It’s been a long wait for a new Sungkyu comeback – almost three years, to be specific. And though we got a taste of his voice on this year’s Relay and OST track Beautiful, his first post-military album felt like it kept getting pushed back. Now in the doldrums of December, Sungkyu has officially returned with a collection of new material. It seems like blasphemy to neglect Nell songwriter Kim Jongwan from the project, as his touch has become so synonymous with Sungkyu’s solo sound. But, Woollim is keeping things in the family with frequent Infinite/Golden Child producer BLSSD.
If I’m being completely honest, I’m Cold isn’t really my kind of song. If it had been released by anyone else, I’d probably dismiss it out of hand. But, Sungkyu has been one of my favorite K-pop performers for as long as I can remember, with a vocal color unlike anyone else in the industry. That appeal buoys I’m Cold, even if the track itself feels a little underwhelming. The instrumental fuses modern r&b sensibilities with a bit of Sungkyu’s rock edge. It’s all wrapped in BLSSD’s crisp, atmospheric style. I love the touches of organ-like synth and strumming guitar. BLSSD’s soundscapes are always interesting, even if they may tend to be more gloomy than I would prefer.
It’s fun to hear Sungkyu tackle a song with more of an r&b flair. His voice is quite versatile, and it goes to interesting places here. Unfortunately, the melody is a little too repetitive and one-note to take full advantage of that skill. He imbues the chorus with more pathos and dynamism than expected, yet I’m Cold feels like it’s constantly spinning its wheels rather than organically growing to a catharsis. This is an issue I’ve had with some of BLSSD’s work in the past, so it’s hardly a surprise. Maybe I’m just unwilling to let go of the past, but this is missing a lot of the warmth and melodicism I’ve always loved about Sungkyu’s music.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Yeah, I kept waiting for it to build to a climax or maybe some sick electric guitar but I was let down a bit. Still a good song though.
Personally rooting for Climax as buried treasure.
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I actually loved the song! but I get what you are saying , I Desperately want a Sweetune resurgence In Woollim!
DRIPPIN! INFINITE! GOLDEN CHILD! LOVELYZ! ROCKET PUNCH!
All of them have great potential to unlock something special in K-pop and Sweetune are the right producers for them! I Like BLSSD but Woollim’s classic style just offer something bigger!
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But I would like to personally point out that ad lib on 3:46, damn that’s glorious!
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Also, I was overly dramatic with this comment…
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HOW WOW YOU CRAZY? … nah, s’ok, it is good to be passionate, its all good.
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I am just seeing the 2019 posts and now whenever I am trying to sleep, a booming voice comes to me and says “Alas! Basic Kpop”
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sunggyu has never worked with sweetune before. his works have either been with jongwan or spaceboy (previously rphabet, has now rebranded as blssd/spacecowboy).
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60 Seconds was Sweetune, though! But yeah, that was his first and only time.
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Oh , I had already known that Sunggyu never worked with Sweetune but I hadn’t known that 60 seconds was produced by Sweetune..
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I didn’t think I would like it as much but I really enjoy it so far. A bit of an unexpected sound from Sungkyu and definitely not his best, but the prechorus x chorus combination is keeping me glued to the song. Agree with the previous commenter, some electric guitar would’ve been so good!
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Hmm. It’s pretty good, but Sungkyu deserves better. The album’s weird, too; not only are there sounds I wouldn’t have expected him to tackle, he also… doesn’t sound like himself on a couple of the tracks? I’m worried they’re producing his voice to have less character, which ought to be illegal!
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That’s nothing new honestly, a few of his past album tracks have subjected his voice to various vocal effects with which I intensely disagree with. In fact not only with his voice just all voices in general (👀BigHit)
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I love Sunggyu and I rather like this song, but the amount of vocal processing on this is a crime
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It’s …. OK?
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Also, is it me, or is it loud and heavy right smack in the middle ranges, and too soft in the bass and treble? (What treble?) On the computer audio and ipod built in speaker audio it sounds better (because they are crappier speakers), but on the current best earbuds, I feel like I would get a headache in a few listens.
At least from the standard youtube feed. I checked with a few other tracks I listen to regularly, and its not the earbuds – with the kids borrowing them all the time sometimes I do have to check.
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I liked this more than I usually would with these kinds of songs and I feel like a part of that comes from missing Sunggyu’s voice. When I heard his voice, God I got shivers cos it’s been so long since his last album!
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It’s surprising how much i liked this given that this style of song really isn’t my vibe. I think it sounds very simple but has a lot of feeling. Just by listening to it once the chorus is still resonating in my brain. I really am glad to hear his voice again 🙂
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Namaste! Love you from INDIA
SUNGKYU OPPA don’t give up. I’m very happy for you
Fighting! Kamsahamnida
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I love Sungkyu as a vocalist (and as a personality, but let’s put that aside haha), but this song is really not for me.
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Feels like something more suited for dong woon,but sungkyu absolutely killed it, still prefer rocker sungkyu tho
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