The lead-up to ARTMS’s debut album promises a number of tracks and videos, quickly establishing the lore it took over a year for creative director Jaden Jeong to craft with LOONA. This kicked off with intro track Birth, which felt more like a series of ideas than a full-fledged song. New track Flower Rhythm is structurally more familiar but retains the group’s eccentricities.
There’s a fine line between appreciating art for what it’s doing and actively enjoying the experience of that art. I feel like we’ve seen this with a few K-pop songs lately, and Flower Rhythm is one of those tracks that does little for me even as I can gaze at it with admiration. Its production is lush and complex and the girls deliver an expressive performance that compliments its herky jerky rhythms and ever-changing energy. They’re clearly a strong team and the final moments of Flower Rhythm hint at more of that potential.
But when it comes down to it, my taste simply leans more melodic and sleek than this is able to deliver. Like Birth, it still feels like a cool idea that could use more development and the hooks don’t hit hard enough to counter the fitful instrumental. However, it’s evident this group will cultivate a dedicated fan base who love to dive into the lore and swim alongside the musical twists and turns.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Apparently this was conceptualized around Heejin’s title track from her mini and I can hear that influence. I am unsure where to place it because I find it really cool and interesting but do I like it???
I don’t dislike it at least but I think what would have made me love it is if it was a little longer and we had more of the intro and outro throughout in an extended chorus format perhaps? There’s a lot of cool sounds and ideas here but they don’t really get to bloom – pun intended – because the trend is shorter songs.
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The original title for Algorithm was “Algorhythm” so, yeah. People are theorizing the next few singles will be similar in this aspect : ‘Candy Crush’ taking after Haseul’s solo “Plastic Candy”, and ‘Air’ taking after Air Force One – OEC
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This is actually an extended version of the intro ‘Kehwa’ for Heejin’s solo album <K> ! Kehwa is just an instrumental, Flower Rhythm is Kehwa with lyrics + a minute or so added
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And this is where I feel like I need an “Ultimate Jaden Jeong Creative Universe Guidebook” to review these tracks accurately! haha
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It also has the “na na na na na na na” hook from Algorithm itself.
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Yep, gonna agree. The chorus does some interested contrast of one chord over another chord. The kind Kevin from ReacttotheK would coo over. To use a visual analogy, its as if a designer picked a a suite of colors and deliberately picked the yellow to be slightly off in some mustardy way for “contrast” and yet every time you walk by it, you mutter to yourself how you want to fix it.
And that is the central gimmick to the song. So if you are like me or Nick and want to fix it every time you hear it, this song is not for you.
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Idk I’m kind of into it.
The chorus is interesting.
Definitely something I can put on to either really listen to or just like, vibe to in the background.
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