The 10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2020: Critics' Picks
1. BoA, BETTER
https://img.theqoo.net/SaoBY
No K-pop star from the 21st century can claim the consistency that BoA has. For two decades, she’s released countless songs that continually prove how much more attention needs to be paid her way. Given how long BoA’s been in the industry, it can be easy to forget that she’s only 34. But as with any artist as diligent and exacting in their craft, she’s marked every year with further refinement, further reason to keep listening. BETTER, her 10th Korean studio album, is one of her strongest records to date, and it’s filled to the brim with songs that present her as someone assured in her artistry -- its excellence is obvious.
The lead single and title track, “Better,” is an early 2000s R&B throwback with robust, cinematic production. Its molasses-thick bassline and piercing strings provide a backdrop for BoA to proclaim her need for security in a relationship, and she captures the nuances elegantly. At one moment, her voice is subtly pained, aching with a desperation that longs to remain hidden; at others, she sounds fed-up with her lover’s pussyfooting, asserting her needs with an inspiring and relatable vulnerability. Never for a moment does she sound weak, and the bridge -- with its massive, shimmering synth swells -- provides a taste of how enveloping and warm her love would be if this person just committed.
The rest of the album is equally masterful in its maneuvering of emotions. On “Temptations,” pizzicato strings and brass stabs accompany shouts for a lover to give into her, her voice walking a thin line between sultry and domineering. On “All That Jazz,” she’s openly brokenhearted, and the song’s elegant arrangement finds BoA’s own complex circumstance mirrored in lively, resplendent piano. It sounds like she’s fighting back tears, but there are passages where she’s fighting for dignity as well, for a sense that this relationship was still worthwhile.
Elsewhere, there’s neon-colored synthpop (“Start Over”), sweltering disco-funk (“L.O.V.E”), and grandiose acoustic balladry (“Gravity”). But whatever BoA sings over, her voice is a marvel of performance, both in the pure skill of her delivery and in capturing subtle gradations in mood. No other K-pop album this year felt so refined, so real, so invigorating in its portrayal of the capacity for human emotions. And what more could you ask for in 2020 than an album that reminded you that, despite everything that happened, that in the good and the bad, you were still here, you were alive. -- J.M.K.
https://www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/list/9504245/best-kpop-albums-2020-top-10?__twitter_impression=true
1. BoA, BETTER
https://img.theqoo.net/SaoBY
No K-pop star from the 21st century can claim the consistency that BoA has. For two decades, she’s released countless songs that continually prove how much more attention needs to be paid her way. Given how long BoA’s been in the industry, it can be easy to forget that she’s only 34. But as with any artist as diligent and exacting in their craft, she’s marked every year with further refinement, further reason to keep listening. BETTER, her 10th Korean studio album, is one of her strongest records to date, and it’s filled to the brim with songs that present her as someone assured in her artistry -- its excellence is obvious.
The lead single and title track, “Better,” is an early 2000s R&B throwback with robust, cinematic production. Its molasses-thick bassline and piercing strings provide a backdrop for BoA to proclaim her need for security in a relationship, and she captures the nuances elegantly. At one moment, her voice is subtly pained, aching with a desperation that longs to remain hidden; at others, she sounds fed-up with her lover’s pussyfooting, asserting her needs with an inspiring and relatable vulnerability. Never for a moment does she sound weak, and the bridge -- with its massive, shimmering synth swells -- provides a taste of how enveloping and warm her love would be if this person just committed.
The rest of the album is equally masterful in its maneuvering of emotions. On “Temptations,” pizzicato strings and brass stabs accompany shouts for a lover to give into her, her voice walking a thin line between sultry and domineering. On “All That Jazz,” she’s openly brokenhearted, and the song’s elegant arrangement finds BoA’s own complex circumstance mirrored in lively, resplendent piano. It sounds like she’s fighting back tears, but there are passages where she’s fighting for dignity as well, for a sense that this relationship was still worthwhile.
Elsewhere, there’s neon-colored synthpop (“Start Over”), sweltering disco-funk (“L.O.V.E”), and grandiose acoustic balladry (“Gravity”). But whatever BoA sings over, her voice is a marvel of performance, both in the pure skill of her delivery and in capturing subtle gradations in mood. No other K-pop album this year felt so refined, so real, so invigorating in its portrayal of the capacity for human emotions. And what more could you ask for in 2020 than an album that reminded you that, despite everything that happened, that in the good and the bad, you were still here, you were alive. -- J.M.K.
https://www.billboard.com/amp/articles/news/list/9504245/best-kpop-albums-2020-top-10?__twitter_impression=true
