JUSTB’s Thrilling New Swerve Outside of K-pop: ‘SNOW ANGEL’, Reviewed

The boy group’s fierce new EP tests whether K-pop can contain their ambitions.

Blue Dot Entertianment

LAST MONTH, instead of performing on traditional Korean variety shows, JUSTB chose to host rowdy listening parties to promote their new EP SNOW ANGEL. The events offered fans the opportunity to hear the album in full and connect with the members at ticketed fan signings. In one viral X clip, GEONU, a vocalist in the group, announced that JUSTB would likely have disbanded if it weren't for their fans. 

But the audience for Korean variety shows is likely not the target demographic JUSTB is trying to reach anymore. Earlier this year, the group, which is comprised of members LIM JIMIN, GEONU, BAIN, SIWOO, DY,  and SANGWOO, released JUST ODD and rebranded with a hyperpop concept. The music provided a creative jolt for the boys. After years of competing on Korean music shows and slugging it out for recognition in K-pop, they began to find success on their own terms. "CHEST", the lead single, stands as one of the best songs of the year – K-pop or otherwise. 

JUST ODD was released entirely independently of a major company or conglomerate. And as K-pop has become overly saturated with hundreds of groups debuting each year, the ones that have risen to the top have large corporations behind them. That, I can say with some pride, is not JUSTB. 

In June, BAIN came out as gay on the Los Angeles date of their U.S. tour, making him one of the few "out" K-pop idols. The announcement met JUSTB with almost immediate embrace from international fans. Quickly, the group plunged into a flurry of media coverage, with publications that had never given JUSTB a second thought now taking a closer look. For the past six months, JUSTB has ridden the new acclaim as far as they can: They've given numerous interviews, and acclaim has begun to mount for their forward-thinking music. 

But SNOW ANGEL is JUSTB's first real test. It is an opportunity for the group to show that, while BAIN's identity provided a much-needed visibility boost, the music is worth more than hype. It is, as I see it, a crucial moment to prove that the group has been hiding in plain sight for years with members like DY and GEONU who are hands-on in creating their music. They are diligent students of pop music, eager to make audacious bids that are equally disruptive and playful.

In fact, I don't find much in common between JUSTB and K-pop anymore. There is very little Korean sung on the record, and their closest contemporaries are artists making work just as unconventional as theirs. Instead, I can hear SOPHIE's blueprint on the wildly adventurous – and loud – SNOW ANGEL. The energy of Scottish DJ, producer, and singer who pioneered hyperpop into the mainstream in the 2010s pulsates through the bold production of the single "GOING SOUTH" or "SWEATER". Her dynamic, sometimes mercurial lyrics are heard in the title track, which is arguably about a lover, but could also be about the aura of being a cute, sometimes naughty, snow angel. It’s coy — and a little silly, like many Western pop provocateurs do with their titles.

But mostly, I hear her in the absolutely maximalist approach JUSTB takes to the music; excess is always welcome. It's the kind of sweaty, dirty album you play loudly in the club or after hours when you're tipsy at home. 

What makes SNOW ANGEL so fun is the relentless pace of the music. There are no ballads on this EP; no sections to pause and catch your breath. Instead, the music hits hard and fast during the short fifteen-minute runtime. Throughout, they cover toxic relationships and one-night stands. They seek out pleasure and take any experience as a fun one to write about. It hits you with the intensity of a hard drug.

Take, for example, "TRUE HEART", where the boys sing about keeping their lover up all night. This song has become the unexpected runaway hit on the EP: It stands with over half a million streams on Spotify. I also appreciate how the boys are fearless writing about messy situations, as heard on "BHYT (BABY HOLD YOU TIGHT)". Here, the boys compete for a girl who's in another relationship: "I don't want any trouble," they sing, but "Your scent all over my sweater/ He knows that I do better." 

When the party does eventually slow down on "FREEDOM", the production turns darker. "Did I do wrong? You said it's all my fault," SANGWOO laments. "Yeah, you turned all your friends on me." But JUSTB aren't interested in staying down for long. Eventually, the beats pick up again, and the night rages on.

But my money for the EP's best track is "GOING SOUTH". Similar to the best pop music, like Robyn's "Dancing On My Own", the sad lyrics contrast with the absolute banger of a song. Sonically, the track is a burst of euphoria and ecstasy about relationship anxiety. "Please don't leave yet," GEONU pleads in a surprisingly tender moment. "I'm trynna figure you out/ so things don't end up going south." 

Blue Dot Entertainment

AT THEIR GREATEST, pop stars make bold decisions that are equally puzzling and tantalizing to listen to. FKA Twigs released my favorite album of the year, EUSEXUA, a fusion of euphoria and sexuality, then dropped a reimagined version with new tracks added and deleted, and a sequel, AFTERGLOW. In November, Spanish pop star ROSALÍA dropped Lux, a pop-opera sung in multiple languages. Perhaps most similar to JUSTB is the American rapper 2hollis, who is remaking rap and hyperpop in his image. His music, like JUSTB's, pulsates with sexuality and angst. 

But I come back to SOPHIE, an artist who never let genre confine her, when I consider how JUSTB are pioneers. Listening to SNOW ANGEL, it would be limiting to categorize JUSTB as simply a K-pop group. They're pushing into something messier and unconventional with this music.

Perhaps the biggest mistake JUSTB could make, then, is to return to the confines of K-pop. Labels mean very little these days. If artists like Twigs, 2hollis, and ROSALIA prove anything, it is that there are rewards for artists who stay unconventional. This risk-taking bodes well for JUSTB: Away from an industry that never understood them, they are scaling new heights. With SNOW ANGEL, there is no pivot sharp enough to stop them.