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 |
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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I’m not sure Blues as a Blues genre song can be categorized as R&B Soul but I agree completely that this song is a hidden gem and RBW should utilize her vocal better. The good thing is that Solar has been performing it live everywhere since it’s greatly loved by fans, and now some of the general public once they’ve heard it.
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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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Using different accounts or nicknames to post the same thing just shows that you are an anti of Solar or an akgae. This is not cool~
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Similar to me. I have been so into Empty since its release. Nowadays, Blues seems to the most favorite song in the album aside from Colors by fans and some general publics but I always got more excited to hear Empty live, making my heart race that I want to scream!
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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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Saw this 7 months after its release. I must add my reply.
The vibe and melody of But I are so different than Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know. It makes no sense for Solar to approach her song that way. Besides, their vocal skills and tone quality are so different. The sound and melody in But I are so much pleasant to listen in my opinion.
As for BLUES, a Blues genre song, it’s certainly not for Hwasa and Wheein as they don’t have that kind of mass, volume, and power in their vocals like Solar has, and their tones also don’t have that kind of strong soul and passion that Solar was born with. Solar’s live performances of BLUES have been loved so much by not only her fans but also the general public like the audience at Music Bank in Madrid went crazy when she performed. Whenever she performs in different festivals, even it’s b-side track, it gets the most mentions and remarks like it has become her most representative song ever, literally a song made for her but actually co-written by herself.
I disagree that Hwasa and Wheein have better skills and tones for R&B as I have listened to all of them for a while. They are just built differently and favorable opinions always depends on the preferences of different audience as they are all greatly loved. Solar has a belting voice but her skills and voices are so versatile with very rich variations if you have listened to enough MAMAMOO tracks and her own songs. Solar also has a very nice R&B tone that I like very much. Her ad-libs in R&B are my favorite such as in Save me from myself cover. Nowadays, not so many kpop singers do that anymore.
Empty is actually one of my favorites in the album. Though, its genre is listed as pop ballad, it belong to a special category of Solar’s music like a genre itself. It’s very experimental with very nice twists and turns like going through an emotional roller coaster being trapped in an empty room with an uneasy heart to bear the fact that the world outside still keeps spinning.
As for Easy Peasy, a folk song that has nothing to do with y2k or trend but talks about bearing the hardship in daily life with a light heart. It’s a simple but very comforting song that may not suit everyone’s taste but has been loved by many people who get it even other singers covered it.
I usually don’t write comments like this as I respect that people have different tastes and preferences. But your point of views and examples are so odd that I can’t help but have to reply.
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I love the way Solar carries But I to freely switch between R&B ballad and rock band sound. It’s only Solar’s vocal can seamlessly make the connection. It’s a very pleasant song to hear with nicely crafted twists and turns about the emotional changes described in the song. The only downside is it’s too short.
9/10 for me.
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