New girl group izna made their debut last November with a song that never seemed to capture the public’s attention in the way I’d expect from their pre-debut hype. Given this, I’m surprised they took so long to promote more music, but now they’re back with digital single Sign. This song reunites them with famed producer Teddy who supplies them with plenty of pop polish.
Sign‘s inability to fully develop its strongest instincts is frustrating, but the song has a great chorus supported by touches of instrumental drama that help set izna apart from most current girl group trends. To get here, the listener must wade through verses that don’t build much momentum or curiosity. If verses are a set-up for the chorus, Sign fails in this regard. The pre-chorus is nice, but everything prior to that moves aimlessly and is much too lethargic.
However, make it through these verses and you’re rewarded with a wonderfully fun hook. The melodies are catchy, but more importantly the production amps up with a mix of synth and guitar that layer a satisfying pop sheen over the track. I wish this drive extended into verse two and kept chugging along throughout the track, but Sign is quite stubborn in its approach. It gives and takes in equal measure rather than fully allowing itself to let loose and give permission for the listener to revel in its awesomeness.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Izna debuted in November.
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Ooh, love the retro touches and the chorus is very solid. Quite an improvement from their debut, the production just needs a little kick in the butt for it to be stronger.
8.5 (9, 8, 9, 8) for me.
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Also, this song reminds me a bit of Donna’s Will You Miss Me (a solid single imo). Both songs have that retro influences to it, but WYMM somehow executed it better. https://youtu.be/DYoM1uXyblA?si=YOS2jXoAnp5nlcOv
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finally a good song from the post-blackpink ex-blackpink producers
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kpop is just filling up with 2000s and 2010s sounds (sign’s the latter). The instrumental immediately reminded me of “I’m blue dabididabida” lol. I feel pretty similar for the most part (maybe just less frustrated) so I won’t rethread. What I want to add is that in addition to being a better song ( that I’ll probably stream this time around), the girls sound really nice here. “Izna” didn’t give them much room to really sing, but even in comparison to their reality show they sound better. Now, I don’t know if they SING better because even after the fact their I land performances had their vocals edited, but I’m pleased with the product they’re delivering.
I suspect they’ll probably release an EP shortly from now and I just hope it’s more cohesive now that they used up all the survival show tracks
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When Teddy isn’t overwhelmed with work/stops being lazy he can show how good he is, especially with the uptempo and/or 80’s vibe.
I miss BP’s pink side with AIIYL etc and is so needed these days imo, above song is a jam perhaps apart from the standard rap 808 showcase which didn’t need to be here. But ah well, love the track anyway
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Also Jungeun got to showcase how great her tone is here
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Not as good as IWALY and Fake it, but better than their debut song, for my taste.
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