There are few things I enjoy more than a great summertime song. They’re bright, they’re exciting, and they remind me of my favorite time of the year.

There’s no telling what this summer in K-pop will bring, but over the next few weeks I’ll be flashing back each day, showcasing a highlight from past summers. The rules are simple: I fire up my carefully compiled “K-pop summer” playlist, hit ‘shuffle,’ and if the song that pops up hasn’t already been featured on the site, it gets a post and mini-review of its own.

So, get ready for a summer of K-pop on The Bias List!

(View all the Summer of K-pop songs here)

<< Song 31 >>

Golden Child – Sea (2017)

A teaser of sorts, Sea was performed at Golden Child’s first showcase months before their debut album dropped. It remains a career highlight, drawing upon the guys’ infectious energy and bolstering it with a mammoth synth loop that forms the song’s beat-drop chorus. I’m not usually a huge proponent of this approach, but there’s enough going on around this instrumental to compensate for the relative lack of melody at Sea’s core. The rap is fun and youthful, the verses have a welcome tightness to them, and the shimmering bridge makes for a gorgeous interlude. But, it’s Golden Child themselves who make this work, imbuing the track with undeniable personality.