I was not a fan of HORI7ON’s first pre-debut single Dash, but follow-up track Lovey Dovey dramatically transforms their sound. Gone is the tough-guy chanting of Dash, replaced by pastel outfits and a light funk pop beat that borrows elements of new jack swing.
This style appeals to me, even if the song feels a but generic and even amateurish in places. At its best, Lovey Dovey embraces its funky energy with an earworm of a chorus. The vocal arrangement during this segment is warm and satisfying and points toward an exciting future for the group. The verses are much cringier — especially the English-language interjections. I wish I could graft Lovey Dovey‘s strong chorus to a different song entirely.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I’m just here to hear what Nick thinks of the latest new jack swing bright theme boy song this year. It seems the answer is an instant plus half point for the new jack swing on an otherwise generic bright theme song.
LikeLike
Love this. I have such an affinity to easy groovy boy band songs. King the melody kind of reminds me of Cinema by CIX.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You better sing, Vinci.
LikeLike
Yeah, it’s cute and it should be right up my alley. It misses what I like to call ‘meat on its bones’. I’m not all that articulate lately, but the song feels like it isn’t fully fleshed out. The chorus melody is nice, but I feel like I’ve heard it before.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Parts of the chorus remind me of IVE “Loveade”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
VIVIZ Loveade or IVE Love Dive?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hah, lolz oops, the Viviz Loveade chorus, at 1:05 here and again at 2:53.
… though the thing with these sing-song non-melodies is that the verses of Ive Love Dive aren’t that far away either.
LikeLike
Charming and I think it will grow on me. Makes me want to keep an eye on their future work.
LikeLike
this is better than their godawful debut, though the bar was in the middle
anyway yall have heard of that male idol who SA’d their former bandmate? the media is tryna turn it into a guessing game on who the idol is and its disgusting 😬
LikeLiked by 2 people
It doesn’t bring anything new to the table necessarily, but it is by far the best execution of this sound that I have heard in the past year or two. The tune at the core of this is solid and the chorus is very fun to listen to. The production has a fair amount of color and texture, but not quite enough to really knock it out of the park. It’s giving “2023 boygroup version of DM” vibes, though maybe not quite as good.
LikeLike
It thankfully doesn’t fall into the tacky tropes other MLD groups usually fall into — and it has a good chorus! Now, how can MLD infect their other groups to release something like this?
LikeLike
I love this – so melodic, bright warm sound with great vocals. Easy 9 for me
LikeLike
The song grows on me and I can play it on the beach this summer.
LikeLike