Fans of Everglow have endured one of K-pop’s longer hiatuses. We last heard from the group way back in December 2021 with the bonkers Pirate. That’s more than enough time for K-pop trends to change completely and a whole new generation of talent to blossom. Within this re-envisioned landscape, Everglow are back to their old tricks — for better or worse.
It’s gotten to the point where I have a visceral reaction to the style of sing-song melody that opens Slay. I feel like we’ve heard this exact instrumental riff many times in K-pop, and it rarely portends a great song. Years after the “girl crush” trend first emerged, I can predict every move Slay will make before it makes them. Given strong songwriting and engaging melodies, this familiarity could be comforting or even charming. However, Slay is belabored by cheesy lyrics and a lumbering beat that strips all the fun from the formula.
There are a few moments of promise sprinkled throughout the track, including a vocal-driven bridge. But more than anything, Slay sounds tired. From its “na na na” chorus to the lethargic, overly metallic production, the song doesn’t inspire the confidence it claims to be built upon. After such a long wait, it’s hard not to be disappointed.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
completely agreed with the rating. it’s just outdated for me.
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they did not slay noooo
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It feels AI-generated.
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I’m actually overall pretty happy with this, yes style is a bit outdated, but we haven’t been getting this kind of girl group music recently with all the R&B hip-hop tracks so I’m so glad this is what it is.
Gets me awake and feels like caffeine is in my system, finally we get this kind of music again
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Yo pienso lo mismo, no me adapto a las tendencias nuevas de canciones suaves con sonidos repetitivos, me acostumbré a este tipo de Kpop, me cayó bien luego de tanto tiempo, tantos grupos queriendo imitar canciones suaves que perdieron la oportunidad de arriesgarse a crear canciones que te lleven a diferentes escenarios. :c amé esto
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I disagree there’s more than this
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Idk maybe I wanted to rest
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Idk if I wanted to wake up from this tho…
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Generic song aside, it’s always fun to see what pop culture language K-pop absorbs and uses. Here we’ve got “chandelier” from Sia’s Chandelier, “crazy sexy cool” from the TLC album, and “we came here to slay” I imagine from Shea Couleé’s entrance line on Rupaul’s Drag Race season 9: “…I didn’t come to play, I came to slay.”
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bruh it’s literally just words and expressions that are widely used. the only absorption i see here is from edm and dubstep
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crazy sexy cool in that particular order is widely associated with TLC and their album as that’s literally the title
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Tbh I kind of credit Everglow with kicking off the dance music trend with La Di Da in 2020 and I was hoping for something equally transcendent (or bonkers, like Pirate, which I still like a lot). This is just disappointing after such a long wait. Not because it’s girl crush (which is starting to sound fresh again already) but because it’s uninspired girl crush.
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group after long hiatus comes back to disappointing song…can we call that “pulling a Blackpink?”
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Close enough. Both groups spend their absences from new releases by touring and letting the individual members make bank some other way. I’m just amazed they had Everglow touring and making appearances as long as the did with the same exact material. The fact that this comeback after nearly two years is only a single speaks louder of their agency’s intentions than any words can.
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LOL It’s kinda ridicolous – speaking from a fan’s point of view – to wait about 2 years for this stuff.
Only 573.215 views in 4 hours prove they could have reached the point of no return. Next stop: disbandment?
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Everglow is one of my favorite groups and I’ve waited a LONG time for this and it just feels disappointing… Nothing is inherently wrong with the song and I bop to it but it feels so lackluster compared to what we’ve seen them do. I wanted them to keep their classic dance pop- girl crush sound but elevate it but this just feels outdated and rehashed. On a positive note, I really love how they sound here, the vocals are scratching my brain in the right places. But yeah I’d give it like a 7.75/10 and its only higher because of my bias
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Yeah, I agree. I’m biased toward metal-heavy girl crush songs and to Everglow, so I liked the song, especially Mia’s opening lines, EU’s rap and Sihyeon’s & Mia’s bridge. But releasing Slay, which heavily draws elements from 3rd gen and the generic girl crush formula during a time where everybody is looking for something mellow and fresh (due to New Jeans’ influence) might have hurt the group’s comeback.
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Their next comeback better be a full album or I’m burning Yuehua to the ground!
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I’m replying to myself on Everglow’s “Zombie” comeback day to complain that “Zombie” is not a fucking full album, I hate Yuehua! Also, I really hope people start to appreciate “Slay” more after the disappointment of the “Zombie” song.
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Where is Bae~ to swear for us? *sigh* I shall. What the hell is this?!!
flippety flippety frick
flippety flippety frick
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Everglow’s back! It’s been a long wait. At this point, they have this badass girl crush concept down to a science, and I’d expect nothing less from them. I like the track, but it’s nothing insane that sends chills down my spine or makes me want to get up and move. Still good, though.
On a styling note, Mia is absolutely KILLING this short hair. And the blue looks great on her.
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Didn’t mean to reply to this comment. Sorry!
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I actually feel a bit sorry for her. It’s their first comeback in almost two years, and the poor girl got stuck with a haircut that made her cry. If they didn’t have such a long hiatus, they’d probably have enough seniority to tell the stylist to screw off, but alas…. they have fewer title tracks than groups that aren’t even two years old. Part of me wonders if they even would have been given a comeback if it weren’t for the debacle around Yena’s last release and needing something new to cash the check for K-Con.
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Yeah, I heard that neither Mia nor her stylist had the choice over her haircut. Other than being a stylistic choice, I think it MAY have been a move to save her hair after all the bleaching from their previous comebacks, but it’s still awful that they made her cut her hair without her being comfortable with it.
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Bae’s comment has arrived.
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I actually think it’s pretty punk rock of them to release something so blatantly dated, it’s almost like they’re doing it ironically. Remember when Yasutaka Nakata was releasing royalty-free EDM sample pack future bass all the way through 2018 and then hopped onto the 80s revival thing in literally 2021? Kinda like that
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I unironically like this… it’s good to have the girls back. the b-sides are great too, as always
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For my personal taste, Everglow always seemed to oscillate between releasing title tracks and I didn’t like and ones that I loved. So for me, this is like their Dun Dun or First. I just hope they actually stay active again long enough to give me a La Di Da or Pirate next, preferably a La Di Da, but I’d be happy with quality equal to either of those.
Ironically, I think there is more room for their Blackpink-esque style of music now than there was in their early years when it seemed like a Blackpink style song was in every girl group’s bad spaghetti that didn’t stick to the wall. Blackpink themselves are most likely either “going on a long hiatus to focus on their individual careers” *cough* disbanding *cough* as some of the girls take their individual contracts elsewhere, or, on the very off chance they all renew, will be dead silent after their tour wraps up until a new album cycle begins in another 1 1/2 – 2 years or so. Most groups and trends have moved on to that high teen or NewJeans styles aside from the absolute veterans, so they actually might have a chance to scoop up the BP fans who will be searching for something else in their absence. Even though I totally agree that their style is now outdated, I honestly can’t think of a better option that they could have gone with that wouldn’t have been to their detriment.
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I waited 2 years for this?
Even after tempering my expectations I am disappointed.
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It’s frustratingly tepid. I have little patience for generic amelodic girl crush as is, but this one is just putting me to sleep. It’s a B-side masquerading as a title track. “We’re born to break the rules” lmao what rules are being broken here, this is generic girl group K-Pop 101. Their absolute worst single, hell, much as I laugh at “Bon Bon Chocolat” at least that one is entertaining.
Kinda disappointing because I absolutely loved the whole -77.82x – 78.29 mini and even enjoyed the succeeding singles. I just can’t with this one.
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Yeah it has nothing very hooking about it like bon bon chocolat as more of a girl crush enjoyer.
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It’s less outdated and more like it sounds exactly like their last four songs. If you told me they recorded this at the same time as Pirate, I’d believe you.
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honestly not sure what people expected. I see lots of comments on their videos like “this is what they release after two years? dissapointed”. Like its EXACTLY the same style as ALL their title tracks. Don’t come and say you waited years and expected something different like them jumping on the slow R&B bandwagon. For any other group, maybe I can sorta agree but I we got exactly what Everglow has done, and this is a positive sign that they are sticking with it and not gonna sell out top mainstream trends.
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I mean yes, it does sound like an Everglow song that we bought at the Everglow store. I don’t think anyway was expecting a major sonic shift, here. However, I don’t follow them that closely, but think of it this way:
I love McDonald’s. I know that I’m going to get something I like no matter what if I order from there, and although very similar, my burger options do have distinctions. A McDouble tastes like a Double Quarter Pounder, but they are noticeably different, and sometimes I’m in the mood for one over the other.
Now, after two years of R&D, McDonald’s unveils a brand new burger on the menu, called the McDQ #B. It’s basically a Double Quarter Pounder only they added a slice of bacon. *
On the one hand, yay new menu item. On the other hand, it took two years to just add a slice of bacon? That’s it?
BlackPink (whom I also don’t follow closely) seems to have the same issue, which makes me wonder if it’s just a girl-crush problem.
*I’d like to point out that McDonald’s rarely innovates and when they do, it’s always something like this. Most recently it was adding jalapenos to the DQP lol.
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I thought I was the only one who secretly compared K-pop tracks to fast food chains in my mind… haha
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I usually use the fizzy water and soda aisle analogy, but McD’s works very well, this time with bacon.
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Eh they did better in their other songs than this.
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Simply fuck this. Had to wait for the ENTIRE 2 YEARS to hear this ear-bleeding the-hell-knows-what…See, guys, I can’t even call it a song.
Rating is way too high again. Deserves a flat 6 at its highest.
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It’s dated, but I like it’s structure. It’s risky business using an a trendy overused word in the chorus as it is as irritating as the sample used at the beginning. It sounds like an Alan Walker knock off. I am not a fan of his music if you can’t tell already. I hope they release something else by the end of the year. They need something more dynamic and on trend. Perhaps something like NWJNS but more them. Something that is more like LA Di Da than Adios?
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Just to point out the elephant in the room, since no one here seems aware: This was the first song not produced by the producer of all their other tracks. Every single last one was produced by Olliepop (in collaboration with other members of the Kennel), and this one was not. And it shows. This song seems to try to emulate his style but it just made it feel kind of plastic and turgid. I like the hook though, sue me.
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Slay is a bop and soty you guys are just haters
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