Despite a fair amount of online buzz, OnlyOneOf have largely flown under my radar. However, their 2019 title track Sage ended up growing on me quite a bit after watching it performed over and over on weekly music shows. I guess repetition will do that. Still, up to this point I think I’ve enjoyed their concepts more than their music. That could change with new single Angel, which finds a satisfying middle ground between mood and melody, concept and song.
Produced by hip-hop phenom Gray, Angel unveils a relatively straightforward groove. Right from the start, it teases us with its hook before moving into a solid – if unspectacular – verse. Still, I appreciate the continuity during this segment. Even when the track fractures into a pre-chorus rap break with vocal effects aplenty, there’s enough connective material to make the diversion work.
Angel shines greatest during its chorus. The hook is simple and repetitive, but it’s just so smooth. I love the airy, overlapping vocals, and how the refrain echoes the same melodic tugs that appear throughout the track. I could do without the pitched synth squiggles in the background, but the rhythmic, guitar-meets-electro production goes down easy. Angel’s bridge adds a welcome sense of drama before we hit the slickness of its chorus once more. There’s nothing particularly visionary happening here, but the track makes the most of its breezy charm. It’s one of the few songs we’ve heard this year that sounds like summer, and that’s an extremely welcome prospect.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
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The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
That’s a nice song. We talked about people looking for music to “chill” with Crush’s song but this one is actually the kind of song I would rather listen to if I want to have something in the background without thinking too much about it.
Mandatory comment about Junji’s haircut… that’s a choice.
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I don’t know what to think about this song.
I really like most parts of it, the smooth cool groove. Its the “rap break”, with the busted up fractured beats that follow no rhythm. 0:56 to 1:02. and then again once or twice later. Its just so out of place. Its like the radio playing something, and then there is a moment of static that makes you raise your head, and then whoosh back to it. But that rap break is a deliberate choice, it didn’t just happen. Or maybe it did, like old school Beatles outro using cut up the audio tape thrown up in the air and reassembled.
We don’t usually comment on visuals here, but I have to say the video is really distracting to me. Mostly, the blonde model posing insouciantly (ugh). Balaclavas? The muppet hair. Muppet hair is actually cool. My kids are allowed to binge watch as much old Muppet Show as they want these days, and I imagine in my minds eye how Jim Henson would do that hair. It would involve a broom stick. … Its almost Janice hair, I would repurpose Janice hair on a broomstick. I mean this lovingly, as I am the mom who all the Muppet seasons on disk and allow my kids to binge watch as much as they want these days. It reminds me of an early early Seventeen video when one of the guys had the long lavender hair, and we all said ok nice song la la la, oooh who is the guy with the long lavender hair!
Back to the song. I suppose it is good. I suppose it is better than good because at this point I have probably listened at least 10 times already, whereas OK songs get half that or fewer. It will probably grow on me more.
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See, this is the rare time where the pre-chorus switch-up actually works for me. It’s a bit jarring, but the melody is consistent enough that it still feels like one song.
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I rarely peruse my way through the Pop side of the Korean music industry (mainly interested in the Hip-Hop/R&B side). However this group has really piqued my interest ever since listening to dOra maar.
It’s quite refreshing to hear a group that isn’t necessarily chasing a sound that’s popular or hip currently. BOYCOLD, GRAY & Cha Cha are the perfect trio to execute this within an EP format. I would absolutely love to hear a track produced by either Giriboy or Code Kunst for them.
As for the build up to the chorus, really makes the track for me. GRAY chose to use a snare roll build instead of the typical ‘four on the floor’ clap build-up like we hear in 90% of other productions. When you create that kind of dissonance, coupled with the awkwardly side-chained and syncopated brass hits, it leaves the listener unsure of what the chorus is going to sound like.
It’s quite possible that I wouldn’t have enjoyed the chorus as much as I did without that build-up. Retrospectively, it’s quite simple in nature, but as a whole, it just works.
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