Whatever happens, CRAXY will always have one of K-pop’s most brilliantly bonkers debut songs in 2020’s Aria. That ambition has woven throughout their career, even if the music itself has become more typically 4th-gen K-pop in its execution. For their third mini album, the group has turned to production team D_answer, most well-known for their work with Pixy. This collaboration is likely to bear fruit, but title track Undercover doesn’t quite get there.
Undercover leans further into hip-hop than past title tracks, unleashing a ferocious energy clearly inspired by successful peers like BLACKPINK and aespa. CRAXY deliver the schtick as well as anyone, but nothing about the track helps them stick out. D_answer inject their trademark horror-show elements – a bit of demented vocal fry here, a touch of spooky synth there. It’s quite evocative, but the song itself doesn’t draw much attention.
I prefer the verses to the chorus. They feel super familiar, but the creeping groove underneath gives them an addictive bounce. The pre-chorus stands as an open, airy counterpoint to Undercover’s claustrophobic arrangement, but the chorus that follows is a missed opportunity. The production is satisfying sparse, but the repeated tagline “undercover goddess” feels undercooked. I wish we had a melodic counterpoint here rather than a monotonous, spoken hook. The blustery post-chorus doesn’t help matters, though the song holds together better than I would have expected. Just like Pixy’s music with D_answer, I anticipate stronger work in the future. Undercover feels like a testing of the waters before CRAXY re-embrace the Aria-esque madness that makes them so interesting.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Darling daughter plays Pixy a lot, Bewitched and Villain. If you see some mom going down the road early in the morning practicing excessive vocal fry, that mom is me.
Alrighty, so this is 3 for 3 for this D_answer having one note choruses, literally one note – this here, Bewitched, and Villain. This is the least of the three. I wish this D_answer would go listen to Yoo Young Jin’s fine one note work (Lucifer, Sorry Sorry, Mr Simple) to learn more about how to work with tension around one note.
LikeLike
It’s really fustrating that they seem to dive deeper and deeper into the girl krush everyone else was doing. I’m still holding onto faith that we’ll get the bonkers music back. “Aria”‘s centerpiece was simple but also rather anthemic. “Undercover” feels more like a complete song than “dance with god” or “Gaia” but that chorus is so boring
LikeLike
That is one linguistically awkward chorus.
LikeLike
I don’t know if I’m the only one who’s seeing this but does Craxy closely follow Verivery or something? 💀
Last year we had Verivery Trigger and later we got the Craxy Trigger. And this year we had Verivery Undercover and now a Craxy Undercover. No… I’m not screaming that names can’t be the same lol but the same groups being involved twice in a row is kinda funny XD
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha that’s a great observation!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Finally I’m not alone
LikeLike
I didn’t even notice that, good eye
LikeLike
I’ve been following CRAXY due to Aria, but none of their songs really clicked for me until this recent album. Was curious why and checked credits. No wonder, it’s Pixy’s in house producers? D_answer. That signature horror sound that was prevalent in Addicted and Betwitched can be found
LikeLike