With the departure of member Taehyun, Winner has adopted a surprising dance-oriented sound that led to the massive success of April’s Really Really. In a rare display of smart, efficient management, YG Entertainment has allowed the guys to make a quick follow-up designed to cement their new style. When I heard that Love Me Love Me would take a disco approach, my interest was immediately piqued. Winner’s gender-bending teaser photo only heightened my curiosity. It turns out that Love Me Love Me doesn’t travel all that far in either of these directions, but still provides a welcome dose of light funk that further expands their discography.

Calling Love Me Love Me “disco” may be a bit of a stretch. Sure, it pulls in a generous amount of rhythm guitar and sun-kissed synth strings, but this is far from the bombastic dancefloor-burning party track some might have been expecting. Instead, the instrumental fuses late-70’s disco influences with a more modern, laid-back approach. The overall structure is similar to Really Really, down to the simple, two-syllable repetition of its chorus. None of it lands as strongly this time around, but the song feels different enough to avoid being a total cut-and-paste rehash.

Love Me Love Me‘s biggest strength is its carefree vibe. This is something that Winner does really well, blending effortlessly smooth vocals with a melodic style of sing-song hip-hop. The additional layered vocals during the final chorus are a nice touch, even if I wish the song built to something a bit more ambitious and cathartic. It’s a refreshing summer song, but Winner have proven that there’s more to them than that.

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