KPop Demon Hunters (Soundtrack), by various artists

It is perhaps a grim sign of the state of pop music in 2025 that among the most highly anticipated sources of new pop music is a Netflix film on Kpop demon hunters squaring off against their archrival BTS-esque boy band who happen to be demons. I have not seen the film and have no plans to do so (nor a Netflix membership to see it), but I have to admit that as a music reviewer with a distinct interest in demonology that I find the premise to be an interesting one, not least because the film manages to connect the idolatrous devotion that people have to being a part of Kpop fandoms to darker spiritual themes of susceptibility to demonic influence. If other people are drawing such connections and making it the source of art, I do not feel it is a bad thing to comment on art that deals with larger theological concerns, even if the Kpop music scene is one I am admittedly not the most familiar with, except when it crosses over into the American charts. As it happens, this album already has two songs that have charted on the Billboard Hot 100, and so it has now entered my own personal domains of interest. Is the album any good though? Let’s find out.

The album begins with “TAKEDOWN,” an overenthusiastically capitalized song by TWICE that appears to be a rather bog-standard girl power anthem with millennial handclaps and a stomping beat that is at least mildly appealing from a production standpoint as well as a fairly typical Kpop rapping breakdown. “How It’s Done” by the fictional girl group HUNTR/X (the titular Kpop demon hunters) features more millennial handclaps and some retro production that I do not feel entirely nostalgic for along with empowerment lyrics and a rap as well as sassy verse singing. “Soda Pop,” by the fictional demon boy group Saja Boys features gorgeous harmonies as well as a suitably slight Kpop subject matter glorifying something harmful but also appealing as a metaphor for the group’s love interest. “Golden,” one of the two hit singles (so far) from the album, from HUNTR/X, is an appealing midtempo ode to success with most of the singing by EJAE. “Strategy,” from TWICE, is a programmatic song that focuses on the narrator’s strategy for ensnaring a shy guy love interest, and it is an appealing and flirtatious slice of Kpop. “Takedown” by HUNTR/X is the in-movie version of the previously recorded song and it is fairly similar as might be guessed but fortunately capitalized in a less obnoxious fashion, coming off like a lost Dua Lipa hit. “Your Idol,” from the Soja Boys, has really dark and gothic production and some pointedly thematic lyrics, and it’s little surprise that this stellar song full of Kpop boygroup bravado and celebrity worship is the other hit from the soundtrack so far. “Free,” by cast members who are a part of both of the main groups, features an interesting song about the female narrator’s tragic devotion to a man who is “not right,” and I think it’s safe to say that a demon love interest would not be a good guy, followed by a verse by the demon love interest who sounds like Chris Brown urging the female narrator on. “What It Sounds Like” from HUNTR/X begins with sparse production that expresses the frustration of the narrator in trying to sort out and rise above the melodrama of her broken personal life in a song that would not be out of place on Lorde’s Virgin as one of its livelier tracks. “Love, Maybe” from MeloMance is a lovely midtempo Korean love ballad of the kind that plays over the closing credits after the seemingly inevitable happy ending. “Path” by Jokers is an old-fashioned sort of song of the sort that Elvis used to chart regularly, just sung in Korean. The album closes with the intense and dramatic “Score Suite,” which is a lovely touch and a worthy ending to the soundtrack.

It’s hard for me to judge an album like this. As a soundtrack it is full of appealing songs that appear to support an intriguing story. Even as someone who is not necessarily well-versed in Kpop genre cliches (which this album clearly plays with), there is a lot to enjoy here as long as you are a fan of soundtrack pop, and that is certainly true for me. Both HUNTR/X and especially the Soja Boys are given excellent songs to work with that demonstrate the deeper spiritual potential of Kpop competition for chart dominance and toxic fandoms that open people up to literal demonic influence and spiritual warfare in the context of the eternal romantic struggle for love. As well produced and performed as this soundtrack is, it is not surprising that it has some hits and has become a popular album. Perhaps the only people involved in the project not likely to see a big bump in their career is the Kpop girl group TWICE, who contributed two songs to the project. Someone on their team should have reminded them that the appeal of soundtracks like this one are the cast performances, much like in albums like the High School Musical series, not competent outside songs. That said, this is an album that offers rich enjoyment and thought-provoking material on multiple levels and that is a notable achievement for an animated Netflix film soundtrack.