Of all the previous Wanna One members, Kang Daniel continues to be essentially the most musically prolific. Free to do his personal factor, he reliably releases new albums yearly. Sadly, most of this music hasn’t hit me with a lot power, tending to slip in a single ear and out the opposite. New single Episode boasts a barely extra sprightly power than standard, harnessing the favored Afrobeats pattern to supply a constant dance sound.

Even so, the manufacturing right here feels fairly muted. Relatively than paint its personal distinctive musical world, the tone and percussion are boring and useful. And since Okay-pop in 2025 has develop into allergic to melodies bearing any vary or colour, Kang Daniel spends the majority of Episode removing sing-talk type hooks that evaporate as quickly as they land. If you happen to’re pitching your self as the newest Okay-pop act to tug from the Afrobeats style and are unwilling to buoy it with compelling songwriting, you will need to put every little thing you could have into crafting an environment so evocative the listener can’t assist however develop into absorbed. Episode doesn’t do that, making it a straightforward skip.

Grade: C