Review

Song Review: NINE.i – Turn It Off

Posted on by 31 Comments

NINE.i - Turn It OffLet me paint a picture for you:

In the unlikely event that producers Sweetune are announced as part of a modern-era idol comeback, my entire base of operations goes on red alert. Lights flash, alarms sound and any outside activity freezes as the fist-pumping grandeur of The Chaser pipes through the overhead speakers.

Okay, I don’t actually have a fancy home base. And whatever alarm system that exists only kicks in when I leave the burner on too long. But this scenario aptly describes what’s happening in my brain the moment I see the names “Han Jae-ho” and “Kim Seung-soo” listed in the production credits for new K-pop albums. It happens so infrequently these days. Can you blame me?

Rookies NINE.i have previously worked with half of this duo, but there’s a special kind of magic when Sweetune unites. You hear it in their choices of synth textures… the way their melodies tug in unexpected yet familiar places… the otherworldly blend they manage to wring from any group of vocalists they’re given.

Is Turn It Off the best thing Sweetune have ever written? No. But it’s distinctly their work. It has perspective and it has ideas. It’s like an overstuffed candy box, bursting with color and flavor to the point you can’t quite decide where to focus. This sense of messy abandon isn’t what I’m used to from the team, but NINE.i wear it well.

I’m most impressed with the song’s galloping beat, heralded by the most distinct synth tones we’ve heard all year. The song’s melodies aren’t always as commanding, but the chorus has an effervescent spark that compliments the loping instrumental in surprising ways. We’re teased with hints of squealing electric guitar during parts of the chorus, but the squelchy electronics that usher in this segment are even cooler. There’s just so much going on here, and it grows more interesting and immersive each time you hear it.

I’ll say what I always say whenever an under-the-radar rookie group hitches their wagon to the Sweetune train: long may this collaboration reign.

Hooks 9
 Production 9
 Longevity 9
 Bias 10
 RATING 9.25

Grade: A

31 thoughts on “Song Review: NINE.i – Turn It Off”

  4. First thought: This is a 10. This is really good. Did I say 10? I meant 11. Nonstop, Icarus, and now this. Sweetune are on quite a roll. Best songs they’ve done in quite some time. Listening a second time. Yep, my song of the year.

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  7. It’s so good, my god. Every all-too-infrequent time the Sweetune songwriting pipeline springs a leak and one of their tracks bursts out into the greater K-pop sphere it’s like suddenly being sprayed in the face with frigid cold water. The warm lull of a constant stream of average-at-best comebacks is rudely interrupted and I am stirred AWAKE. Those synths!!!!

    Also I guess I’ll be the one to say it: imagine Infinite’s veteran vocal blend on a track like this. I love the bright youthful energy NINE.I bring to it as well but it’s difficult NOT to let my mind wander as I listen and envision the impact Infinite could have made with a Sweetune reunion of this calibre dropping earlier this week instead. Oh well, there’s still time, right……?

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  8. This song is sooooooooooooooooo good, the mv carries so much with it and reminds me a lot of ONF cyberpunk style. This song carries so much weight, this being the first comeback with the exposure of Boys planet that Seowon brought back to his group. I’d give this a 10/10 any day of the week. Probably the best song of the year so far along side “Broken melodies” with me. I really hope this comeback preforms well and brings the group the popularity they deserve 😀

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  9. Gonna echo other comments about the vocals/mixing on this. I’ve had similar thoughts on the Road.B singles, layered vocals more forward in the mix would’ve elevated this a bit closer to their best work.

    But good golly, like those Road.B productions (and CSR’s Euratcha), this is fantastic and I am liking it a lot. Somewhere between high 8s and low 9s for me.

    (Also, worst-fitting song title of the week. This is not a song I want to turn off!)

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  10. i can’t get into the song at all because of that horrendous mixing… the beat overwhelms the vocals to the point that it buries them. i can barely hear their voices. at its core, it’s a serviceable synth-pop track albeit nothing new, but i think there are more captivating songs like this that have far better mixing. case in point, “I AM” by ive

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  13. Love it but it sounds more like an 8.75 (8, 10, 9, 8) rather than a 9+ to me as it doesn’t sound as strong as Infinite, KARA or 9muses hits imo. But the synths in here are the most exciting i heard after from20’s beat it!

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  14. Not their catchiest one (both Young Boy and Parallel Universe catch me better on first listens) but let’s see after two weeks and lots of music show stages.

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  15. It’s not very Nine-I but it’s a great fricking pop song. At the start of the first listen like I did hearing Ciipher’s Blind (as one of the few Ciipher fans on here, I missed the ramshackle charm of the first album). Then I woke up and realized it was a great song and the polish didn’t hurt. This process has taken me a lot less time – by the end of the first play, I was sold.

    The album is excellent, more sunny than usual, but at least two songs have that driving, emotional appeal that made me a fan. Definitely adding to the collection.

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  16. I love Nine.i! They are not the most powerful vocalists or performers out there, but they have a style that is different from what most groups are doing.

    The song is awesome! The only criticism I have is that it may be too “sweet”? I’m not sure how to explain it, except that while I was listening to it I couldn’t help but wish that at least one of the guys had a deeper/fuller voice to balance the song/sound.

    Parallel Universe, Young Boy and basically all of their b-sides made it to my playlist and stayed there.

    This album is really good too. 9/10

    PS: while reading this review I couldn’t help but smile… it “sounded” so happy and enthusiastic😂

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  17. As a child of the 80’s, this song sounds more 80’s than almost all other 80’s revival songs out there. Real 80’s Revival. And I am speaking as someone who’s first crush first 45 first LP first concert first concert tee was a-ha themselves. Lord knows I do not fit into that t-shirt anymore, but I still have it and it is worth something. Also the ticket stub, Radio City which it cost my dad $14 each for me and my sister.

    The synth sounds straight out of an old Casio, like the first button
    ‘https://youtu.be/G0seoqSISPo?t=18 though probably more like a DX7

    The beat is a faster version of the common beat back then, the bump-bump-bump-a CHUG ah, bum-bum-bump-a CHUG ah usually played by a real drummer but I will take the synth recreation here. There are probably better examples, but a faster version of the beat on this Glass Tiger came to mind first. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx6_-urg5fo

    I will be the nth person to mention the vocals hiding in the mix.

    I love it, small ell, not as much as others here, but Real 80’s Revival is always a yes in my mind.

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    • YES!! I noticed the 80s feel. That synth sounds so authentic that it’s giving me vivid audio deja vu (I’ve been listening to a bunch of 80s stuff in the past year so that’s what I’m basing it on – I did not exist in the 80s).

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  20. Maybe I need to listen to this with headphones, because it sounds irritatingly muffled. It goes beyond the vocals – it’s a general murkiness that makes it far less appealing than it could be. I doubt I will put it in rotation. I’ll just keep listening to n.SSign. Higher gets the A from me this week.

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  21. This is so immensely refreshing in the current kpop landscape that I’m willing to overlook the flaws here. I just want more of this, fun, creative, LUSH production – I don’t care if it’s flawed, just go and make more already.

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  22. This sounds so much better on a speaker or with headphones. The vocals are clearer and don’t sound as muffled, not sure why the video version is so stuffy. As others echoed, I do wish there was a stronger vocal in this group, granted I do enjoy Vahn’s vocals.

    I do have to say, the video looks straight out of ONF’s playback. I guess if you’re going to use a groups template, ONF is a very good choice.

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  23. I don’t care about the messy mix and the song structure anymore at this point. When sweetune return, it made me realize how I used to kinda gaslighting myself into thinking nowadays comeback were good when they was in fact, just okay. I lost my perception of “what is a good song, a good melodie”. And here with this song I realize, it’s like I finally see color for the first time while I used to accept the beauty of things in black and white only (if we qualify them as beauty)… They truly manage to put emotion like nobody do, are they magician ?

    I hope sweetune read your post one day to truly understand how good they are and how relevant they can be in the kpop industry… I saw an interview from them last year (with nine muse but forgot the name of the show) where Han Jaeho told that he consider there style too “old fashioned”, I was SO scared at first that they begin changing there style to follow the trend but thanks God they didn’t.
    Now I crave more and more of SWEETUNE… Icarus, None Stop, and Eurasha where good, but Turn it Off is on another level. Hope to see them more for the 5th gen.

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    • Amen! I’m sure there are some readers who get sick of me praising every Sweetune release that comes out, but they really are on a different level when it comes to composition, melody and musical perspective.

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  24. I’ve spent some days with this song and have gotten to the point where I can play it 6 times in a row and still feel refreshed by it.

    Gosh the synths are so bright and full throttle. I love the song structure. The opening verse and prechorus are so slight then when we arrive at the first chorus it feels dramatic, huge and theatrical. On verse two they are more developed as is the chorus when it repeats.

    The swelling feedback guitars and synths that grace the chorus are massive and give me Bladerunner feels. and I love the vocal writing. I like the use of space and phrasing, it feels very coy and gives me feels. The song makes me want to dance and sing along. The ideas in here are so frickin good.

    Everything feels both classic and extremely fresh and different. It’s a banger fr sure.

    also to those with the “bad mixing” comments. That is a super whack perspective!

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    • Yep, this song has me totally wrapped around its finger. I pulls off the almost-impossible task of being so weird and left-of-center yet so catchy and pop-melody-focused at the same time. It’s such an exciting listen!

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