VERIVERY are hitting us with rapid-fire comebacks. A few weeks ago they returned with r&b slow-jam ‘O’ – a song I’ve enjoyed more each time I play it. This served as a prelude to the release of their first full album, which also acts as the conclusion of their multi-part ‘O’ series. Sadly, this concept has proven a mixed bag when it comes to the music itself, and title track Undercover does little to distinguish itself from many current boy group offerings.
I’m generally pretty biased toward boy group music, but I don’t know what’s going on with the male side of K-pop this year. The majority of groups seem mired in this slow-tempo, shouty style that places bluster above hookiness. Undercover comes courtesy of production team The Hub, responsible for 2022 offerings like NMIXX’s O.O, Weeekly’s Ven Para and ENHYPEN’s Blessed-Cursed. Undercover shares many musical hallmarks with these tracks. Its creeping, trap-infused beat has some bite, though it feels very familiar. The vocal sample that opens the song is more interesting. I wish it reappeared within the track itself.
My biggest stumbling block with Undercover isn’t its familiarity. Yes, over the past few months we’ve heard an unending stream of K-pop tracks like this, but there’s still a ton of potential to be mined from this style. I may sound like a broken record, but Undercover’s biggest struggle is its lack of knock-your-socks-off hooks. I don’t know where all the topliners have gone in K-pop, but the melodies here just don’t hit. Like so many recent tracks, they feel disconnected and random. In fact, they’re kind of formless. Even the chorus feels more like chanted ad-libs — responses without a call. The melody of the pre-chorus has a nice curve, and Undercover’s final minute shifts the structure to deliver a much more promising series of hooks. I wish the entire song sounded more like this.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 7.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
My favorite parts of the song were the PRECHORUS and the bridge. I felt like I could actually immerse myself in the music during it. However the chorus and raps verse just took me out of it. I agree with your rating.
I said right before the chorus that it would make or break the song for me…sadly it was meh.
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I like the guitar. I like the sample. I liked the last minute. Those alone elevate it above most similar tracks, but man is it a step down from Trigger.
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It’s just so disappointing…😑The only part I REALLY love here is the bridge, the rest is just ultra-generic, underwhelming nothing. Seriously, if I hear one more song like this again, I won’t even try to listen to it another time as I know such stuff will never grow on me anymore.
All in all, this one is a 6.75/10 for me.
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hehe I had a feeling this song wouldn’t go down well on this site so I don’t feel too surprised 😉
For me last year Get Away was my favorite Verivery track and also in my top 3 songs of 2021…. and so you know where this is going… Undercover is exactly my kind of song! ❤ I loved every minute of it! Good vocals parts, awesome rap parts, and a brilliant bridge! Verivery definitely makes my kind of music and this song is definitely one of my favorites for the month! 🙂
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Yeah honestly I really like this song
I thought other people would like it more
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Yeah I was pretty disappointed with ‘Undercover’.
But hey! I am grateful that VERIVERY finally made Soundcloud-exclusive song ‘Velocity’ an official bside (finally!) so I’ll take that.
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This song sounds like scraps picked up off the cutting floor from a Wayv song. The problem is that they try and throw in interesting chords here and there that sounds like something SM would put in a song, but the vocal line just sits on the tonic and doesn’t go very far.
More like mid-7’s from me, if only because I find it entertaining anyway.
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I’m glad you’re picking up on the “scraps” thing, too. I don’t know if it’s the glut of songwriters on these tracks or just the general vibe K-pop is targeting, but so many recent songs feel thrown together from random chants and affectations. There’s no real melodic focus or centerpiece, which makes it so hard to get engrossed in the music. It’s not a stylistic thing. It’s a structural thing.
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it really would be amazing if the song was more like that last minute.
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I adored Trigger, but this just was kind of there. I am liking b-sides like Moment, Coming Over and Fallin’ because they have that Verivery kind of buzzing energy i enjoy. I know everyone thought Feb/March was drab, but I’d take most of the stuff that came out then over this month’s offerings. Much disappointment.
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I also really liked O. Nothing slow on this album feels like that, to its detriment.
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I’ll do you one better and confirm that Feb/Mar/Apr have *all* been drab
(runs and hides…)
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I feel roughly that has been the case for global music. A lot of ‘good’, and very little ‘great’. At least eh musical quality is spread out pretty evenly and there have been some decent albums from Japan. Not much else really, unfortunately.
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See, I like a light groove better than you, and there were lots of gentle funk numbers in Feb and March, but ugh. This month. My favorite song so far is rapper Aquinas doing a tongue in cheek disco number and I cannot find it anywhere but on YouTube. https://youtu.be/k-5FjBDj89Q
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With this, I’ve decided that I really dislike songs composed by The Hub – they have a tendency to be piecemeal in structure and tinny in quality. I always feel like I’m in an aluminum can when I’m listening to songs produced by them.
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I think Verivery did amazing with this song, I personally thought that the hook was catchy, yes it took a few listens but I love undercover so much and o is probably my second fav.
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