K-Pop A-Z Review: GFriend – Glass Bead

One song. Every day. Alphabetical order.

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Glass Bead (from Season Of Glass – 2015)

Previous Thoughts: “Its hooks are sharp and punchy, underlined by a bright beat that approaches new jack swing without completely embracing the genre. Extra stabs of percussion add emphasis in all the right places, urging along the group’s strong vocals.” (from a 2022 retrospective review)

I remember feeling a bit ambivalent about this song the first time I heard it way back in January of 2015. At that time, it felt quite different from anything else dominating K-pop charts. But the song played like a stealth rocket, quickly taking over my playlist and growing more and more addictive as the months went on. I’ve written about Glass Bead several times before, but The Bias List didn’t exist when it debuted so my most detailed thoughts come courtesy of a “debut re-evaluation” post two years ago.

As a marker for what GFriend would become, this is an important first step. It’s the start of an imperial phase of singles that ran from 2015 to mid-2017. Within that group of songs, I consider Glass Bead the weakest (just a touch below “legendary”). But without it, GFriend’s history-making arc would never have come to pass. Because of that, I’m constantly in awe of its musical vision and its ability to stand as an invitation to a new K-pop era.

Grade: A