8TURN’s Like A Friend had the unfortunate fate of being released in mid-December just as most music shows were going on hiatus. The guys finally promoted it (briefly) a month later, but I can’t help but think that if the song had arrived in summer it would have found a more enthusiastic audience. For me, it’s the group’s best title track yet and offered a more robust songwriting style than past work. In contrast, new single LEGGO regresses to some of their earlier tropes.
The song’s energy and heart are in the right place, drawing influence from old-school hip-hop. It’s performed with plenty of verve, but groove is largely replaced with noise. Too much of the track sees the guys shouting at the audience. The noisy chorus is so overstuffed and one-note that it ends up feeling monotonous. There are some cool harmonies happening here, but they’re buried under the incessant “LEGGO!” chants. I’m not usually one for restraint in pop music, but a little might have gone a long way when it comes to this chorus.
A melodic pre-chorus and bridge attempt to inject some contrast. They feel like teases to more interesting songs, drawing upon 8TURN’s playful energy without the need to clobber us over the head with repetitive shouting. Unfortunately, these moments don’t last long and ultimately crumble under the weight of LEGGO‘s boisterous hooks.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Hi Nick! Today NMIXX pre-released “High Horse” the first track from their upcoming album. It’s only out on spotify and it doesn’t have an MV, but would you still mind rating it or sharing your opinions with me and a brief rating for each category? I think it’s quite an interesting track with nice twists during the verses with that band like instrumental.
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second this! Although not full-length, High Horse has a performance video to accompany the song so I guess that could count.
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Good song, great vocals. It’s nice to hear singing put at the forefront for once. It’s probably low 8’s for me, carried by those vocals.
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for
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help idk how to reply anymore 😭
(i actually need help bc i cant log in my email :/)
btw i’ve been listening to the song on loop since this morning and my rating for now is 8.5 (8 hooks, 8 production, 9 longevity, 9 bias)
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High Horse was such a nice surprise! I loved how they unleashed them vocally and that we got to hear lower register Nmixx as well and they sound absolutely amazing.
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I actually like this. I think the Jazz/Funk Hip-Hop boygroup sound is fully back after years of noise music. 8/10.
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Rating with all Leggos: (8,7,6,6) = 6.75
Rating if they had removed most Leggos = (8,8,8,7) = 7.75
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I liked it, will I put it on a playlist? Probably not but I’d watch a performance or dance practice. I like how we’re getting fuller sounds from the boy groups. It also seems like fun has returned to the 5th gen kids. Younite, 8turn, and ATBO (where are they) do a good job with the funky, fun, lighthearted sound.
Off topic but I would love for ONF to try something along the line of Geekin by Younite or Stuck/Choke by 82 Major.
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Kinda disappointed to be honest.
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