We’ve entered December, which all but ensures a steady stream of ballads from both K-pop and J-pop. This softer energy tends to be quite seasonal, as listeners seek coziness over musical bombast. Japan has an especially insatiable appetite for ballads, making NiziU’s AlwayS the perfect release for this time of year.
AlwayS starts life as a straightforward piano ballad before transforming midway through. OST-style production is briefly replaced by skittering percussion, echoing the drum and bass sounds found in many recent releases. Then, the song’s balladness (is that a word?) comes back full force with a flourish of electric guitar. To my ears, this last portion of the song is most successful. But then again, I happen to enjoy a dramatic arrangement.
As exciting as these instrumental shifts are, AlwayS never finds melodies as captivating. Great ballads are all about melody, and on first listen I walked away from AlwayS with little recall of how the song actually went. Too often, it seems that the melodies are simply tracing similar lines to other existing ballads. But without a unique calling card of its own, AlwayS passes by without much effect.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
We have entered December. Already. I have no idea how to do my year end list.
For this song, I feel like the song is tracing a Younha-style structure more than an OST. Their Event Horizon, sans the homecrafted touches Younha adds in spades. (My favorite is the tap dance break in “Oort cloud”.)
The sung harmonies in the first verse are pleasant.
The vocals do get that IU and occasionally Younha-shrillness which I find unpleasant. Its more screaming not singing. Worse, it keeps building up and up higher into more of that. 3:00 starts the build, which is fine there. But then 3:23 hits. And the 3:40-:50 is just yeesh. Others think are omg vocal queens slay, I do not.
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Only the bookends of the song really engage me. They sound great though
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Love to hear them do a song that sounds really big. Nina and Miihi were UNLEASHED on this one. My favorite moment is the unison singing at 4:10. Great lyrics for that section that tie to the group name and their history.
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