K-Pop Demon Hunters and Song Recommendations: “Takedown”
If you’ve watched the “K-Pop Demon Hunters” movie on Netflix recently, you might still have some of the songs from the movie stuck in your head. While the songs on the whole had a bit more English than the majority of K-pop songs do (though there are certainly K-pop artists who have done songs or even entire albums in English), they were all pretty representative of the genre. If you’re interested in finding more K-pop songs with a similar vibe, I’ve got recommendations.
“Takedown” is slightly different from the other songs in the movie, in that there’s a cast version of the song, as well as one by three members of Twice, which is one of my favorite girl groups. The three members who recorded the song are also among my favorite members, so I was super excited to hear their version (which is the one linked above).
But as much as I feel that “Takedown” is a Twice song, it also gave me strong aespa vibes, as it’s got a strong dance beat. aespa is a four-member girl group with a futuristic/virtual reality concept, and I’ve generally liked a lot of their music. The closest fit for an aespa song is probably “Girls,” but I also really love “Next Level” for a similar feel.
For a view other possibilities (the first which is from the recommendations video):
- Loona: Originally a twelve member girl group, now split into two smaller groups, with some members having gone their own ways. In particular, I recommend “PTT (Paint the Town),” which has a very similar energetic style.
- Artms: One of the offshoots of Loona, with five of the members. They have one song that’s sort of in the style of “Takedown,” at a slower speed, called “Pre1: Birth.” It particularly kicks in at the 0:57 mark. (And this is, sadly, the only Artms song like this so far!)
- Dreamcatcher: A seven member girl group that often had a darker, more rock-heavy sound. Their song “Sleep-walking” isn’t a perfect match, but it’s got a similar beat, and I adore their rapper, Dami! (They’ve recently disbanded, though three of the members are still part of a subunit called UAU.)
- 2NE1: I also mentioned them in connection with “How It’s Done,” but this time, I feel like it’s closer to their song “Hate You.”
Next up, we get to look at a somewhat underrepresented type of song in my listening rotation: a ballad duet!
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