K-pop’s summer songs are slowing down

For years, K-pop’s formula for a summer hit was straightforward: bright hooks, energetic choreography and songs designed to soundtrack festivals, beaches and vacations. From Red Velvet’s “Red Flavor” to Sistar’s “Touch My Body,” summer releases were often built around high-energy choruses meant to beat the heat.

This year, however, the mood has changed.

Rather than turning up the tempo, several artists have opted for slower, more restrained songs that lean into the season’s lingering warmth instead of its excitement.

Drawing influence from genres including bossa nova, reggae and jazz-pop, these tracks trade explosive drops for laid-back grooves, suggesting that K-pop’s idea of a summer song may be evolving.

Red Velvet offers perhaps the clearest example.

The veteran girl group’s latest summer EP, “Velvet Summer,” marks its first seasonal release in eight years. Unlike previous hits such as “Red Flavor” and “Power Up,” which embraced the group’s bright “red” identity, the lead track “Surfin’ Boy” highlights the group’s softer side through bossa nova guitar, reggae rhythms and an understated house groove.

The shift was intentional. In a Q&A released by SM Entertainment ahead of the EP’s release, member Wendy said that while summer can be lively, it is also a season of slow, carefree days, adding that the group “wanted to capture a more mature and relaxed side of the season.”

Seulgi also described bossa nova as a genre that immediately felt suited to the group’s voices when she first heard the demo.

Hearts2Hearts approached the season from a similar direction on “Babysteps,” a side track from its second EP, “Lemon Tang.” Though its title track delivered a brighter summer sound, “Babysteps” instead incorporated bossa nova-inspired chord progressions beneath contemporary pop production.

NCT Wish also experimented with the aesthetic earlier this year with “Sticky,” a hip-hop based dance track built around midtempo rhythms and bossa nova-style guitar lines. While the track was released in March, the mixed sounds of hip-hop and relaxed bossa nova have been picked by fans as a toned-down song to listen to in the summer.

The trend also extends beyond these releases.

Girl group I-dle’s summer single, “Gimme Dat Love,” similarly favors warm guitar textures and an easygoing groove over the energetic dance tracks the group previously released in the summer, including “Klaxon” and “Dumdi Dumdi.”

Jennie has approached the season with a similar subdued approach with “Less than a Lover.” The alternative pop track, which Jennie described as a song she wrote “while thinking about summer,” pairs lo-fi guitar with vintage electric keyboard sounds to evoke the romance of a summer night.

Taken together, the songs point to new summer trends.

Bossa nova is one recurring influence, particularly in tracks by Red Velvet, Hearts2Hearts and NCT Wish, but the common thread across these releases is restraint, according to music critic Lim Hee-yun.

“Softer guitar tones, relaxed rhythms, jazz-influenced harmonies and understated production are being used to evoke the season without relying on the bright synths, driving beats and explosive choruses that have traditionally characterized K-pop's summer hits,” said Lim.

Lim added that the shift reflects changing ideas about what listeners associate with summer.

"Summer songs used to focus almost exclusively on excitement and release," he said. "Today, listeners seem to be also drawn to music that captures the slower, more atmospheric moments of the season."