One song. Every day. Alphabetical order.
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Sunrise (from Time For Us – 2019)
Previous Thoughts: “Sunrise ups the tempo after a brief piano opening, giving the song some kick as we build toward the chorus. The verses veer from languid to sprightly with a balletic finesse, though the melody itself doesn’t leave much impact.” (full review)
Updated thoughts: For me, Sunrise is one of the most baffling singles in GFriend’s discography. It’s not a strange song or anything, but I feel like I should enjoy it a lot more than I do. I remember fans being very excited about this release during 2019, largely because it returned to a sound most of us missed from GFriend. But for me, the production and melodies lack the urgency and boldness of their early Youngbae/Iggy tracks. The vocals also seem less assured, even as the track blooms into a soaring finale. I find the arrangement a little piercing in places.
This write-up makes it sound like I hate the song, and that’s not true. I could never hate this style of music and would gladly take anything like Sunrise in 2024. However, I rarely return to it and would easily rank it lowest in this particular style of GFriend tracks.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
TFTMN > Crossroads > Sunrise
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Agreed!
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It always makes me want to listen to Time for the Moon Night instead. Still, Yuju sounds great in this.
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so i assume tftmn is a 9 for u then…
other than that sunrise is in my top 5 gfriend tts along w rough me gustas tu mago love whisper and navillera/fingertip (theyre tied for me)
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Nick, have you considered revisiting your ‘Best K-Pop Albums’ segment? I really enjoyed reading the Wonder Girls’ one and it made me fall in love with the album. I imagine you only would write about full albums, so I was curious if you had ever considered doing one on the Misconceptions of Us?
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Or even Taemin’s Press It, since I remember you giving it many accolades
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Not a bad idea! I should hopefully have more time after all the year-end countdowns are done so I’ll be looking to revisit some of these features before new releases ramp up again.
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i kinda agree with you on this one nick. on paper it’s dramatic and urgent and punchy, i mean that final bridge to chorus, phew! but there’s something about it that lacks the power to make me do repeat listens… i think the arrangement feels a bit too aggressive(?) and sharp, the b-sides in the album kinda make up for me though. other than flower, 2019 was not their year for title tracks
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What?
This is easily their top single, or at least top 3 (Rough and either Navillera or Mago). Beautiful song, with a lot more interesting stuff going on than, for example, TFTMN or Crossroads.
For starters, the instrumental works great as its own song, and the vocals completely recontextualize it.
For another, almost every line has a somewhat dischordant vocal harmony EXCEPT for when Eunha does her final bit, where the only vocal is hers. Very cool to listen to.
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