The extended “LOONAverse” continues to fracture and expand since the initial group’s dissolution last year. Some members have become a new act called Loossemble, Chuu’s gone solo and five more (JinSoul, HaSeul, Kim Lip, HeeJin, and Choerry) have signed with creative director Jaden Jeong to form ARTMS. This new group doesn’t officially debut until the end of May, but they’re leading up to that date with five (!) pre-releases. First up is Birth — a fitting title for an artistic reinvention.
This being a Jaden Jeong production, artistic direction is going to be just as important as the music itself. Regardless how you feel about the song, the imagery and mood will certainly captivate. Of course, K-pop has no shortness of “mood” lately, so Birth would do well to push past that and stake its claim in other arenas.
I applaud the song’s creative blend of genre elements. From one moment to the next, there’s no telling where it’s going to go. That can be exciting the first time through, but for true longevity each of these disparate elements need to be compelling on their own. I’m not sure that’s happening here. Birth is rather threadbare in the melody department, making it feel more like a dramatic intro or teaser than a satisfying piece of standalone music. I feel like I’m listening to lore.
It would have been great to hear some of the track’s most interesting elements (those buzzsaw synths, that skittering breakbeat) developed further, but Birth pauses too often to maintain its spooky, unsettled atmosphere. It works for what it is, but I can’t say I’d be drawn to it without the accompanying visuals.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Would be cool as a visual interlude in the middle of an album, but really has no musical replay value.
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This is actually at the very end of the album, reported to have 11 tracks. I’ve seen some theories going around that the pre release order is going to be in reverse!
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This is a pre-release, not the title track. Their debut isn’t until next month, I believe.
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I think the best way to look at this is that it’s a sort of ‘trailer’ for their full length album debut DALL. i’m absolutely in love with artms so Ik this is going to grow on me but for people who aren’t, like, hardcore loonaists i don’t think it will appeal much. that being said, music video is so cool. it’s so unconventional for kpop like I don’t think anybody other than Jaden could pull that off. I literally love the folk art and the greek mythology references to Artemis ….
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I love LOONA and all the spin-offs. (Don’t forget: Yves is debuting as a soloist soon, too.) But I didn’t love this. The MV is great—striking, eerie, unexpected. But the song? Where’s the song in the song?
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It’s a really cool song.
Lots of different parts, lots of variety in the production and vocals.
Wish there was more to it, but it’s a decent enough pre-release isn’t it.
Builds up instead of competing with the title track.
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the concept is very dark, but the tone and focus of the song, for me, is very listenable….the ladies’ visuals are absolutely stunning!….for these reasons, i would have to give “Birth” a grade-up to a B….
on a different note, i am so happy for all the members of Loona finally breaking free of their horrible previous management agency and continuing on pursuing their dreams of being k-idols with different (hopefully much better) agencies….
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The author says:
I find this fascinating because I feel the exact opposite way: the song’s disparate elements sound jarring and disconnected the first time around, but it rewards repeated listens where they eventually click together into a cohesive whole. (I acknowledge this won’t necessarily be every listener’s experience, nor will everyone be intrigued enough to keep listening to begin with, but it certainly was mine.) And what a whole it is. “Haunting” is the word that comes to mind, there’s an understated beauty here with just enough menace lurking underneath.
As for the prevailing sentiment in both the review and the comments that it doesn’t work as a standalone track but more as an album intro/interlude/closer, this is actually what’s making me the most excited about their upcoming debut album: it hints we might get the rare treat in K-pop of an album that’s meant to be a cohesive artistic statement, as opposed to the usual random collection of tracks by various songwriters. It remains to be seen of course but the fact that they’re planning so many pre-releases leading up to the title track means at the very least that they have faith in the material. I think we’re in for a wild ride.
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Ugh there’s currently a comment below mine that copies one of the paragraphs I wrote (probably to skirt Akismet’s filtering) only to add a spam link to it. God I hate spammers.
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Defos Design As for the prevailing sentiment in both the review and the comments that it doesn’t work as a standalone track but more as an album intro/interlude/closer, this is actually what’s making me the most excited about their upcoming debut album: it hints we might get the rare treat in K-pop of an album that’s meant to be a cohesive artistic statement, as opposed to the usual random collection of tracks by various songwriters. It remains to be seen of course but the fact that they’re planning so many pre-releases leading up to the title track means at the very least that they have faith in the material. I think we’re in for a wild ride.
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ate
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