(G)I-DLE members haven’t often committed to solo efforts with full music show promotions, choosing instead to dabble in digital releases and special singles — often unveiled with little fanfare. This is a smart way to slowly develop each members’ personal sound without the pressure of huge comeback budgets and expectations. Minnie’s understated English-language Blind Eyes Red feels like part of this approach, though it acts as a pre-release for her upcoming album.
I’m sure Blind Eyes Red will please a large segment of Minnie’s fan base, but this style is not for me. I feel like I can scroll through YouTube and find dozens of international songs that feature this same sound: sludgy tempo, trap beats and way too much emphasis on “vibe.” That’s my own musical preference talking, because I know this kind of track takes skill and charisma to pull off. With objectivity in mind, Minnie does a great job compelling interest through her vocal alone. Her tone, combined with a few well-place effects, creates an otherworldly — almost claustrophobic — atmosphere. I see how this would entice listeners eager for this type of mood.
Tearing my “objective” hat off and replacing it with the gaudy hat of subjectivity reveals a different story. I can’t imagine wanting to listen to Blind Eyes Red — even in the context of an album. If I’m going to turn to slower material like this, I look for a sense of warmth in either the melodies or production to pull me in. Blind Eyes Red simply trudges along, repeating one or two melodic ideas again and again as the monotonous instrumental fails to deliver any surprises.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 7 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Meh, boring af. Minnie has a great voice, but she is better off in songs like Lucid (now THAT’S one mysterious-sounding song done right). This song is just plain with generic trap beats that doesn’t do much, just plods along, tries to sound mysterious but fails. Also, the chorus with that autotuned “eh eh” grinds my gears a lot. I swear it sounds like a sheep bleating half-heartedly 😭
6.75 (7, 7, 7, 6) for me.
LikeLiked by 3 people
It seems that for better or for worse, (G)I-dle is gaining more ground in his solo career. Minnie’s persona in this song seems to totally evoke Heyoon’s debut with Pivot, and that’s simply not a compliment
7.25 (7, 8, 7, 7) for now
LikeLike
Man, I actually really like this track and I feel like this type of sound isnt really targeted towards you or most of the kpop community. It’s like a Chase Atlantic/ Weeknd type song but minus the better production those have. I still think this rocks tho, its super smooth. This wouldnt go into my kpop playslist but more-so my alternative playlist.
LikeLike
are you not part of the “kpop community”?
LikeLike
They said “most of the kpop community”, meaning the majority, but not all. So, considering they are on this blog, they are probably part of the kpop community.
LikeLike
yeah I understand that, I was trying to get to what about them makes them different from “most”
LikeLike
I think they just meant that this type of sound isn’t super popular in kpop, so the majority of the kpop community probably isn’t interested in it. IDK, though.
LikeLike
lets maybe take a comprehension lesson together. “Most of the kpop community” meaning the majority of the community who listens to kpop for the most part!
LikeLike
No need to be condescending. I was trying to get to the bottom of what makes you different from “most of the kpop community”. Saying that you’re a kpop fan and you like a song from a kpop artist but you don’t think it’s targeted towards most kpop fans is worthy of dissection
LikeLike
This is a genre that isn’t specifically catered towards the kpop fandom since (from my experience) i dont think ive heard many artists cover this type of genre in kpop. This is like your classic chase atlantic song. It’s pretty obvious why I said that .
LikeLike
Still being condescending smh
LikeLike
ur initial comment was condescending lmao.
LikeLike
no it isn’t. It was literally just a question. Let’s not start doing mental gymnastics
LikeLike
red…
LikeLike
I don’t like using dated as a criticism but this feels like a sound we can leave in the 10’s.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sounds like it could be on the soundtrack for one of the fifty shades of grey movies. This a song played during super happy adult fun time
LikeLike
She sounds like Halsey.
LikeLike
it is a whatever radio song (not in a bad way!), but she does perform it well and I was surprised by how well the effects were executed. Finally an artistic autotune that is well-placed and keeps the singer distinctive and recognisable, kudos to both Minnie for her well-established singing style and the producers who knew better than to overbear it.
LikeLike
It was confirmed just now that Minnie is releasing her first mini album on the 21st. I can’t wait to see what she has in store. This song works well as a pre-release, so here’s to hoping the title track has more bite.
LikeLike
I’ve never been the biggest (G)I-DLE fan so I wasn’t too motivated before clicking this song. After listening, I would say that it does sound very similar to other songs of the same genre, maybe a better production team could’ve given it an edgier sound to make the track stand out a little bit more.
Having said that, this is a style that I enjoy and listen to regularly. I guess it could’ve benifited from a rap verse or a little switch in one of the sections. But as it is, I would say it’s just an ok song.
7/10
LikeLike
I think the song is supposed to evoke a claustophobic and unpleasant vibe, so *it worked*. I suspect the whole album is saying some pretty sad and unpleasant things. It definitely is supposed to sound cold; read the lyrics. It definitely is supposed to sound repetitive; read the lyrics.
Looking at your earlier reviews, it seems you missed the point of Oh My God, which is a classic and 100% deserves its very high reputation, so I think perhaps concept albums about difficult emotions are flying right past you. That’s OK, they’re not for everyone.
LikeLike
From what I interpret, Nick usually writes about the execution of the music, the thought behind it isn’t usually a huge factor. The message doesn’t really matter if it’s not written well.
You can have your own opinion on this song, that’s why a lot of people like commenting here, but I do think it’s largely ignorant to dismiss Nick’s reviews with ‘read the lyrics.’
LikeLike
I can prove (three paragraphs down) that Nick’s review is in fact ignorant (and I don’t mean that merely as an insult). I’m pointing out something he’s ignoring.
This, like much of (G)I-DLE’s work, is a song driven by the lyrics. The mood follows the lyrics. It does what it’s supposed to do and it does it extremely well, as Nick admits.
Nick didn’t even discuss the lyrics of the song. Lyrics are in fact part of a song, and are something which are usually discussed in reviews. If the writers did not think the lyrics were relevant, they could have written an instrumental (instrumentals are cool) or an all-skat piece (skat is cool too).
In short, Nick ignored the lyrics. “Ignorant” and “ignored” are the same thing, right?
Omitting discussion of the lyrics entirely is a serious weakness in reviewing, and is probably why Nick keeps overlooking major hits.
This line in particular comes off as comic: “If I’m going to turn to slower material like this, I look for a sense of warmth in either the melodies or production to pull me in.” Well, uh, it’s supposed to be cold, and a sense of warmth would spoil it; the lyrics tell you this.
It’s like reviewing a song from an opera without reading the lyrics or the plot, and then asking “Why is this song so dirge-like, I only listen to warmer songs”, when it’s a song for a funeral scene.
He certainly doesn’t have to like it, but failing to even analyze or discuss the lyrics makes the review weak.
Now, a lot of Kpop has vapid or meaningless lyrics which don’t connect to the music. Which I consider a weakness. Nick never criticizes those songs for this, as far as I can tell. So this is actually a consistent bias in his reviews. I get it, he has a bias against paying attention to lyrics.
This, however, can make Nick’s reviews very weak from the point of view of anyone who actually listens to lyrics. Ignoring the lyrics is like ignoring the beat or ignoring the tune. It’s overlooking, ignoring, a major part of the music.
LikeLike
Sir, we’re mainly international k-pop stans. Being international k-pop stans means (unless we learn Korean) we inherently don’t understand the lyrics/meaning of the song, and we don’t have to. As I said before much of what we write about on here is the execution of the meaning, how it’s played out. It makes no sense for us to analyse the lyrics except English ones because we do not have the fluency for it.
Just because the meaning of the song may be well-intended or insightful doesn’t mean the song itself is written well nor composed well.
You can disagree with the review, some people in the comments have. But there’s a difference between understanding Nick’s mindset, understanding he’s one person with one subjective point of view with music, and dismissing his thoughts entirely. If you don’t like Nick’s reviews, don’t read.
LikeLike
This song is completely English.
LikeLike
My point still stands.
LikeLike