Review

Song Review: Stray Kids – Lose My Breath (ft. Charlie Puth)

Posted on by 36 Comments

Stray Kids - Lose My Breath (ft. Charlie Puth)Somehow, Charlie Puth has become a go-to K-pop collaborator. He romped around with BTS’s Jungkook in 2022 and now he’s coaxed Stray Kids out of their typical hard-hitting style to craft something slinkier and understated.

I enjoyed most of Charlie Puth’s 2018 album Voicenotes, but he’s also written a fair amount of songs that are either:

a) insipid

b) weightless to the point of evaporation

Lose My Breath falls into the latter category, somehow dulling all of Stray Kids’ eccentricities to the point that it sounds like Puth featuring Puth featuring Puth. English-language K-pop collaborations don’t have a great track record to begin with, but I’m shocked by how devoid of personality this is.

The track harnesses some current trends, mostly in its embrace of early-2000’s garage percussion. However, there’s no bite to the production or performance. It’s as if the guys are all recording in their upstairs bedroom while trying not to wake their parents downstairs. I can’t tell if it’s hushed or simply disinterested, but nothing here inspires enthusiasm. The melody simply lopes about, repetitive and predictable. It’s a poor Charlie Puth song and not a Stray Kids song at all, so I’m not sure what or who this is meant to be for.

Hooks 7
 Production 7
 Longevity 7
 Bias 7
 RATING 7

Grade: C-

36 thoughts on “Song Review: Stray Kids – Lose My Breath (ft. Charlie Puth)”

  1. i think most of charlie puth’s songs (outside of the voicenotes songs) are really bad (marvin gaye is in my 5.75- songs playlist) so i didnt have much expectations for this song

    this one is basically the music equivalent to unseasoned thanksgiving roast beef served in a sad looking plate so its going nowhere near my playlist. rating’s about right

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  4. I never understood the Charlie Poo hype going on shows matching the note of change jingle in a Jimmy’s pocket to a note on a piano like he’s some sort of modern Beethoven, he’s a glorified jingle writer boring humming tunes you wiggle out your bum whilst tooting. Very disappointed.

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  5. My expectations were low but this went way below that. It is so high pitched, it gave me a headache. I was relieved when it ended. I agree with you like who is this meant for, neither Kpop nor pop fans are gonna like ths for sure.

    Also, why such an MV, costume and choreography for a song like this. The MV looked like it could be used for any other average kpop song. I found it soo funny to be honest.

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    • I’d have to agree. I was really hoping for a little more Stray Kids vibe, even knowing they wanted to show a new side of themselves and wanted to appeal to a western audience. I’m glad 3Racha helped write the song and you can see Lee Know’s touch in the choreography, but you can definitely tell that they were NOT involved in the production. Bang Chan (and the rest of 3Racha) are much better and could have put a little more into this song and it would’ve made it great.

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  6. This sounds familiar – it could be any light pop song. Their voices are filed down to an even blandness. They did not make this song their own.

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  9. I’d have to agree. I was really hoping for a little more Stray Kids vibe, even knowing they wanted to show a new side of themselves and wanted to appeal to a western audience. I’m glad 3Racha helped write the song and you can see Lee Know’s touch in the choreography, but you can definitely tell that they were NOT involved in the production. Bang Chan (and the rest of 3Racha) are much better and could have put a little more into this song and it would’ve made it great.

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  11. I was reading the review before seeing the ratings, and I was expecting a straight 6 or 5.75 from your reaction 😭

    Needless to say, this song is really forgettable. There isn’t much to it and serves as the background music you’d hear in a clothing store.

    6.75 for me (7, 7, 7, 6)

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  12. I was expecting a Voicenotes style song, like Attention or Slow It Down upbeat song for them. But I guess Charlie is being too safe and generic again.. which was expected but still disappointed

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  13. just because something is different doesn’t make it bad. Yes it’s not their usual genre but I thought they pulled it off. I appreciated the song was all in English,Lee Know worked so hard on getting the pronunciation right, the words were words most girls want to hear from the person they love. The first thing I did was send it to my husband. The melody was catchy and is still in my head. Working with water is hard but it made cool effects. To say they didn’t make it their own is ridiculous considering 3 helped write it, they created the choreography, created the effects to make them exactly how they wanted them and worked hard on the vocals especially the rappers. I loved it and put it on all my song lists.

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    • Yeah all the things you stated above dont matter to Nick. Im pretty sure he only cares about the song and not the song-making. If he doesnt like the end-result then its fine, if you do, then its also fine.

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    • I think we have to keep on mind the reviewer is not necessarily a typical kpop fan/stan (they seem like an overall music fan wc happens to include kpop and have better knowledge on music). I also don’t always agree with their reviews bc they tend to focus solely on the music and how it appeals to them (well nothing wrong cuz it’s their site and it’s called “biaslist” afterall) and mostly not a general review that would inclue the ex. mv, lyrics, choreo etc. wc i think doesn’t always align with how a fan might review their fave’s release. But I think their reviews are informative and can give less biased opinions about kpop songs.

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  16. I wholly agree that it sounds like Charlie Puth and not SKZ at all. I’m excited to see their music go in a new direction, but Puth has this way of equalizing everything into a harmonious mess, you know?

    SKZ and 3RACHA have always been super impressive to me for being able to balance individuality and harmony, but this wasn’t it. I had to listen 3 or 4 times to be able to make out some of their individual voices, and while that shows pretty fantastic technical skill on the part of all the singers involved and the producers involved it’s not very interesting at all.

    I’ve always been a fan of how textured SKZ’s music is. Songs like The Tortoise And The Hare, Venom, Side Effects, and Circus all make my brain tingle. It’s the largest draw to SKZ’s music for me, the weird sounds and interesting beats they use.

    The song is, like, objectively good. It’ll probably chart, be a commercial success, maybe bring in new STAYs and end up on the radio, because that’s what it’s designed to do. It’s easy listening, it’s on trend, it’s pleasing to the ear, even. It’s just that all of that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Pop music is criticized for its bland, mass-produced, qualities all the time and this song kind of encompasses that.

    I really hope that they take the frankly impressive skills they displayed for this disappointment of a song and apply them to songs that actually have their color in them. I’m excited to see what they do with a new musical direction, I just hope they can show it without tipping so far over that you can’t recognize them anymore.

    Their uniqueness is a huge strength, and I just hope that they continue to embrace it over commercial success 🙏🙏🙏

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  17. I definitely agree with the fact that this is so far from what Stray Kids generally offers sonically, and it also sounds like a track Charlie Puth could’ve made for him (or a different Western popstar). But honestly I really do see a positive thing here: At least a SKZ song has a freaking chorus, FOR ONCE.

    I love Stray Kids but they have a history with their latest singles and it’s all about trying to make the song catchy by simply shouting or repeating the song’s title all over (what it’s supposed to be) the “chorus.” I’m not gonna lie, I’ve also enjoyed their over the top songs with switch-ups and different sections, but at least this time the change they made with this release is something my ears are welcoming.

    Now, the downsides are obviously SKZ are losing their sound and what makes them unique. In addition, their voices sound really high-pitched and just like others have been saying in the comments, it’s been difficult for me to differentiate their voices.

    Yet, I still think the song is good and it did something I’ve been wanting from SKZ for years: a simple track with some catchy hooks and AN ACTUAL CHORUS.

    Also, I compltely agree with you on that Charlie Puth opinion. He kinda went as far as he could go with Voicenotes, which is simply a great album. Then, what he’s released after that has been pretty mid.

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  18. I personally quite like the song but it is a typical pop song. The brigde is low-key awkward. And on the Charlie Puth note half his songs are collabs he probably subconsciously thinks he isn’t vocally strong enough to be solo. So he is riding the kpop wave just to get money off the collaba bc he knows loyal listeners will listen to the song.

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  19. Right, well I thought I’d throw my 2 cents, I think it’s a good song but I agree, it’s not “Stray Kids” AT ALL.
    However, Charlie Puth is objectively one of the best songwriters of his generation, hands down. You may now like the style if you’re not into super classic pop melodies, but the guy knows melody inside out – “see you again” sold over 20 million copies worldwide and “Stay” over 10 million copies. This one is not his best work (simply because he was not going to give SK his best work, let’s face it) but still a solid song. I can understand people not liking his style – especially SK fans, but please do not generalise. Charlie Puth is the real deal when it comes to pop writing, saying he’s objectively mediocre is a bit stupid to me

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    • to say he’s objectively one of the best or mediocre is ultimately false. both of these statements are opinion at the end of the day

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      • I didn’t base my statement on my personal opinion. I looked at the sales his songs have generated, which is the only “objective” parameter you can have in the music industry. Objectively he has been the mastermind behind 2 or 3 MASSIVE hits, and when I say massive I mean worldwide and across decades. Saying he’s not a good songwriter is a bit like saying Enrico Fermi wasn’t a very good physicist cause he didn’t discover general relativity, unlike Einstein. I don’t like Drake, for example, I will never understand the hype around him, “emotionally”. But objectively I would never say he’s mediocre, since the results say otherwise. I can only say “well it’s not my thing”.

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        • sure, but one could argue that hits are driven by the opinions of people (also marketing money). i’m not arguing that he is a bad songwriter and i can recognize that he’s not my style but music is largely dependent on the opinions of people. pedantic, but the statement should be one of the best selling artists. after all, the quality of art is in the eyes of the beholder. quality doesn’t always necessarily mean marketable

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  20. I’m at a point where I just want the group to stop experimenting and go back to their earlier sound (by that I mean 2018-2021). Everything that comes after just sounds like they desperately try to be something they’re not.

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    • Then stop listening to them. They’re amazing t what they do and all of their songs after God’s Menu have been better than most of their earlier songs. You’re a VERY small minority who thinks otherwise, and we don’t want people like you in the fandom, it’s toxic af.

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  21. the only good thing about this song is watching skz dance i’ll be honest. the short clip they’re using on tiktok is all i need to hear from now on.

    this song sounds like a charlie puth song featuring skz rather than the other way around. it also sounds like every song he made with jungkook too, so it’s tired sonically anyway. the intense autotuning on charlie in the first minute or so of the song is really distracting too. i’m not against autotune in general but to do it just to do it and it doesn’t even sound good? straight to jail.

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