Most of the time, a kpop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-side tracks deserve recognition, too. In the singles-oriented world of kpop, I wanted to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve.

Sometimes k-pop comeback choices baffle me. Why Halo (or Halo’s management) would opt for the generic Here I Am when they had the powerful, melodic EDM of Flying in their back pocket just frustrates me to no end. Obviously, the group was looking to reinvent their image, moving more towards hip-hop than the straight-ahead pop they’ve been commonly linked with, but the two songs are just night and day when it comes to quality.

Flying is the kind of surging, anthemic pop track that should never be buried as a b-side for a relatively unknown group. It begins with a fizzy, piano-driven build-up before the beat drops halfway through the first verse. What follows is a standard EDM build, but rather than segue into a heard-it-a-million-times instrumental hook, the song surges towards a full-throated, soaring chorus. This is the kind of melodicism that’s been missing from a lot of boy group releases this year, and it’s also the sort of structure that endures past k-pop’s love of trend. But more than that, Flying is just an exhilarating bit of pop music. It’s a shame that not that many outside Halo’s fan base will ever hear it, because this deserves to be conquering the charts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTMlFbPqHYk