Review

Song Review: INI – Spectra

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INI - SpectraI thought we might finally be getting somewhere with INI. Despite a clunky single, the b-sides to this summer’s Password showed a ton of potential. Then, the group teamed with rock band Wanimana for the excellent Hero. I have a huge soft spot for INI. They’re immensely talented. They work with talented producers. They’ve got plenty of money behind them. But, their collaborators seem intent on giving them the laziest possible music.

I’m struggling to find any redeeming value in Spectra. It may be their worst single yet, and that’s saying something. It’s basically the latest bad K-pop song trying to emulate groups like NCT. We already have enough of those. Of course, this is technically J-pop — not K-pop. Somehow that makes this sting even more. I think of all the diverse, amazing talent available within the Japanese music community and bristle at the thought of K-pop leftovers like this clogging the top of the Oricon charts.

What is there to say about Spectra that I haven’t written hundreds of times before? The song is obnoxious from the start (its “we the new bad boys in the block!” intro is painful) and it doesn’t improve from there. The blend of recycled percussion is irritating and abrasive. The hook is a hodgepodge of shouted chants and lame boasts. The rap is over exaggerated to the point of parody and the song yet again fails to take advantage of INI’s strong suite of vocalists. This overused sound needs to find its way out of fashion soon because I don’t think there’s anything exciting left to pull from it.

Hooks 5
 Production 6
 Longevity 6
 Bias 5
 RATING 5.5

Grade: F

10 thoughts on “Song Review: INI – Spectra”

  1. There is a new ad on my favorite tablet game to get the goodies, because these ads come in cycles. It is for shoes for $4.98, free shipping, about 5 or 6 styles across the screen teasing the player to click or accidentally click. Sure the picture looks, perhaps, OK, if one were generous, but what the hell could they really be made of to be $4.98 including shipping?

    This song is like that. The iteasers, perhaps, OK. Then one clicks and listens, and yeah nah, its all pleather foam polyester crap.

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  2. As I’ve already said under the comments of Tempest’s Dragon review, the industry’s obsession with NCT has gone so far that it basically evolved into nothing but a mental illness.
    If I hear something else like this from BGs, I don’t even know what I’m gonna do. Maybe launch a massive attack on some agencies…🤔🤔🤔

    K-pop has gone really mentally sick. Like, something has to be done with this noise music syndrome, but nothing actually happens!🤬….

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    • NCT wasn’t the first group to do noise music like be so fr right now… literally there’s a tons of bgs tht has done it lol 💀if you don’t like noise music then jus don’t listen to it? easy as tht there’s people who acc do enjoy it

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  4. boy groups stop trying to be NCT challenge (FAIL)

    anyway since you did that “My Favorite J-Pop” series last month, i thought of doing some reviews of my favorite j-pop songs again like i did months ago to convince you to revive the “90s J-Pop Roadmap” series. so, im gonna do just that

    heaven is a place on earth – miyavi

    Miyavi’s Holy Nights album remains one of my favorite albums of 2020. Songs like Bang!, Tokio, and Need For Speed really show the excellence of his guitar and vocal skills, coming with his signature finger-slap style paired with strong melodies and choruses. But, I want to highlight my absolute favorite b-side in the album, Heaven Is A Place on Earth. It’s up there with one of my favorite songs of his, and definitely what heaven must sound like if it was a song.

    When songs like these make heavy use of distorted guitars for their instrumentals, that’s a huge uptick in my bias points. Distorted guitars help make a song sound more intense and paint a darker atmosphere that I highly appreciate in music. Along with that, Miyavi gives an excellent vocal performance that fits this kind of dark atmosphere. It starts off as breathy in the verses, but then he goes full force during the cathartic chorus. The Arabian riff interpolation in the melody is a very common occurrence in many songs (take GFriend’s MAGO and and Orange Caramel’s Lipstick as examples), but this is the kind of song where it really works thanks to Miyavi’s vocal performance. Throw in some choir vocals and you got a centerpiece that really sells the song.

    And now, this is where I talk about the song’s incredible final minute-and-a-half climax. This may quite possibly be one of my favorite musical moments of the 2020s. After some choir vocalization, pulsing guitar comes in as shredding guitar takes over and Miyavi delivers a galvanizing electric guitar as the main hook plays for a final time. The backup choir only grows more as the distorted guitars grow even further, going all sorts of directions I definitely didn’t expect to hear. By the time there are no more vocals to be heard and just that excellent guitar solo paired with the instrumental, I feel like I’ve had an out of body experience. Give it up for Miyavi, everybody. He’s taking us to heaven right now!

    Hooks: 10
    Production: 10
    Longevity: 10
    Bias: 10

    Rating: 10

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