A few weeks ago, Mamamoo’s Solar released a teaser of what appeared to be her take on a drag anthem. That song turns out to be the opener of her new album Colours and hasn’t yet been promoted with a full video. Instead, we have title track But I — a total genre shift into emotional pop rock. Clearly, the album seeks to showcase her chameleonlike talent across a variety of sounds.
But I utilizes a structure that vacillates between soft verses and upbeat, cathartic choruses. This is a well-worn songwriting trick guaranteed to give instant contrast. It doesn’t always work for me because it feels so calculated, but given the right melodies this ‘pull back, punch forward’ sound can be very satisfying. But I‘s heart is in the right place and Solar sells the sentiment, but nothing here is striking me as hard as I’d hope.
But I‘s opening verse is incredibly hushed, first establishing the song as a piano ballad. A brief pre-chorus offers the song’s strongest melody — a musical-esque flourish of drama that offers unexpected transition into the driving chorus. These segments feel like they should be twice as long and more developed, as the melodies don’t quite hit with the force intended. Solar is more than capable of delivering her own You Oughta Know, but this track feels like a less adventurous, less scathing little sister.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.75 |
Grade: C+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Well I was highly entertained. When the chorus hit, I was all attagirl!
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A childish version of… I’ll show you by Ailee. The chorus didn’t strong enough to make the contrast between verse and chorus. I do love the energy flow from first chorus to second verse.
7.5 for me.
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cheking the album I notice a few things already mention by the article and also in other comments. I want to refute and go a little deeper into some of the things said. The “But I” song doesn’t get up there with the comparison of the Alanis Morissette song the author of the article mentions. It would have been better if Solar had approach the song in that way. Now comparing it to the Ailee song makes no sense, since they are completly different rythms and themes. Ailee’s song is a real pop song, while Solar goes more for a rock balad kind of sound with a louder chorus.
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Song aside, the last track from Solar’s EP – Colours, Blues, is a classic R&B Soul music and I’m glad RBW finally utilize Solar vocal to give them what she should and deserve to sing and shine.
A buried treasure 9/10 from me.
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The Blues song is more taylor for someone like Hwasa or Wheein who have much better tone and skill for R&B. Solar is more of a belting kind of singer and pop I think suits her best.
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empty on this album was such a bop, much preferred it to “but i”. still liked the title though.
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Now the empty song is just a regular pop song that if the purpose was to sound empty it accomplished its purpose. Not much to say about it. Some little things in the bridge made it a little better but not much.
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cheking the album I notice a few things already mention by the article and also in other comments. I wsnt to refuteand go a little deeper into some of the things said. The But I song doesn’t get up there with the comoarison of the Alanis Morissette song the author of the article mentions. It would have been better if Solar had approach the song in that way. Now comparing it to the Ailee song makes no sense, since they are completly different rythms and themes. Ailee’s song is a real pop song, while Solar goed more for a rock balad kind of sound with a louder chorus.
The Blues song is more taylor for someone like Hwasa or Wheein who have much better tone and skill for R&B. Solar is more of a belting kind of singer and pop I think suits her best.
Now the empty song is just a regular pop song that if the purpose was to sound empty it accomplished its purpose. Not much to say about it. Some little things in the bridge made it a little better but not much.
the Y2k sound tried by Solar wuth easy peasy kind of tried to go with the K-pop trend right now. The other song I didnt like at all.
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