Two weeks ago, Snow Man released the first half of their upcoming double a-side on YouTube. The excellent Tapestry was made available in full, allowing listeners to indulge in the song’s satisfying builds without unnecessary edits. The rock-fueled W follows suit, unfurling the full track alongside a striking video. As far as I’m concerned, the group has hit it out of the park both times.
W’s aggressive energy contrasts with the more lyrical Tapestry, echoing past highlights like 2020’s Stories. Snow Man are fantastic purveyors of this genre and bring an anime-like sense of character to the track. The riff-heavy instrumental unleashes its full fury right out of the gate and pauses often to remind us how wonderfully satisfying that central riff is. This adds a hulking presence to the arrangement, like bold punctuation marks closing each musical phrase.
Not to be outdone, W’s chorus goes equally as big. The tempo intensifies as the guys deliver a layered vocal. Wisps of strings add orchestral flair. I’m not as enthused about the skittering percussion, which feels flimsier than the robust instrumental elements surrounding it. But, this frenetic rhythm helps forge a standout dance break late in the song. Overall, W comes together nicely. I’m not quite as smitten with it as I was with Tapestry, but I could see this climbing into the “9”s with time (following the same path as Stories). As usual, it’s great fun to see Snow Man embrace the bombast, bringing their theatre experience to a blazing rock sound.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
You say rock-infused, I click.
I notice that I can appreciate a lot of J-pop songs but they don ‘t stick with me for very long.
Maybe this is the effect of listening to so much polished k-pop and tiktok edit sounds? Maybe these songs are too complex for my brain to hold onto after all the predictable formula k-pop song structure? I hope not.
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I have two main thoughts about this song and both are completely unrelated to the music:
1. WHat is the point of having a bias if they’re going to dress him like a feather duster TT
2. some terrible things were done to the English language to make it rhyme with the Japanese, which I have to respect
(the actual song is a good time though)
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Haha I get a kick out of the feather duster tbh. It’s just so… opposite?… to his personality.
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If you’rereferring to Shoppi’s outfit
“whats the highlight of W?
shota: unlike tapestry, we sang the song in unison. i want you to pay attention to the costumes that contradicts the song. let’s see if my costumes gets meme-ed by the fans. please pay attention to the top i’m wearing! lol”
[ taken from shotawatanabes on twitter ]
Dude is enjoying the buzz at least
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After listening to lots of Snowman releases, I can safely say that “Orange Kiss” is still my favorite song from them. Tons of their stuff are pretty forgettable for me, but orange kiss has just that nostalgic, empowering, youthful vibe that’s so rare in kpop/jpop landscape these days. On an unrelated note, a niche/silly/quirky jpop group The Superfruit just released Sakurafure. The vocals are grating, but the energy is always great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRymP8Cfmlg
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I don’t like this song. It sounds like something Arashi would release (their song Brave sounds similar). This singing in unison thing that Johnny’s groups do a lot is not my thing, even when Suno do it. Since it is the theme song of Sakurai Sho’s drama, I wonder if Arashi would’ve sung this after all had they not been on a self imposed hiatus.
Anyways, Tapestry remains the superior song and I hope they’ll be given more melodious tracks where their individual vocals get to shine
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Snow Man throwing shade at NEWS 2:25
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