Song Review: A.C.E – Supernatural | The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion

In between comebacks, A.C.E have often released special singles of various genres. Most of these songs feel more like appetizers than full courses, allowing the group to dabble in different music markets with English-language performances. Supernatural arrives in an English and Korean version. I’ll be linking the Korean version because whenever given the chance that’s the one I’ll choose.

With Supernatural, A.C.E try on a light funk-pop makeover. Think BTS’s English-language hits — big tent pop with feel-good rhythms and sugary hooks. This is always an amiable approach, but can often feel smoothed of its edges and radio sanitized. This is especially true when you’re as dynamic a group as A.C.E, who simultaneously brought hardstyle and hot pants into the idol conversation back in 2017.

Supernatural is solid but unremarkable. It’s a song composed by recipe: two cups rhythm guitar, a dash of whistling. And like any boxed cake mix, it’s reliably tasty. However, there’s no element that pulls this away from the pack. A.C.E’s performance is strong but held back by the constraints of the song. It would make a nice album b-side, but I can see why this wasn’t chosen as a full-on comeback track.

Hooks	7
Production	8
Longevity	8
Bias	8
RATING	7.75

Grade: C+

4 thoughts on “Song Review: A.C.E – Supernatural”

When I hear a song like this, I feel like kpop is well behind the curve on current trends in Western pop. A few years ago, perfectly smooth polished pop was very common. Dua Lipa type. These days, right now in the US as least, its all about personality and deliberate slight imperfections left in. Chappell Roan type.

This song. Its great pop, its perfectly polished, but it just lacks zing. If they were still the guys going hard in shorts, that would be a start.

Or lean heavily into what makes the k in kpop K pop, like the Goblin-Favorite Boys from a few years ago. That song was awesome, the styling gorgeous, the meaning meaningful. (I mean, just LOOK at that thumbnail of hanbok underwater.)

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Everything they’ve done post-enlistment has been pretty underwhelming to me. I don’t think they will gain a bigger audience by going so middle of the road, at least not internationally. What I really want to see is Favorite Boys Pt. 2. Still hoping they have something like that planned for their first full comeback as 5.

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