Despite only releasing music for about a year, the tripleS universe has already spawned a sizable catalog. These releases have mostly been split into units, though the overall aesthetic is pretty similar across the different groups. Fans of this cohesive vibe will be delighted to see another new unit make their debut. For me, many of these songs are beginning to blur into one vague mood.
New unit (EVOLution) and single (Invincible) don’t do much to change that, though its icier palette of synths cracks open the door for new sounds. The song pinballs between sparse verses and effusive choruses, each supported by a series of engaging musical textures. The members’ vocals are especially compelling — equally as icy and elusive as the electronic sounds ornamenting them.
I’m not as taken with Invincible‘s melodies, but that’s been a common gripe with tripleS’s music. I tend to prefer a greater melodic range than what these songs are offering. Invincible‘s chorus is guaranteed to become an earworm over time, even if the song feels more like a straight line than a series of interesting peaks and valleys. Still, its mysterious atmosphere has drawn me in. I’d like to hear more in this style.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
What’s interesting to note is that the demo for this song was already teased wayyy back in the fan vote for the 10-member debut earlier this year (with Rising winning the vote).
So far, from the 8 songs of the event, 5 have been released (Song B was Rising, C was New Look, E was Beam, Song F was Invincible and Song A is on the new album as Rhodanthe).
Invincible sounds a little bit different than what I expected from the demo but I really like it (I even voted for it as the main song back then: https://thebiaslist.com/2023/02/17/buried-treasure-triples-new-look/#comment-127002).
Curiously, next to the equally strong (very FIESTA-vibe-giving) Rhodanthe (which was written by Sweetune and may be worth a look), my favorite track on the album is actually the outro track. I love how atmospheric it sounds.
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Now I’m waiting for Mago long lost sister, song H to be released.
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Good but not great.
Weakest one yet.
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Not sure if anything’ll beat Rising but this is next favorite TT cause dream-pop or stargazer is absolutely my jam
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Sadly not a fan of this. It sounded pretty jumpy with a weak melody, literally how old e.one would produce dream pop. I actually disliked the soundscape of the song because of detail overflow, which made it difficult to grasp the main melody. I believe they can trade some detail for note thickness to stabilize the flow of the song.
Kudos to the sound engineer, he tried his best to mix the song.
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btw I laughed when I heard the chorus of Rhodanthe. The piece is basically a sequel to Fiesta with very similar instrumental presentation, though with much weaker melody. (A similar analogy would be Kwon Eunbi’s Glitch and Croquis.) Not a bad piece after all, just reminiscent of IZ*ONE era.
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I can’t get over the fact that Kim Seung-soo of Sweetune co-writes these. Like you said… not a bad song but nothing I would associate with his brilliance (or style) as a songwriter/producer.
It makes me wonder if Han Jae-ho is the dominant creative force behind Sweetune, or if they simply decide to follow the “Sweetune formula” when they write together.
Suffice it to say, I’m hijacking this comment to mention that I reeeaaaallly want a behind-the-scenes documentary about how Sweetune come up with their magic. The whole thing fascinates me.
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He doesn’t co-write these. The Kim Seung-soo (KOMCA 10010196; ‘Kim Seung Soo’) who frequently collaborates with Choi Hyun-joon and co-wrote ‘Rhodanthe’ and ‘Fiesta’ is a completely different individual to the Kim Seung-soo of Sweetune (KOMCA W0421000; ‘Kim Seung Su’).
You can check this on KOMCA’s database (‘Rhodanthe’ is already up). They also look quite different in real life.
Legacy unsullied! 😉
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I’m glad to hear this, as it’s been a longtime confusion of mine. I was initially convinced they were two separate people but lately a lot of media outlets (including ones I usually find trustworthy) have been mentioning his association with Sweetune.
Legacy unsullied, indeed!
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This broke my mind earlier.
I always loved both the works by Sweetune Kim Seung-su but also the newer works by Kim Seung-soo (who has a company named KSS Music) for LimeLight, WJSN (the I-Yah review on here makes a lot less sense now: https://thebiaslist.com/2018/09/22/buried-treasure-cosmic-girls-wjsn-i-yah/), and IZ*ONE, so them seemingly being the same person made a lot of sense to me.
Still, I was always a bit confused since the works for KARA or INFINITE (which I recently started to appreciate thanks to your reviews and Sweetune!) do have a different style than what LimeLight delivers (and made me wonder if it’s just because of the different co-composer(s)).
Thankfully, the mystery is solved now, and I have two favorite composers to appreciate, haha.
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triples has amazing musical production but i can’t fully get into their songs because there’s not enough melody and vocal delivery. the high pitched stuff is also a little tiring to listen to too. would do anything for the instrumentals though.
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Thank you for putting my thoughts into words!!! I like triple S but I wish they had better vocalists or didn’t vitalize high pitched singing so much
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Not as strong as LOVElution’s debut but I can appreciate the differences in sound between the two. This is what galaxies sound like, and I dig it
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The whole EP is the weakest one in my opinion (and I detest the album art), but overall, it’s a serviceable tripleS album. I wish Rhodanthe does not exist. It sounded so disparate from the whole album. It sounded like Fiesta. It’s very jarring to listen to alongside the mushy, vibey, subtle b-sides that tripleS is known for.
The strongest track might by “Moto Princess.” It’s subdued but it’s propulsive. Love the electro jolts of synths in the whole track. Love the traditional-sounding percussion in the chorus. Love the melodies. It gives off “Tokyo Drift” vibe.
Invincible is fine. The vocal processing is odd. It’s so smooth and devoid of any sharpness or angles. It’s a stark contrast to the cutting sharpness of the diamonds that they portray in the MV.
Overall, I find the EP below “Assemble” and much more beneath the masterpiece that is “Muhan.”
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I wouldn’t say that tripleS is *known* for mushy, vibey, subtle B-sides. After (now) 4 EPs with different units, they’re still building their style, and there are too exceptions for this “rule” to apply: New Look, Dimension (x2) and Colorful aren’t all that subtle. I think Rhodanthe blends in quite well with those. Yes, it sounds very similar to FIESTA, and in the teasers I also heard Limelight (Starlight, Blanc Noir; same composers as well).
Nonetheless, the song is great and I’m happy the demo was finally released.
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Sounds like a H&M store.
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I can’t warm up to TripleS no matter how hard I try. They got this chill vibe that doesn’t go anywhere where the chorus sounds more like a chant or mood, and to me, the productions, although good, they sound flat with no dynamics. It’s “pleasant” but it sounds like library music I can keep in the background when I work, rather than really actively enjoy. NewJeans are also “chill” but the songs are much stronger, it’s like the production follows the song and not vice versa and the melodies get stuck in my head instantly. I noticed this in both TripleS and Le Sserafim, that they don’t really sound like great pop songs but like some kind of sequence of short catchy melodies on a good beat. It’s more like some kind of music for a catwalk or commercial. But I miss the big chorus. .. I don’t think I’ll ever warm up to this style. From this point of view I stumbled across the new Lightsum song “Honey and Spice” and found exactly the opposite situation: I really like the song, but there the production could be better. It’s like someone came up with those melodies but the producer didn’t manage to produce well around them. But I’d rather listen to that one than to TripleS, cause at least the melodies are good.
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