Kiss Of Life have quickly established themselves as one of K-pop’s buzziest rookie acts. April’s Midas Touch expertly mined the current Y2K trend to craft a catchy showcase that gave the group their own sonic calling card. New summer single Sticky feels more closely attuned to the laidback, Afrobeats-inspired sound currently sweeping global charts. I’ve had my doubts about how well a subdued style matches K-pop’s historically maximalist charms, but Sticky works just fine.
The summer season certainly buoys Sticky‘s prospects. The melodies here aren’t adventurous, but the sweltering atmosphere and humid texture provide a fitting soundtrack for these hotter months. With material like this, tone and blend are very important. The song smartly layers the group’s vocals to create a robust sound for its chorus. I love the reverb on this production, causing an almost cavernous echo that fills Sticky‘s minimalist space.
It’s also nice to hear a K-pop girl group fully sing during a song’s verses. Sticky may focus more on runs and riffing than tightly-structure pop melodies, but the girls pull it off to dazzling effect. This isn’t necessarily the kind of music that compels through the strength of its ambition or breadth of its ideas, but it succeeds by becoming a musical setting of sorts — a tonal backdrop that works well as a palette cleanser between bigger moments.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I like but it feels like something is missing to make to take the song over the top. Maybe its the slow down in the verse that did it for me. A 8 in my book. Something is just missing for me.
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Kind of a summer throwaway tbh. Pleasant, will add to the playlist, but not half as captivating as their other stuff.
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Actually upon further listens, I’m realizing that it (or at least the strings) sound a lot like Ariana’s 34+35
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whats with that MV?? like an adult version of super shy
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I will be surprised if the costumes and choreo are not censored by the Korean TV and music shows. Its like Parris Goebbel style (see for example Beiber’s Yummy).
For the song itself. Its ok. I have only listened to it a couple times, and the chorus is a tad sticking in my brain, though generic.
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This is so catchy they sound amazing and they aced this afrobeats sound, even tyla likes them!!
8.75/10🐬🩵💦
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Pretty good.
Maybe not at the level of Sistars bangers but a respectable summer bop
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Hey Nick, are you going to review McNasty by Jay Park?
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Not planning on it. Sorry!
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Aw why not? Is it cause it’s not PG-13 friendly for the blog?
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I love kiss of life but I have no interest in hearing kpop acts tackle afrobeat. It makes me viscerally uncomfortable to see how quickly it’s been appropriated after one global hit. Knowing that people will be jamming to these tracks and celebrate them as if afrobeat came out of Korea is greatly disheartening
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absolutely agreed
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Sticky is not afrobeets 😭
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yes it’s not, just an imitation
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It is
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/kiss-of-life/sticky/
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What’s up with the comments? This song was so good perfect for summer!I love the vocals and everything. It’s a bop. I prefer there other songs more but this onces good too. Be sure to check there b side its soooo good!
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This song is pretty generic, but I really like it, it’s a solid and nice summer song sung by talented girls, what more could you want?
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