Despite being a self-confessed Sweetune addict, I thought Snuper’s debut single was pretty lousy. For Platonic Love, they’ve worked with the production team again, this time to much greater effect. Sweetune has always been heavily 80’s influenced, but it’s been awhile since one of their title tracks has been so explicitly indebted to the era.

From its icy synths to the programmed drum beat, Platonic Love is as 80’s as it gets. In this way, it feels like a companion to Infinite’s Reflex or career-defining Be Mine. Of course, you can throw genre trappings onto a song all day and it won’t matter a bit if there’s no substance to the underlying melody or structure. Luckily, Platonic Love is pretty much an unending string of hooks from start to finish. Sweetune’s trademark layered vocal style is present throughout, though not quite as lushly produced as in their best work.

The clipped hook that composes the first half of the chorus perfectly sets up the lushly arranged refrain that follows, though it’s the track’s surging bridge that really anchors the song. At times, the instrumental sounds a bit too skeletal, but the subtle addition of guitars towards the end really deepens the sound. I almost wish they would have been a constant presence in the mix, and given even more of a presence during the last chorus. Still, it’s hard to complain. This is the type of kpop track that feels as if it’s been written specifically with my tastes in mind. With new groups like Snuper and Romeo, Sweetune has been inching its way back into the kpop scene. With songs this fun, I hope the trend continues.