It’s post-Queendom comeback day, as LOONA join fellow competitors Kep1er with new music. Both groups have returned with summer themes, though they’ve taken different routes to get there. While Kep1er’s Up bounded forward with explosive energy, LOONA’s Flip That offers a more subdued house beat. “Subdued” hasn’t been an element of LOONA’s title tracks for a while, and it’s nice to hear them dial down the girl crush shouting.
House music is the dance genre that won’t die. It’s all over global pop music, albeit in varying iterations. K-pop has drained the sound dry, making core elements like melody all the more important. Flip That quickly develops a beguiling atmosphere, harnessing a soft groove that compliments the group’s ethereal voices. The production feels very European in execution, but the energy could have kicked up a notch to give the track extra bite.
Flip That’s biggest stumbling block is its lack of a proper chorus. There’s only so far you can get with a riff-style hook unless that riff happens to be very, very good. Flip That’s refrain is only so-so – more a placeholder than a fully-realized centerpiece. This results in a track that will get your head nodding but little else. There’s just not enough meat on the bone to maintain interest. With that said, I appreciate this sonic shift for LOONA. I’ve never bought them as a “girl crush” act. They’re much stronger within this softer palette, and Flip That may prove to be the U-turn they need to move onto more thrilling material. It wins a spot on the summer playlist, even if it won’t be a song I seek out often on its own.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
what can i say? we finally got bright loona back after two years of girl crush, and im happy with that
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Yes! I’m really glad to see Loona tackling something new for themselves, ’cause I’ve already got over this generic girl crush. In contrast, I agree with Nick about the chorus. It is a little bit underwhelming, especially the first half. Just give some extra energy and the song could’ve become a real bop.
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I don’t know why but that chorus is just so laughably bad… “flip that… that that that that that that” made me crack up
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I liked this this this this this this this, especially Need U from the album, yet, even so, it feels all their songs from # onwards lack authenticity (although I really enjoy #, midnight and and). LOONA are my girls for life 😎 but I wonder what they could’ve been if Jaden didn’t leave.
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I find this very refreshing and do think it’s good but I’m still annoyed as an OG orbit about this line distribution – What exactly is it that Heejin has on them or, rather, what exactly did Vivi, Gowon and Yeojin do to the producers because YET AGAIN we are left with a ,surplus of Heejin while Yeojin Vivi and Gowon are fighting for adlibs. AD LIBS! WHY is Heejin singing in every verse AND the choruses AND the bridge?
Singing parts are often skewed towards OEC, Chuu and Heejin but there are still 7 other women in this group so WHY is Heejin singing so damn much or multiple times before everyone’s even had the chance to get even one proper line? More over, it’s odd to me for them not to shake it up at this of all times when they’re about to go on tour without Chuu and will need to shuffle vocal parts for that alone. Like I know that popular members will get more things but it’s hard for those other girls to gain traction if they’re never given anything. It makes me feel weary TBQH. I still adore them as a group – nor do I blame Heejin, OEC or Chuu but it’s very frustrating at the same time.
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Actually, if you checked line distribution for the song you can see that the distribution is fairer this time compared to their previous title track so I don’t understand why are you nagging about this like Heejin and Chuu just committed genocide. The top 6 are the supposed “vocalists” of the group, what do you think a “fair distribution” for the group was supposed to be in your opinion (and this is coming from ViVi main)?
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I literally said it wasn’t their fault LOL
I already saw one of these and I think a fair distribution is not having the same people dominate both chorus and lyrical parts. This is not exactly a vocally intense song either so why not swap out people to lead the choruses so that it’s more fair. This being better line distribution doesn’t make it good line distribution which is something all of us can see so there’s no need to be so extreme.
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Hula Hoop remains the summer hit that got away, but “that that that that that that” is already stuck in my head
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Both the composition and the performance sound like an Oh My Girl b-side, which I suppose is fine. Alt Dolphin – Dun Dun dance.
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Personally I prefer this to the kep1 song. It’s a fun chill little track that feels a lot more cohesive while “Up” is not bad but feels too shouty and all over the place. Kep1 are suffering from being a project group, I think— so many members and not enough time to really capitalize on all of their talents. Loona’s release— which I’m only comparing because of the Queendom context— has that polished sheen of a group that’s been around for a few years and understands their strengths. I think it might not be what fans are expecting after their long break since it’s a departure from the So What—Why Not—PTT mold but I think it’s a good idea to return to the “Butterfly” type of sound and I can see this song being a hit.
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Kep1 are suffering from being a project group, I think— so many members and not enough time to really capitalize on all of their talents. Loona’s release— which I’m only comparing because of the Queendom context— has that polished sheen of a group that’s been around for a few years and understands their strengths.
By that token both groups have the same problem. This is more polished because it’s the same half of the group getting line distribution while the rest are fighting for scraps and adlibs. Kep1er will seemingly keep shuffling in order to utilize everyone while the BBC producers seem to have their sights set on centering Heejin, OEC & Chuu
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Really giving this an 8 huh?
Massively disappointing/boring for me.
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The chorus is so underwhelming which is unfortunately. Its catchy, but theres really not much to grab on to there. I will echo what others have said though that I’m happy they are returning to a sound more adjacent to their earlier releases and leaving the girl crush behind (though tbh, I didn’t actually mind So What/Why Not all that much).
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*unfortunate urgh
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Kinda with Noah on this one. I was figuring that LOONA departing from their girl crush sound to return their more bright, dreamy era would mean a return of their more left field electronic sound. Instead we get a trop pop adjacent song with a limp chorus. It’s not…TERRIBLE but idk i expected more. Despite me being rather hard on it, I’d still give it an 8 as well because the verses are pretty nice
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I’m just very happy they’re back to bright popmusic ( fpr now ) , this is the LOONA i like
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I liked this. It gave me slight Feel My Rhythm vibes but in a slowergentler cutesy way. Frankly, I was too busy watching the girls. 😅 They looked really pretty! They carry of this mood really well and it was catchy and pleasant viewing.
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when i got to hear for the first time, I was actually confused… then I realized by the second listen it’s actually a really good song. I think people nowadays want idols screaming and noise song so we’re so used to that fucking noisy shouting thing that it’s hard to distinguish it from actual coesive sound.
That being said, LOONA suffered a lot from having such a diverse and good pre-debut era. People struggle to understand that they don’t sound like that one specific solo/unit that they like when 12 girls and a completed lore is together. Loona has been releasing ok songs, but everything they release is immediatly (badly) criticized because people want them to sound like a solo/subunit they like. Like they said on queendom, people expect them to live up to something that’s not realistic.
This is my favorite title track so far. They’re pretty, their MVs always look GOOD and interesting and the mini offered a range of genres so everyone can pick a nice song.
It seems that BBC is finally realizing after queendom that LOONA’s strenght is to create trends/be diverse and creative and not follow them. None of their precious tracks were bad but LSM got to sucessfully turn anything he touched into a NCT noisy sound and LOONA didn’t need that thing. I mean, there are enough nct members.
I’m actually sad because one of the reasons I was tolerating the vivi-gowon-yeojin as background sounds thing was simply because they are a part of the femme line and they were hard on girl crush (the “fuckboi” line of loona became insanely popular after queendom…) but in this release, it just doesn’t make sense.
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Now I have read the comments and the “I expected more” trend is also here…… good lord people loona is a small group from a small company (that’s also a broke company)… I don’t know why are you guys expect them to reinvent the wheel….
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I was really surprised that this song comes from Loona. It’s so refreshing not to hear them scream and cling to girl crush this time. Also, their vocal line shined despite being a subdued song. It goes to my playlist.
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This feels like a missed orgasm. It feels nice but very frustrating. You know it could have been so much better and you were enjoying yourself, but when you are waiting for a satisfying chorus, you get scraps and wondering what went wrong. Ugg.
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I like this more than up. I would’ve preferred a better chorus but the first verse and bridge plus the final chorus really sold me. I agree this is a better sound for them.
I didn’t realize this was house though. I always think of very specific percussion when I hear house. Now I gotta figure out what makes house… House
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and the trend of underwhelming choruses continues. It’s not bad, it’s just cardboard, nothing’s really happening
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The chorus is horrible but it got stuck in my head after two listens.
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It’s very catchy, but that’s kind of all it has going for it. I’m actually a bit surprised that it got an 8.
The b-sides are fine, none of them stood out to me the way WOW did. I don’t know why LOONA’s music has gotten so uninteresting.
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I feel like people are giving it a higher rating than it really deserves because loona has finally moved back to a softer sound that everyone seems to miss. I want to like it but the chorus is so grating I almost closed the tab.
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last chorus with heejin really improves the song (dunno if it’s enough to make a big impression but it surely turns things more interesting)
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