I’ll keep this short rather than belabor a point I’ve made over and over: K-pop producers must find a way to tie better songs to their cool instrumentals.
Imagine having a track as exciting as NTX’s Holy Grail — rumbling bass, throbbing electronic backbone and post-apocalyptic fervor — and you waste it on a lame chanted chorus and monotone repetition of the song’s title. Had an entirely different song been transposed on top of this production, we could be talking about an easy 9+ rating. Somehow, this potential makes the whole thing all that more frustrating. I mean, just listen to the production during the second verse!
Topliners! Melodicists! Emerge from wherever you’re hiding! We need you now more than ever.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 7.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
This could easily be a new Cyberpunk (if not more, because here we have a proper title track). Instead, it sounds like one of those YouTube mashups made by rookie djs who can’t event sync the bpm between a track and the other.
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I’m sure their main rapper produced this, he also did Old School which I really liked.
I was excited about this comeback because they really impressed me on Peak Time but this song was dissapointing. This group has 3 strong vocalist, there was no reason to give us all this damn shouting. I wish Circuit could have been used as an actual comeback.
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Just saw on instagram that 2 members of Monotree participated in the production. Maybe thats why its semi tolerable.
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Honestly they impressed me on Peak Time as well, but mostly for their personalities and energy more so than for the kind of music that they so clearly prefer. I don’t doubt that Rawhyun (the main rapper / producer) is very talented, but they made it very clear that the group as a whole liked that kind of braggy/swaggy rap-chanting and drop hook songs, which just isn’t to my taste. So I was already resigned to not really liking this song haha, though I do wish they would get more recognition for their talent generally.
It’s shocking, though, that this is basically their only other release since their debut nearly two years ago? Small companies in kpop are so tough, man. I hope their relative success on Peak Time will help them to have more frequent comebacks, and to hopefully experiment more with their sound and expand their discography in even more exciting directions.
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Sometimes I wonder if it’s the musical style that the groups like or if it’s the performance opportunity it affords. I imagine this confrontational, stereotypically masculine presenting concept is quite appealing to many idols.
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That’s an interesting point! It’s clear that whenever people talk about “good performers” in kpop they’re referring to songs/concepts that are much darker because they seem to be giving more performance opportunities – and these seem to mostly be the ones that end up getting international attention from a fanbase POV. Yet I remember quite a few idols who’ve said that it’s actually more challenging and exhausting to perform something more light-hearted and fun, because you have to keep the energy throughout and really sell the audience on that.
It really does seem like this kind of aggressively braggy shouting (what’s typically that boy group “noise music” I suppose) seems to be what most idols themselves want to do. Yet personally (and I do know people can and do prefer otherwise!) when I watch performances of songs like these I just find myself impressed sometimes that they can execute complex moves, but it very rarely makes me feel something, you know? It feels quite removed to me as an audience. On the other hand performances which are much more dynamic and vibrant have a kind of joy to them which draws me in. I really wish more groups would lean in that, it’s always automatically endearing to me.
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After so many years of watching kpop staging, it has become a bit ossified. The whole structure of a wedge of performers, changing formations predictably, orientating their movements equally towards themselves as to the audience, with headset mics that are often not even turned on. Eye winks and small movements only visible on the jumbotron.
It has become a farce to watch a choreography for a music show stage 10 meters wide videoed from 2 meters away translated to larger formats. Its just doesn’t work. Like ants down there.
The headset mics with heavy vocal support do not help, even when they are turned on. There is an invisible curtain that has gone up that hides true emotional expression in the moment.
If art and song and dance isn’t about expression of human emotions, then what is it about. I want to hear see and feel laugh scream joy sorrow to the rafters. Instead, we get the wedge shape formation with synchronized staccato arm movements in deep 2nd position plie’, again.
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