Heeo- LOL (Love On Lie) the Hidden Gem of Kpop 2022

I wanted to do this style article with E.so’s Orgel last year and didn’t get around to it due to my extreme inconsistency in doing uploads, so we’re redeeming it with Love On Lie this year. Hopefully this will become a recurring feature to highlight songs that have far too little attention relative to their quality.

So, first of all, who is Heeo? I hadn’t heard of her prior to this song, but she’s a former member of 4ten, a group that I honestly never listened to. I do appreciate that she’s only a year younger than me as a kpop fan fast approaching my 30s though, not common anymore. Anyway, she’s pretty far on the unknown spectrum, but was a bit of an all-rounder in her group, which usually is what makes for a good soloist. This is actually her second song, her previous song, Designer, actually managed to pull 29,000+ views on Youtube at the time of me writing this. So, how is Love On Lie performing?

Love on Lie debuted a month ago today on June 27th, and has since managed to gain a total of 4,519 Youtube views and 4,119 Spotify plays not including my views and plays as I write this. That isn’t exactly inspiring or exciting numbers, which compounds the difficulty in growing, there isn’t enough hype being generated to get more people looking Heeo’s way. That’s my objective here today, if you read this article and check out the song, share it with a friend or two, a ripple can become a wave if it gets big enough.

Now, you’re probably asking what about Love On Lie prompted me to use it as the first small song I highlight, and the answer is simple, it’s the best small song all year. The chorus is a standout with its slow electro Europop horn instrumental, which sounds ridiculous I know, but if you know that sound I’m talking about, it’s fantastic. The rest of the instrumental is pretty subtle, mostly just chords played on a piano, with a little bit of drum and guitar mixed in for good measure too. Her vocals are soft and have just enough dynamics to set up a positive but distant feeling that resonates really well with how I think a lot of people have been feeling the last few years. This song doesn’t quite feel exactly like anything else in kpop right now, even though all the parts are familiar, the end result is fairly unique, which is actually a pretty tricky balance to strike.

The video is just a choreography one, but the location is really pretty, the overgrown city look is one that I’ve always been a fan of. The dance is simple, but it suits the song, and her styling is pretty good in my opinion too. The stylists definitely understood what outfits would work well with her build, which is often less true that one would expect. This is just pure personal bias, but I’m a big fan of tattoos, so I do just naturally feel compelled to like idols that have a little bit of ink. Honestly, the video is good, but the song outshines it by being fantastic.

If you didn’t already, as you wrap up reading this article, go to your streaming platform of choice, Youtube, Spotify, what have you, and give this song a shot. Also, as I said before, if you do like it, share it with a friend, I would love for this song to be getting way more attention than it is. That said, if you liked this article and enjoyed learning about a song that you may have never given a chance otherwise, come back every week for our kpop articles, we want to highlight a variety of topics and artists throughout each year. So get out there, have a great day, and give Heeo some love with no lies.