I considered relegating &TEAM’s Samidare to my J-pop round-up on Sunday, but the group is notable enough to K-pop fans to warrant at least a mini-review. After all, they’re the guys who gave us last year’s double whammy of Firework and Dropkick — both of which were 2023 highlights. As far as HYBE boy groups go, they’re steadily building a solid discography.
With this said, I find Samidare to be a total bore. It’s a surging mid-tempo fueled by sentimental performances and easy melodies. The song itself is nothing notable, failing to find a hook robust enough to set it apart from dozens of like-minded releases. And to be honest, the group lacks the distinct roster of vocalists needed to inject personality into something so sterile. The song won’t offend anyone, but that may be its biggest problem. It simply wafts in one ear and out the other.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
When I heard the first 10 seconds of the song I actually believed we got Firework 2. It ended up being Firework/2. This song is so plain, lame aaand boring. It honestly sounds like a tamer TXT japanese single. (not in a good way) Seriously can Slow Rabbit and Hitman Bang start being more consistent here? How does Slow Rabbit go from making actual BANGERS, to his recent work that is always just missing something.
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slow rabbit hasn’t produced a banger in years. firework was produced by frants and hitman bang, not slow rabbit.
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Sounds like a leftover from BTS or TXT softer sounds, without the production and vocal effects polished up to the hilt. As in, any time you hear a simple harmony, for those groups Hybe people would have had added a full 2 octaves of crafted harmony. Instead, they just played it straight, and it just hasn’t worked out.
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The chord progression in the chorus is way too even and lacks drama (which is what I originally thought about Under the Skin too but I came around to it). I much prefer Maybe off of the single album, even though that song is also quite gentle and muted. Both the MV and choreo are very pretty.
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Unless this HYBE fiasco resolves itself in a satisfactory way – i.e. NewJeans & Min Hee-jin being left alone to do their thing – it makes me sick to even think about listening to anything put out by Hybe. Not a willful boycott, just disgust.
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Reading this article and the comments I’m disappointed. Samidare is really good and the other two songs, Maybe and Scar to Scar are also well made. &TEAM worked hard on this project and if you don’t like it that’s fine, it’s your opinion. But don’t go around posting negative feedback, just keep it to yourself. Don’t compare them to BTS or TXT because everyone is good at their own thing and also comparing one group to another is the worst thing you could say. Also HYBE’s controversy doesn’t have anything to do with & TEAM so change your reason. So finally if you don’t like their song that’s okay and if you think they are lacking that’s also okay, but stop spreading negativeity and keep your opinion to yourself.
P.S. The song was for LUNE to judge not YOU!
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I don’t know what planet you’re from where people can’t discourse on media unless it’s a positive opinion from a card-carrying fan, but it isn’t this one. People here don’t always like my favorite songs, but I personally don’t want to live in an echo chamber of my own opinions. Stand by your own thoughts, but don’t silence other people’s.
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I’m sorry, but I must say that the treatment that some songs get on this blog is ridiculous. The author doesn’t hide the fact that he prefers songs that just sound big, and are appropriate for getting immersed in some kind of fantasy (thus the “bias” factor in the ratings). But not all songs even try to do that? When I first heard Samidare, I thought that I have rarely heard a song so good at capturing the particular emotion that it does. Sure, I’m not going to listen to it when I want to feel like my life is more exciting than it really is. And, sure, you could always say that this is a personal blog, where the author simply rates songs based on how much of a rush they make him feel. But as many Western listeners read it, it simply feels unfair that the context in which a song operates is given no thought at all, especially when the song does it really damn well.
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the blog we are both on right now is called ‘the bias list’. we know the reviews are biased.
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i truly don’t understand why andteam keeps releasing these txt sounding songs when txt release their own japanese singles and albums. i find these two groups so sonically similar for the most part.
someone mentioned slow rabbit. isn’t it odd that he’s produced hybe title tracks basically back to back since 2023? (txt – sugar rush ride and deja vu, enhypen – sweet venom and fatal trouble, andteam – war cry and samidare, and also illit – magnetic). hybe groups tend to have their own unique main producer. not sure why slow rabbit’s work is taking priority over them, but I really don’t like it 😭
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Can’t relate, I think it’s emotional and beautifully well done. I especially love the ‘Raining’ parts with the adlibs during the chorus, it’s so pretty. They’ve showed their versatility, just because a song isn’t hard hitting doesn’t mean it’s lacklustre. They did a great job of conveying emotion, I think the song is gorgeous and I’ll continue to have it on repeat!
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I’d say it is a bit lacking from their other title track “FIREWORK” released last year, but I feel like the emotions that it conveys and the lyrics of this song truly is next level.
It is overall a HYBE-ish song but in no way is it too similar sounding to TXT like a lot of the comments are saying. Samidare actually has a nice jpop feel to it that makes it stand out from the rest of HYBE groups, I believe due to their Japanese producer Soma Genda’s contribution. It is a bit lacking in the dramatic effect but overall it is still very emotional and beautiful.
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