5 Best Indie K-Pop Songs of the Summer

Jay Park, misc., Primary, DEAN, Heize, offonoff

1. Aseul - Wake Up

After reaching new heights with the successful "New Pop" album in 2016, Aseul is back this year with a dark and brooding electronic track. "Wake Up" is at once abstract and funky, with Aseul's vocals offering a sassy contrast to the moody instrumental. Much like western artist Grimes, Aseul uses minimalism as the motif for her take on pop music, and the results are similarly delightful. Although the track isn't necessarily a "summer jam" in the traditional sense, it's a great soundtrack for those late night post-party moments of deep thought.

2. GroovyRoom - Sunday (feat. Jay Park & Heize)

Jay Park and Heize make magic almost every single time they get in the studio. The two have already worked together with great results, and this collaboration with GroovyRoom is another home run for the duo. The two trade vocals over a Nile Rodgers-like guitar heavy beat, each bringing their charismatic take on R&B-funk to the table. These vocalists should just form a proper duo unit at this point - they could be the true troublemakers that K-Pop needs!

3. offonoff - gold (feat. Dean)

offonoff is one of the latest acts to release music on HIGHGRND, the YG sublabel that was until recently managed by Epik High's resident super-dad Tablo. So far, just about every HIGHGRND act has made a splash on the internet - of course, partially due to the association wit Tablo - but it turns out that they're all actually pretty good, too! offonoff released this track with Dean to promote their album, and like just about every other track Dean has hopped on (and there's quite a few), it's straight, smooth & sultry fire.

4. Night Tempo - Stay Pure

Hailing from the future funk/vaporwave scenes, Night Tempo is a South Korean electronic artist whose music makes heavy use of nostalgic samples and slap bass to make listeners dance. "Stay Pure" is simply pretty, like a theme song for an era past, with a souped up Japanese vocal sample remixed into a dance floor filler. Night Tempo is definitely an act to watch, having recently announced that he is set to collaborate with fellow Korean Indie phenom Neon Bunny.

5. Primary - 42 (feat. SAM KIM, eSNa)

Continuing the trend he's set with previous releases, Primary released this steamy summer tune with two good-but-arguably-underrated vocalists recently to much fanfare. It's obvious at this point that Primary has what it takes to make a good and memorable single, and this time he retooled his usual smooth synths into a fun couples' duet that's sure to tear up the noraebangs.

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