I fondly remember watching YG’s Who Is Next variety show back in 2013. At the time, I was a supporter of Team B, who would eventually go on to become iKON. But, when Winner debuted in the summer of 2014 I was completely won over. Their first album had a more subdued energy than their agency peers, but featured great songwriting and standout performances. Since then, the group has been through several iterations, more often succumbing to western trends rather than forging their own signature sound. This has made their discography pretty hit or miss – at least where I’m concerned.
Unfortunately, new pre-release track Hold (뜸) falls squarely in the miss category. But to be fair, the song’s musical DNA was never designed for me. These kind of throwaway mid-tempo hip-hop tracks have never been my thing. Too much of the song feels like an annoying gnat buzzing in your ear. It’s stuffed to the brim with incessant vocal interjections meant to sound loose and playful. But, I find the constant mugging to be more annoying than quirky.
A brief ray of hope comes courtesy of Hold’s pre-chorus, where rock vocal extraordinaire Seungyoon briefly takes the reins for a surging melody. Unfortunately, this is followed by a relatively lifeless synth drop that takes place of a chorus. It’s far more enjoyable than the track’s endless supply of trap hi-hats or plunky synth-xylophone intro, but its repetition wears thin pretty fast. Hopefully, the group will offer more engaging material when their album is released next month. This feels very much like an afterthought, especially when stacked up against classics like Empty (or even semi-classics like Really Really).
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 6 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.5 |
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The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
It sounds like a lost b-side from Pentagon “Shine” era. Which is to say that this is a far inferior song vs what Winner coulda woulda shoulda be releasing.
Yeah, what do we know, it will probably PAK anyway.
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I had same thoughts. Winner, despite their talents, seem lost in writing quality songs – of any kind.
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It’s a miserable piece of ditty that wants to make me feel equally miserable.
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Not a fan of the song, but the video was great.
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Although they’ve released some good songs since then, Nam Tae Hyun’s departure adversely affected Winner artistically. (And he’s not doing anything interesting either.) Presumably they’re all better off emotionally, but whatever artistic conflict caused the rift, it seems to have produced more meaningful music than since his departure. Winner spends too much time chasing popularity through mediocre songs nowadays.
Also Fool > Really Really. Sans Autotune, the same is true of Everyday, at least sonically (Really Really has better, less cheesy lyrics). Listen to the Dingo Live version of Everyday, which (unlike the music show perfornances) foregoes Autotune.
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lmao, i seriously want to punch seungyoon and mino in the face, cuz what bullshit on earth is this?!
In last 3 years i only liked fool, have a good day and mola. The rest is absolute disaster, i can’t even remember anything.
Inner circle is dying in me, that’s for sure. Their best era was exit:e in 2016, period.
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