K-pop’s been on a “summer holiday” for weeks now, but Dreamcatcher are vacationing the right way – by releasing new music, of course! New single BEcause heralds their special summer album. Given this distinction, I wondered if the girls would take the opportunity to delve further into the EDM sound that pops up often in their b-sides. Instead, BEcause stays true to the elements that have made their title tracks so consistent.
The song injects the summer season with a touch of horror, though most of the creepy stuff is relegated to its music video. As a piece of rock-infused K-pop, BEcause is sturdy and satisfying. Its most interesting moments happen in the verses, whether during the brisk intensity of verse one or the cool drum-and-bass breakdown that pulls us into verse two. Calypso-like keys power much of the track, offering a shot of eccentricity to an otherwise straightforward rocker. I wish the song leaned even further in this direction, breaking free of expectations and going crazy with its arrangement.
Even so, BEcause easily gets its job done. The first time through, I wasn’t sold on the chorus. It felt overstuffed and anticlimactic when compared to the dynamic verses. But, the hooks sharpened with each listen, and I love the way the track builds toward a cathartic, shout-along peak. Despite being packed with goodies, BEcause works as a straightforward blitz of energy – echoing early highlights like 2018’s You And I. it may not scratch my itch for summery pop music, but I have a feeling this will be sticking around long past the season.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Not their best title track, but you can always count on Dreamcatcher to release great albums! Airplane, Whistle and Alldaylong are fantastic.
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oof I gotta mostly disagree with you here. I found it to be very unsatisfying, due to the, as you said it, anticlimactic chorus. Overall the song just didn’t grab me and I was even bored. I wish it had a more interesting structure.
I used to think Dreamcatcher had the perfect discography and their title tracks would never disappoint me. Loll so wrong. Since Scream (which I adored!) I’ve disliked every single title track which consequently put me off from giving the albums a fair chance.
In my fantasy this summer comeback was a chance for them to release a brighter but still edgy punk-rock song (I’m still waiting for them to do anything like Lucky Strike. That cover was so good). Isn’t special albums the perfect opportunity to go in new directions? Oh well, maybe next time.
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yes, yes, YES to everything you’ve said. I also can’t get around the chorus, it’s heavy, and far inferior to the verses (which is the exact opposite of odd eye)
honestly, I thought lucky strike was dreamcatcher’s own song when i first heard their cover, because they pulled off the song ridiculously well (no shade to maroon 5 haha)
now that you’ve spoken pop-punk dreamcatcher into existence, i can’t get them out of my head 😭😭 PLS OLLOUNDER AND LEEZ 🥺
pop punk is getting a resurgence in western pop too! this is the one time i’m hoping dreamcatcher follows the trend omg
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Ugh. Yes and yes. I’ve been wanting to see them doing something a bit upbeat and punk influenced for ages now, and this would have been the perfect time. Considering the fact that their cover of Lucky Strike had far more views and positive feedback than their early material for ages until they finally really got their break, I’ve always wondered why they haven’t tried something in that direction. They haven’t had a title track that isn’t overly serious in its sound and presentation in ages, which is a shame since the girls inject a lot of personality and seem to have fun with those (like their Bang Bang Bang cover)…. not to mention they seem to have a tendency to goof off a lot behind the scenes lol.
It just seems like a missed opportunity since presenting this as a “special summer album” gives more leeway for experimentation. If something works well, then great, you know that’s a direction you can continue in. If it doesn’t, then it’s easy to write off and most fans will just be more invested in the next “normal” comeback. Even without the special album pretext, they are pretty much at the perfect point in their career to experiment more.
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I have to confess that I no longer understand the love for any of Dreamcatcher’s recent releases. They have morphed into a group that is very clearly not for me anymore, but I’m still struggling to figure out why that is.
I absolutely adore most of Dreamcatcher’s title tracks. “Good Night” and “What” would easily place on a list of my all-time favorite kpop tracks. They take a lot of influence from Japanese rock (very noisy, full, and warm sound) and put it on top of a kpop structure, with long, catchy choruses and gorgeous bridges.
There’s something so exciting and emotional about so many of their releases! I could throw the same song on loop for hours at a time, and feel just as passionate about it the first time as I did the last. There’s a certain magic about them that I just can’t really put my finger on, but that I absolutely feel when I hear them.
As of now, Dreamcatcher title tracks just feel very… empty now? These songs build and build into what is essentially just a “drop” style chorus, but it’s guitars instead of an electronic beat. Some tracks still have that wow factor (Scream) because of the textures being used, though there’s still not much happening in that chorus besides that central riff.
These releases aren’t even offensively bad or anything. I just listen to them once, and I already feel like I’ve seen everything these songs have to offer. There’s no clever structure or creative melody to hear. I listened to Because, and I had a good time with it, but I’m also not going to put it on my playlist. I feel like this about every TT after Deja Vu, with the exception of Endless Night.
I’d be easy to just place blame on a new producer and move on, but there’s no such thing to speak of. For the most part, it seems like the current producers have been working with them since the early years, although not for every release like they do now. They still make cool tracks here and there, like the intro to the BOCA album. I just don’t find any of them compelling like I used to, and that makes me really sad.
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Happens to a lot of groups. Sometimes their direction doesn’t take off where you like. Reminds me of how I approach LOONA somewhat. It’s how I like all their title tracks (even the weird Why Not), but still kind of feel less excited about them unlike before due to how flawed the tracks are.
Still, though I can see and hear the criticisms of all those songs when I listen and understand the flaws, I still genuinely enjoy the songs or I view those flaws as less detrimental than it does for others. I love most of DC’s title tracks from Scream to BEcause. I think the only one I don’t like actually is What unfortunately. Different tastes for different people really, and that’s probably what’s happening here.
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I feel you so much. Their songs used to have more personality and soul before. (Even their music videos have become soulless, though they have higher production value they’re losing on storylines, making them far less interesting/unique).
When I first heard the teasers I thought the song sounded too much like Odd Eye (which I only heard once or twice tbh) and it made me think how with the constant releases the producers might be unable to bring new sound/complex songs/etc and they’re just following a formula. Maybe I’m being too harsh but Dreamcatcher were my favourite group and to be underwhelmed for so long by their music (the most important factor for me) is frustrating. The excitement is totally gone.
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Highly disagree with your opinion, in fact I think they’re getting better and better by infusing different genres like Moombahton, Trap, Hip Hop with their classic style of Rock, I wouldn’t think of the MVs being soulless either, but you do you I guess.
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Kudos once again to Dreamcatcher for making a song that sounds just like their sound but evolves it to a summer theme.
Darling daughter has gotten into Dreamcatcher, so I get to hear a lot of them. Just this morning was Odd Eye and Poison Love, again. So I can say right now, it’s a yes for the family team. (Being a good mom, I even ordered her a physical copy.)
Bonus point for Beethoven’s Fur Elise quote*. It’s most obvious as the third line of the chorus at 0:53, but the chord progression is salted throughout. The soft piano break starting 2:29 also is reminiscent of the Moonlight Sonata. I am not clever enough to immediately hear if it more quietly quotes either of these in other parts or yet other Beethoven piano pieces. (This is a case where I would head over to Kevin of ReacttotheK to hear his thoughts.)
Minus point for the rap which feels grafted on. I get what they are going for, a low rat-a-tat spitfire. Sure, the drums are going all pots and more pots behind her. The vocal doesn’t lean into it enough but still hits the same low sounding note every single time. Its almost the same low sounding note as Odd Eye which I get to hear a lot thanks to darling daughter, and it bugs me there too. I am beginning to think this is more a producer problem. Perhaps even keeping it monotone, if it had dug into the enunciation and consonants more.
For B-sides: They are all very good, but Whistle with that whistle hook stands out to me. There is no EDM b-side this time around but, Alldaylong has the City Pop revival sound that some people like.
*Last year’s “Hand’s Up” from Cherry Bullet also quoted Fur Elise, and went all in on it too. It became an ear worm guilty pleasure despite any objections I may have had. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0It6vWbGOX0
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I swear that calypso-sounding low synth line is playing the left hand of Fur Elise, but each arpeggio line is played twice and its all faster.
Hah, this is funny. I looked around youtube for Fur Eilse, and in addition to the expected Lang Lang and a dozen others, there was this “Fur Elise but its a Dubstep Nightmare”, and it seems a bit appropriate.
‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WheoGHREF60
The left hand I mention is up to about 0:20 where he starts to vary from the as-composed version.
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I felt very neutrally about this title track but the B Side Whistle fulfilled all of my 2nd gen nostalgia that I’ve been wanting for years
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I remember joking with my good friend in 2020 the thought of dark/moody summer songs coming out before the half way mark of 2020 (we know how bad the drought was for upbeat songs in the first half of 2020… Looking at you boy groups!). I didn’t think it would manifest into “BEcause” by Dreamcatcher one year later.
It’s good to see Dreamcatcher back with the creepy concept again though! Absolutely love the visuals in this MV.
As for the song… I like it! Personally, I think it’s hard to beat tracks like “Scream” or “You and I” (both are my favourites, the former especially) so I can’t help but feel like something is missing. Though I must say… that bridge though? Definitely the biggest highlight in this song. It’s absolutely chilling. Like I mentioned before, I like this title track, and I bet this would be a huge grower for me.
Huge bonus: the mini album is great throughout. I rarely say this for a lot of artists (even for my favourites. I’m unfortunately a picky listener), but Dreamcatcher’s Summer Holiday mini has no skips for me. “Whistle” did not disappoint, but wow I never thought “Airplane” was really catchy. This mini is probably the most diverse in sound for Dreamcatcher, and I love that both them and the composers (Leez and Ollounder) took that step in really making this summer mini different.
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As others noted, this feels more like a soft modulation rather than a reinvention. Other tracks on the mini move in that latter direction more overtly and allow the group to explore more sides of their sound. Digging the citypop bassline-infused “Alldaylong” and calmer “Whistle” a lot.
And while I don’t think they’ve topped “Scream” across the past few comebacks, I like the central chorus melody, especially when it layers the guitars and shouted quality, as Nick notes. Further, it and “Odd Eye” have both embraced a more sung chorus, whereas “Scream” and “Boca” relied more on instrumentation than on voice to anchor the catchiness.
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My first time commenting here, I couldn’t resist Dreamcatcher ^-^
Boca and Scream were instant hits for me with the respective guitar riff and psytrance drop, but Odd Eye took a few listens for the melody to sink in. BEcause will probably follow the same route. This won’t be my favorite title track from them, but I can tell it’ll grow on me in a few months. I’d rate it an 8.25
And as far as the album goes, I really like Whistle, though I’ve only gone through it once. Ollounder and Leez did a great job again. And I like the cover artwork too lol
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Welcome to the comments section!! 🙂
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I love the song but the highlight is the MV and the girls performance. I wasn’t expecting this but i’m well fed to be honest. It’s not summery fun, but summery horror and like you said, it would trascend the season. Now i’m going to listen to the mini.
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I love the song but the highlight is the MV and the girls performance. I wasn’t expecting this but i’m well fed to be honest. It’s not summery fun, but summery horror and like you said, it would trascend the season. Now i’m going to listen to the mini.
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I don’t what to call this song? My first instinct was surf-rock, but I’m not an expert at those kinds of catergories. I do really really like it though. I love switch-up of using drum and bass for the rap instead, rather the normal trap sounds, although the actual rap needs improvement. The dramatic bridge is definitely a highlight, with a lovely melody.
I do understand the apprehension, it is definitely a weird direction to take your style of music into, but I love it, especially Gahyeon’s part although it might just be Fur Elise now that MYMA pointed it out haha. It catchy, and I find myself singing it through the day.
That said, I wonder how much bigger the apprehension would be if Airplane got the title track slot. It’s insanely different from anything DC has made, and sounds more like an Oh My Girl comeback than anything since it sheds any kind of rock at all.
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B-sides? Alldaylong is my favorite of course. It’s a perfect blend of city-pop and NJS. As long as you do city-pop competently I’ll pretty much like it haha but the NJS is a bonus too. Their vocals are pretty and so soothing with the nice mixture of instruments and synths. UGH. The sound can be repetitive, but I’ve gotten used to city-pop’s repetition honestly. It helps that I like the sound so much.
The Buried Treasure will probably be Whistle, especially with its house EDM sound, although I can see Alldaylong too with some of its New Jack Swing feel.
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surf rock doesn’t sound even remotely similar to this song, it’s a cool genre tho and you should check it out (cause you evidently havent)
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My only reference of surf rock (in k-pop) is CLC’s Devil. Relistening to it, BEcause sounds nothing like it of course.
It’s really just the first verse and the second half of the second verse that reminded me of Devil, I think it’s the bass that sounds like it could be guitar, plus the distinct ocean vibe but I totally get that it’s probably not even close to actual surf rock not to mention the other parts that are completely different genres.
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Like this okay, but I’m still holding out for a full crazy power metal album with someone like Dragonforce or what the hell, Judas Priest backing them up. (They did shows with Babymetal, I know Rob Halford would be down for it.) That is my futile dream for Ateez as well.
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I want that too (I mean HammerFall’s Pontus Norgren shredded for them on “No More” and “Don’t Light My Fire” is straight Once-era Nightwish) but they just terminated their contract with Ponican, so I’m not really holding out hope for that stuff now.
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On one hand, this song is a bit of an odd duck on the album, because most of it is really summery goodness while this feels like a sonic sequel to Odd Eye. So it feels perfunctory in a way and I sometimes wish they’d gone all the way with the summer shtick, hell, released maybe Airplane as the title if not Whistle.
On the other hand, I really, really like this song. But of course I wasn’t not gonna like it. It’s definitely them, after all. Odd Eye was very, very good and this is like a spiritual sequel. It did take a few listens to grow on me but it makes a lot of smart production choices. The last chorus is where it really comes together imho. Odd Eye has the better melody (it’s had the best melody for a title track since… You and I, that’s how much I like it now), but a tighter production that knows when to breathe… yeap.
I am beginning to agree with you that they should probably go for broke and release an EDM title track and move the classic rock stuff to the B-sides. I mean normally I would be skeptical because everyone knows them for their rock, but at this point we all know they’re the queens of pop-rock and these latest B-sides have just been fire.
In any case, I feel this will grow on me even more than it already has. I mean, Breaking Out didn’t wow me with its melody at first but it has aged incredibly well to me. To the point I’m ranking it top-15 at the very worst.
Anyway, Whistle.
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Just wanna say, I look to your comments on each Dreamcatcher review, as you are this site’s resident Insomnia. Also, your old blog post has been quoted by a lot of Insomnias I have bumped into when explaining why they lost that (much needed) win 🙂
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Ah, that old blog post. The info is outdated and not 100% accurate given what we now know about The Show’s criteria (that tracking is Saturday – Friday, which really was not widely known/publicized until a series of incidents). My conclusion right now is that the actual score they received, while rather insulting, was not illegal. It was something in the 250-350 range. I don’t have those spreadsheets anymore, I cleaned them out a while back. Whatever, there’s nothing we can really do about it. I really should update it with this disclaimer if people are still sharing it, though I kinda wish they wouldn’t, lol. (It made it to a YouTube video, I’m told.)
Related to that, I used to run an old account monitoring The Show in generality. I did my own computations, tracked viewing numbers and sales charts, doing things by hand sometimes when necessary. I did this for a few weeks, maybe a couple of months. I was attacked by quite a few (mostly boy group) stans who thought I was accusing their faves of cheating (even though I made it very clear that the target of my ire was The Show and shady execs, not the groups themselves) but I have a thick skin and didn’t care. I may have been a minor player in that controversy involving Kang Daniel vs. AOA a while back. I feel a twinge of guilt when I saw how it affected the former, but it’s not my fault that The Show and Gaon were extremely opaque until then about sales scoring and that the truth was quite ridiculous (downloads were worth something like 1000x what streams were, which makes sense as a measure of profit but not as a gauge of public impact).
Anyway, I’m done with that, and done with online fandom for the most part. I haven’t left the InSomnia fandom as I still love the group, but there is so much toxicity and infighting on K-Pop stan twt in literally all my fandoms. I just left stan Twitter for good and it’s dramatically improved my mental health lol. That’s one of the things I enjoy about this blog — I can just focus on the music for the most part here!
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Ah, thanks for explaining 🙂
Stan K-Pop is certainly messy, glad the attacks did not affect you too much, glad you are now doing better.
Here is the video, btw, it is by my favorite K-Youtuber, Mera. It has 585k views, quite large.
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And if you are curious, you are mentioned at 24:38
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Also, thanks for the kind words!
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Thank you!
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Sounds like it misses its goal. Whistle is strong compared to the rest of the album.
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I agree that Whistle is the standout. This album isn’t really showy, so I get why it could feel underwhelming, but it reveals itself with repeat spins!
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The entire album is great.
I liked Because so much, but I can understand all love for Whistle.
Alldaylong is my favorite.
Dreamcatcher doing city pop is a joy.
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As a stan since debut, this is what I needed after the dull disappointment (imo, of course :)) that was Odd Eye. It’s not my new favorite title track (I don’t think anything can beat Deja Vu), but I really love it. As for the album, I like it a lot more than Road to Utopia, but it still doesn’t touch Dystopia: The Tree of Language for me.
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Tree of Language is a genuinely untouchable album. I’d love to have another release that tops it, but when you have Black or White, In The Frozen, Sahara, Red Sun, Paradise, AND Scream on the same tracklist, it seems impossible.
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