Even though a large portion of SM Entertainment’s Station releases tend to be unadventurous ballads, I’ve missed the weekly infusion of new music since season two of the project wrapped in April. For the kickoff of Station’s third season (called Station X O), SM has brought out the big guns. Page 0 pairs Taeyeon with popular r&b duo MeloMance.

With only this description, I expected another ballad, but Page 0 offers a bit of groove. The song is easy listening through and through, with a piano introduction that sounds as if it should be part of a coffee commercial. MeloMance’s Kim Minseok takes the first verse with his now unmistakable croon before the track evolves into a duet. The fact that Taeyeon doesn’t even show up until after the chorus makes Page 0 feel more like a MeloMance song featuring her vocals than a full-throated collaboration. But, once the two are given more equal footing, their interplay works well.

Page 0’s verses are largely forgettable, but the song is driven by an earworm of a hook that is hard to resist. It’s a feather light melody, appropriately built around a repetition of the word “breeze.” The song has an airy quality, as if it’s dissolving right in front of you. This results in a pleasant piece of music without much weight to grab hold of. As an opening salvo for Station X O, it’s more comforting than momentous. That’ll do for now, but I hope we hear more interesting things as the project unfolds.

~