Song Review: P1Harmony – Blow Up

It’s always telling which day and time K-pop artists release new music. Those releasing early in the week tend to target the domestic market and Korea’s nearer neighbors, while those adhering to America’s “New Music Friday” (ie: 12am, US Eastern time) tend to compete in a more global market. P1Harmony have long been favorites of the American audience. Heck, I’ve seen them three times at KCON LA in just the past five years. This approach also colors their music. I tend to bristle most at the music from K-pop artists who deliberately target the West. It just always utilizes the same grab bag of sounds. Catchphrase hooks are popular, as is a slurred sort of vocal effect and a lackadaisical energy. This used to be underlined by trap production but has now moved onto a more hyperpop-adjacent world. The songs’ messages are usually about how cool an artist is or how they don’t really care about anything — two lyrical tropes that feel overly shallow and deliberately marketed. This is all to say, Blow Up ticks pretty much every one of these expected boxes. P1Harmony rank low on this blog’s own “Ultimate Artist Ranking” for these very reasons, but that doesn’t paint the whole picture. Dig a ...