We open our list with an absolute corker. 250's music is heavily steeped in Korean tradition and is put together with an incredible amount of sincerity and heart. It Was All A Dream demonstrates the singer's wonderful crooning style.
Synth-pop star OOHYO's sole release this year was the heavily textured Sand; a sweeping song about permanence and dishonesty.
The music of Samme is just too pure not to be included on this list. The uncynical style of Europop-inspired powerpop on her album GOODNESS OF FIT is pretension-free guitar music. This is especially represented by the irresistible RSP.
Korean indietronica mainstays PPCX recently hit 20 years as a band. Even after all this time, they still have the ability to shake things up with fresh sounds and ideas.
One-third of indie pop trio Asahi (more on them later), Dreamlike caught our attention early in the year with sophisticated and epic pop. The intense build-up in songs like Sailing is impressive. Dreamlike has decided to put this project on hiatus but has left us with some truly beautiful pop music!
Eight is built around the looping of the same deliciously simple melody. It's an intimate, campfire love song tinged with sadness and solitude.
Ashmute continued to evolve their sound this year. With just the slightest touch of melancholia, Lost in the City is a synthy indie-pop track with a house music beat.
One of the year's most surprising releases was from newcomer Wooo!, whose star-studded folk EP was a big hit at Platform HQ. The atmospheric RIRIA is a particular highlight.
Enigmatic producer Watersports J recently put his music career on hold while he performs his mandatory military service. But he left us with ㅇㅅ-99/005-20/736, and, true to form, it's a labyrinthian, jazz-inspired electronic song.
I don't know anything about this band except that they came out this year and that they have a thing about old movies. But I love their discordant psych-punk style and their poppy sensibilities.
Fully not sure what to make of this eccentric offering from DC-based two-piece Leechjul, but I know that I love it. The unwieldy structure, funk guitar and 80s pop vocals make it strangely compelling.
This powerful piece by instrumentalist Park Jiha is the kind of music that affects the very core of your being. Using traditional Korean instruments, Park Jiha manages to create the sound of an incredible amount of pain.
Produced by digital artist Cho Hyunjoon (aka Smells) and Han Yoo (aka Yoorae), Happiness is a breathtaking, dream-like electronic track featuring folk singer Recordame. This is actually pretty close to what happiness feels like.
In 2022, SMC released two albums. Bless was full of ear-bashing post-rock, and Peace, which Wish Wish was taken from, is the vibrant and stirring synth-pop they're known for.
Recorded for the as-yet-unreleased movie volero.com, Avacado is a stark, minimalist piano song. Lifted by an exceptional vocal performance by cacophony, the song has spellbinding, classic composition.
Joyul is a fascinating artist who creates boundary-defying and idea-heavy soundscapes. Her unpredictable music, such as the rhythmic Darn that dream, isn't for everyone, but I'm sure she wouldn't have it any other way.
One of the most exciting and underrated voices in the alternative-electro scene, Fat Hamster consistently produces captivating house-adjacent dance music, and Heatwave is no exception.
Busan's favourite son, Kim Ildu, has the heart of a rockstar and the music of a folk darling. At least, he usually does. You Again starts a dark and broody fuzzfest and unravels into a lo-fi bedroom pop anthem.
This mesmerising track is more sound art than it is a song. The hypnotic backwards melodies draw you in, and chopped-up vocal loops urging you to "just try it, then you'll be hooked" are hard to ignore.
In between appearing on virtually every drama soundtrack, folk-pop star O3ohn still managed to find time to release a few of his own singles, including the impressive song Tallgrass, complete with Radiohead-esque chorus.