Beast - This Is My Life

Over the past few months, Beast have quietly been building one of the year's best batch of songs. Ever since March, they've been releasing one Japanese-language track a month. These have been remarkably consistent. In fact, I'd actually say they've been getting better each month. This Is My Life, released a few days ago, is my favorite of the bunch. This was confirmed almost immediately, with that gorgeous, funky synth opening. Then the song itself sets in and has a vaguely African feel (maybe that's just me, though?). As longtime readers know, I'm a sucker for African instrumentation in a pop song. Blame too many viewings of The Lion King growing up. The melody is also just exquisite, rising and falling with the flawless production. It's the kind of song that sneaks up on you and reveals its brilliance the more you listen to it. Now we just need a Korean comeback!

Beast - Hands Up

For whatever reason, I hadn't been particularly drawn to Beast in the past. In fact, up until a few months ago I think they were probably the last major Korean boy group that I hadn't gotten into yet. Since the beginning of the year, though, I've been immersing myself in their back catalog (particularly their last few albums, which are nearly flawless). They're doing something pretty cool and releasing a new Japanese song each month for the rest of 2015. It's a great way to keep the music coming and it's really exciting for fans. Hands Up is the second of these tracks, and sounds almost like it could have been a summer single for One Direction. It has that same stomping, anthemic chorus and rock vibe. It's certainly not the strongest song in their discography, but it still could have easily functioned as an actual single instead of being part of this 10-month promotion. Most people highlight the chorus when talking about this track, but I actually love the verses with their acoustic guitar accents. For more of what Beast's typical music sounds like, though, be sure to check out the excellent Shadow and Good Luck. I can't imagine you'd be disappointed.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.