop resolutions tomorrow, but before that I like to look back at my resolutions for last year and see if 2025 measured up to expectations.
In short, I probably need to be less optimistic with these wishes…
1. Heighten the melody
“Hmm… this resolution looks pretty familiar. It’s become my top wish for the past few years and I’m going to keep wishing for it until things begin to change. Yes, I will become that old man yelling at a cloud. But I will be yelling with the most melodious voice you can imagine.
Seriously, though… over the past few years melody in K-pop has become flat, muted and repetitive — if there’s melody at all! This isn’t a personal judgement, it’s just the way things are as the industry prioritizes elements like dance, visual and personality over virtuosic singing. Compared to 2023 and 2022, I actually think things are beginning to move in the right direction, but in 2025 I’d like songwriters (and specifically, topliners) to challenge themselves to craft melodies with range and drama. I promise there are idols who can handle this even with their demanding choreo.”
Did 2025 deliver? — Nope
Spoiler alert: I’m going to keep putting this on my resolutions list until something changes. If anything, songs became MORE monotone this year, with “talking over a club beat” emerging as a worrying new trend.
2. In fact, heighten everything! (and maybe add orchestration)
“I don’t want to have to write “beige pop” one more time in the new year. Let’s bring theatricality and drama back to the songs themselves… not just the concepts and imagery that often take precedence over the music. When choosing synths, don’t just go with the muted stuff everyone else is using. Pick something unique and exciting. If you’re going to throw electric guitar or brass on a track, go full-bore.
And honestly, can we get back to orchestral arrangements in K-pop? Year-end special stages often employ these elements (the orchestral mix of TWS’s hey! hey! has taken over my life these past few weeks), but lets put them on the main version of the tracks. A good strings section makes everything feel grand and thrilling and compliments the theatricality embedded in most K-pop performances.”
Did 2025 deliver? — Not really
There were a few groups who seemed to embrace the bombast of past eras (NouerA come to mind), but overall most acts opted for familiar, muted sound palettes or heavily-regimented dance beats. Orchestral flair was either elusive or buried in the mix. A big exception was RIIZE’s Ember To Solar, which in a perfect world would act as a guide for future music from SM Entertainment.
3. Producers with preferences
“I’ve given up on returning to an era of “super producers” with their own signature sounds, but I would love to hear some hitmakers who forge music that feels personalized. Too many songwriting teams in K-pop feel as if they’re answering a brief from the agencies: “Please write an Afrobeats track” of “Write something Sabrina Carpenter might sing.” In this day and age, it’s easy to switch between genres as a creator, but I’d like to hear some composers specialize in a sound that’s clearly dear to them — perfecting one style rather than copying and pasting whatever genres are popular or in-demand at the moment.”
Did 2025 deliver? — We had, like… one?
EL CAPITXN sticks out as the 2025 producer to beat in this regard. I suppose Dem Jointz also has his preferences. They just don’t align with mine. The vast majority of K-pop output was still mined from song camps, unfortunately.
4. Push past 2:30 and flesh things out
“You can certainly stuff tons of ideas into a narrow song frame, but most of my favorite music of the past year has gone beyond two and half minutes to flesh out its vision until it reaches a natural conclusion. A great bridge and climax goes a long way toward selling a song, and that’s hard to do if you’re constrained by time. And if you must stick to under three minutes, add variety to the song structure so it still feels like we’ve gone on a complete journey.”
Did 2025 deliver? — Mostly no
Overall, songs continued to be incredibly short and mostly incomplete. However, if you take a look at my top songs of the year most are among the longer ones released in 2025. So if you were willing to dig, there were some great 3+ minute highlights (AHOF’s singles, The Boyz’ VVV). It’s certainly not the norm, though. Bridges and final choruses are still way too rare in K-pop.
5. At least one girl group with a new (or old!) sound
“I’m really putting a lot of faith in SM’s upcoming girl group because each year I seem to fall further away from the girl group side of K-pop. All I ask is for one new (or established) girl group to consistently release hyper-melodic, super-propulsive pop music. No one’s doing it at the moment, and this is the first generation of K-pop where I don’t feel like I have a horse in the race when it comes to this huge (and hugely popular) side of the industry. I’m looking for a new SNSD, Kara, T-ara, Sistar, Girl’s Day, AOA, Nine Muses, GFriend, Lovelyz, WJSN or Oh My Girl. That shouldn’t be too hard to find, right?”
Did 2025 deliver? — No
There actually weren’t that many notable girl group debuts this year and the ones who did emerge (Hearts2Hearts, KiiiKiii, Baby DONT Cry) have harnessed a variety of sounds in a way that makes their overall style feel hard to identify. There certainly weren’t any new groups who can stand beside the list I mentioned above.
6. A fruitful year for my top three of 2024
“On the opposite side of the spectrum, I’m very enthused by this new generation of boy groups. In particular, TWS, RIIZE and BOYNEXTDOOR have my attention and I’m really hoping their momentum will continue into the new year. All three had stellar 2024s and have the potential to go even higher in 2025. I hope we get lots of great music from each act.”
Did 2025 deliver? — Yes! (mostly)
I continued to adore TWS’s output and they have secured their place as my bias group of this era. RIIZE’s material was a bit more mixed but their Odyssey album was boy group excellence through and through. BOYNEXTDOOR had an incredibly successful year but I found most of the music to be a downgrade from 2024 and 2023.
7. Don’t forget the b-sides (aka: albums are important, too)
“Apart from those three acts and a few others, I felt like 2024 was a much more singles-oriented year than usual. Great albums were difficult to find. On the plus side, I’m happy K-pop is back to promoting its best songs as title tracks, but I miss having killer b-sides I become equally obsessed with throughout the year.”
Did 2025 deliver? — Pretty much
There were some fantastic full and mini albums this year with some killer b-sides. There was also a lot of filler, but that’s par for the course with an industry this overstuffed and fast-moving.
8. Highlights from my old favorites
“Infinite and GFriend have already announced comebacks and G-Dragon’s album seems to be ready as well. New releases from older acts can go either way, but I’m hoping that these returns are super solid and represent the artists doing what they do best rather than simply replicating current trends. And though they’re not as senior within the industry, I’m hoping my personal favs Golden Child find a way to stick together under a new agency. They’re too talented to simply fade away.”
Did 2025 deliver? — A big NO
One of the most depressing things about this year is the fact that no Infinite, GFriend, G-Dragon, SHINee, etc song made it close to my top 50. All my old favorites are misfiring with dull material that doesn’t stack up to their past work. And as far as Golden Child? That ship — unfortunately — seems to have sailed.
9. Space out your hits
“2024 was extremely lopsided, with almost all of the best music coming out in the first half of the year. I’d like 2025 to be a bit more generous with its spacing, delivering consistently great hits all year round.”
Did 2025 deliver? — Not really
The first half of the year still felt way more potent than the second half and there were long stretches of doldrums during 2025.
10. Idols on album covers
“Physical versions of idol albums are as cool and creative as ever, but I’m sick of the digital covers (the ones we see on our phones and devices) becoming so boring. Often, they’re simply text and background. The idol industry is visual by nature. We need to put the artists back on their covers with cool, iconic photo shoots.”
Did 2025 deliver? — No
This continues to frustrate me because it’s a missed opportunity for iconography. K-pop digital album covers have become so boring. Physical albums are a bit better, but still opt for generic covers in place of full glamour shots.