For me, Lucy is at their best when they wear their heart on their sleeve and bolster than sentiment with a copious amount of violin. Early standouts like Snooze and (especially) Flare played this approach to the hilt, delicately weaving their empathic storytelling as the songs crested to dramatic peaks.
New single Haze (아지랑이) doesn’t quite get there for me, but it has the recipe down. The vocals soar, the violin is omnipresent and the sentiment is high. It’s a warm track, swelling on emotion. And as its English-language title may suggest, the arrangement feels a bit hazy. Even the chorused backing vocals that bring us to Haze‘s climactic hook are painted with an ephemeral brush.
This extends to the melodies, which are pleasant and consistent yet rarely build to the kind of knock-you-out moments that characterize the band’s best classics. Still, I’m happy to hear Sangyeop belt out anything he’d like, and Haze takes advantage of Lucy’s strengths. It’s always nice to have them back.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I think there is a good song in here, but the production lets that song down. For example, if you have a violin or fiddle player, why bury it under buckets of high strings? It was a good first try, but I can’t hear the forest for the trees, so to speak. The next try would be to try complementary orchestral instruments, vz lower strings cello and bass, and if that didn’t work try woodwinds or low brass, and etc.
I think a different producer is overdue for Lucy.
Also waiting on the “acoustic” and live versions which could clarify the situation.
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Manifesting some 1thek Originals video for that soon. Album’s concert will be this weekend, but they tend to release the official clip very late so yeah
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If you want some good violin utilization, I’m impressed with the EP’s closer! It gets a lot of its own melody instead of being grouped in with the guitar or overwhelming backing strings, plus it gets a solid solo right after the first chorus. Really feels like they let it be its own instrument for So What, which is something I’ve found LUCY to be ever-so-slightly inconsistent with, especially when their music errs on the side of synth-y.
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Oh this is lovely, soaring is definitely the right word. Sangyeop’s voice is gorgeous.
Unrelatedly, I don’t know if you’re a fan of Peter Gabriel, but I heard his newest song the other day and the chorus especially strikes me as something you might like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrXNli_oFk4
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Lucy is a band whose discography, in theory, I should enjoy way more than I do due to their instrumentation and influences. Most of the times though, I think they just fall flat for me. I think I might also not be a big fan of the vocalist’s voice.
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Snooze and Flare are my favourite Lucy songs and I agree that this song doesn’t reach those heights I think I like it better than their last few title tracks. Excited to check out the other songs on the EP.
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