Awake - As much as we tease him, he really did that with this solo. It's the final solo, and that is the most appropriate place for it since its also the most emotional. On first listen this was by far my favourite, his delivery, a welcome since it really hammers the layered emotion of the song. The lyrics are thoughtful and gorgeous, its just really impressive to hear the guy whose BS&T parts were limited to harmonizing with someone else having his own chance.
Colour Me Rad - In a stark contrast to the ballad before it, Colour Me Rad is so aggressively dancey and hard hitting its almost too much. But these girls really did it with this song. The pace, the power, the momentum. Everything I'd like in a dance pop song is there. It's so loud and just sdlfjkg energetic. A song you can't deny.
Monster - EX'ACT took me beyond EXO's singles and into them as capable of releasing a strong album from start to finish. The singles to support were pretty different but Monster got the most attention. I mean, its a song that feels classic on release, its got everything you'd need really. But the more I think about it, the more I realize I was really returning to the album tracks.
Fire Truck - First listen I was like slkjfdgdf what is this. Second listen I was like, now wait a minute. This is a solid bop no matter how you want to spin it. It's super loud and slightly obnoxious but that's ultimately the appeal. It's not my favourite from their album (you'll see 3-4 more songs from them) but it grew to be yet another incredible single from the NCT project this year.
Crush - Why is this so sassy and fun? The ultimate GG song with a bratty attitude and great build up.
Everyone seems to think D. Holic are like Nugu legends (9muses are kinda better?) so I guess I'm gonna check that song out!
Monster, Awake and Fire Truck I can't decide if Chewing Gum or Fire Truck is my fave NCT release.
Apple Pie - FIESTAR are really underrated too. I couldn't tell you why I like this song so much, but I just do. It's seemingly a standard song, but the chorus is something else, whew.
I Like That - Queens of summer come back with an effortlessly sexy and fun song and video. It's by far my favourite song of theirs and I was pretty obsessed with it for a while after it came out. The visuals make the song tbh, one of my favourite pop MVs of the year
I Feel It Coming - My two favourite songs were the Daft Punk collabs which, in hindsight, is pretty interesting since I've never been huge fans of either The Weeknd or Daft Punk. But they combined to create pop perfection. This is the BEST choice for second single, and I'm hoping it reaches #1 here just like Starboy did.
That's My Jam - Screaming just a little. I used to HATE them and their music, but this song became an exception. The instrumental is flaw free, and while I still don't use someone's vocals in this group I can look past it for this... jam.
Don't Let Me Go - First of five entries from this album. Minho is a king.
100. Pentagon - Gorilla
99. Halsey - Colours
98. Japanese Breakfast - The Woman That Loves You
97. BTS V - Stigma
96. NAO - Fool To Love
95. Taeyeon x DEAN - Starlight
94. Taemin - Sexuality
93. Ariana Grande - Greedy
92. IOI - Whatta Man
91. Jonghyun - She Is
90. AK Paul - Landcruisin'
89. Brave Girls - Deepened
88. Beck - Wow
87. Wednesday Campanella - チュパカブラ
86. LOONA - Let Me In
85. YG - Still Brazy
84. Gallant - Shotgun
83. Crush - Wanderlust
82. Winner - Sentimental
81. SEVENTEEN - Can't See The End
80. MINO - Body
79. Bruno Mars - Versace on the Floor
78. Tiffany - What Do I Do
77. Vince Staples - Loco
76. Chance The Rapper ft. Justin Bieber - Juke Jam
75. Ladies Code - Galaxy
74. Wonder Girls - Why So Lonely?
73. Flume - Never Be Like You
72. Rihanna - Never Ending
71. Kanye West - Fade
70. Sleigh Bells - Hyper Dark
69. Beyonce - Don't Hurt Yourself
68. James Blake - Love Me In Whatever Way
67. Tinashe - Soul Glitch
66. Utada Hikaru - 人魚
65. Mitski - Happy
64. Chairlift - Romeo
63. Kaytranada - Bus Ride
62. EXO - Lucky One
61. SHINee - Tell Me What To Do
60. BTS Jin - Awake
59. D.Holic - Colour Me Rad
58. EXO - Monster
57. NCT 127 - Fire Truck
56. IOI - Crush
55. FIESTAR - Apple Pie
54. SISTAR - I Like That
53. The Weeknd - I Feel It Coming
52. BAP - That's My Jam
51. SHINee - Don't Let Me Go
78. Tiffany - What Do I Do
77. Vince Staples - Loco
76. Chance The Rapper ft. Justin Bieber - Juke Jam
74. Wonder Girls - Why So Lonely?
72. Rihanna - Never Ending
71. Kanye West - Fade
ashds I was barely online in the last few days and I come back to half of the list being done mess!
Anyway, I like almost everything posted so far, got to listen to some nice chunes too, That's My Jam and Apple Pie > glad you mentioned LMIWW and Never Ending as highlights, especially the latter, it's in my Anti trinity but everyone else seems not to care for it.
Pretty U - The superior SVT single from this year in my opinion. It kind of spins the cutesy teen pop concept on its head and Seventeen are the kind of group that can pull it off. Has great choreo/performative elements too.
My Hometown - They do this sort of throwback feel really well thanks a lot to their vocals. This song is just really cute and nostalgic, a fun listen for anyone.
I Need A Forest Fire - Probably the obvious standout from his album, James teams up with Bon to create a hauntingly enchanted piece. It feels a lot like the centrepiece of the album.
Hadron Collider - What kind of dark masterpiece? This song is so chillingly beautiful, the pairing of Blood Orange/Nelly Furtado feels like a match in heaven, and this song is just so... sad. Its really emotional and beautiful.
Hands Up - dd yes these two are back to back! People often say that Freetown Sound lacked standouts but I disagree. The standouts are packed away with subtle elements that contribute to something bigger. His album touched on race related political topics (as several others had) but he seemingly dug deeper, drawing on aspects of masculinity, sexuality, isolation, family, and so on. The chills when this song's ending twists and contorts into a "Hands up, don't shoot" is one of the most extreme yet effective messages of the album.
Pour Up - By now, DEAN needs no introduction. He's just amazing.
Don't Believe - An unexpected tropical smash. Pretty solid all the way through, very colourful but subtle. I like songs like this so much, they're definitely one to watch if they can pull out songs like this!
Rough - Am I going to get dragged for choosing Navillera over this? Beautiful of course. I wasn't really expecting to like this because I tend not to care much about cuter concepts, but GFriend are able to make it work by tying in a sort of old-style Kpop feel to their songs. They always have these guitar solos that I live for nn. But the choreography of this is something else.
Work - Few hit songs captivated me this year. Fewer still were able to grow on me. This fell into the latter category, not that I ever really hated it, but I started to pick up on little nuances in the song that I ended up loving. It's a strange song that sounds like its meant to be a club-ready song, but is also very... solemn.
Sting - Stellar are such an interesting group. They're very boundary-pushing, using imagery that is sexy, but often in really exciting and fresh ways (see the vagina imagery of Vibrato). Sting is a play on creepy men on the internet that are the ones being messy about this in the first place. The song is fantastic.
Glad to see Fiestar specifically because Apple Pie is an anthem. 
Our taste is just so good!
My 2nd favorite from Lemonade, such a phenomenal song. Bey & Jack did thaT.
Awesome album closer, definitely puts a cherry on top of Starboy.
The writeups are concise and on-point too.
Beautiful of course. I wasn't really expecting to like this because I tend not to care much about cuter concepts, but GFriend are able to make it work by tying in a sort of old-style Kpop feel to their songs. They always have these guitar solos that I live for nn. But the choreography of this is something else.