Ten seconds is all it takes — 10 defining moments we found in new songs

Over the past week, in NONOL PICK and Hidden Details, we measured how loud and how wide each song gets and paused music videos frame by frame. From all that, we picked ten moments where just ten seconds of listening, or watching, changes how a song lands. All times refer to the video under each entry, listed in the order we covered them.

Kim Feel '자유롭고 싶어' ('To Be Free') — 1:44

For the first 1 minute 27 seconds the song holds back almost all its low sounds; at 1:44 the drums finally touch down and it climbs a step. After that long wait, that one step sounds wide open. NONOL PICK, Sep 27

ALLDAY PROJECT 'CRASH' — 2:27

Here the bass and kick drum vanish entirely for eight seconds. At 2:36 the low end drops back all at once with the final chorus, so turn the volume up a notch just before. NONOL PICK, Sep 28

JUN '9' — 0:54

From 0:54 in the music video, the music nearly cuts out for about five seconds while the scene plays on. JUN and an actor face each other under a huge sign in Chinese characters: a pause like something out of a film. Hidden Details, Sep 28

YESUNG 'Winds of Time' — 2:52

Three seconds where the low end steps aside and the sound opens wide to both sides. On earphones it feels like wind brushing past your ears. NONOL PICK, Sep 29

NiziU 'Sour Grapes' — 1:46

A window cracks like a spiderweb, and about two seconds later a fox first appears among the dancing members. It's the moment the fox from Aesop's 'The Fox and the Grapes' shows up in the song it inspired. Hidden Details, Sep 29

BOYNEXTDOOR 'ANIMAL' — 1:55

The screen goes pitch black and the sound cuts out with it. After nine seconds in the dark, the final chorus bursts back in at 2:05. Hidden Details, Sep 30

CLOSE YOUR EYES 'Drop That!' — 0:12

The bass phrase that starts with 'Ya Ya Ya Uh' has the same shape as the bass in '이 밤을 즐겁게' ('Enjoy This Night'), sung by Yoon Si-nae in 1979. It's five semitones lower and 1.22 times faster than the original. Hidden Details, Oct 1

ONEW & YUJU 'Mind Games' — 0:20

The guitar lets go for 1.7 seconds and only the two voices are left hanging in the air. It's the longest gap in the backing across all 2:19. NONOL PICK, Oct 1

MINZY 'Calling' — 1:58

A voice sitting in a single line in the center of your head spreads with the choir to the edges of both ears. You need both earphones in to really hear it. Today's NONOL PICK

CRAVITY 'LOUDER' — 3:00

Where a hoof strikes the aqua-colored ground, a 'C'-shaped mark is left behind. It's a final scene that echoes the myth of Pegasus striking the earth to open the spring of the Muses. Today's Hidden Details

Follow the link in each entry to read how we found that moment, and what happens across the rest of the song.