Prior to their new mini album today, Lucy unveiled their first single as a trio. Wakey Wakey was a cute, upbeat song but nothing that stood out within their discography. One would expect title track Hippo (하마) to go bigger and bolder than its pre-release, but the guys have delivered a somewhat understated comeback with a simple animated music video.
This song feels like Lucy just doing what they want, charts be damned. They know what they’re great at and they have a fan base dedicated to their considerable talent. I’d count myself among the ranks of that fan base, but it’s been awhile since a new Lucy song has hit me in the way their best work has. Hippo blends groovy verses with a sentimental chorus, distilling many of the modes Lucy operate best in. So, why isn’t it doing much for me? As usual, I think it all comes down to melody. The verses here feel more like riffing than a carefully constructed structure, while the heart of the song (its chorus) makes up a comparatively slight portion of the track. As always, Lucy sound fantastic. But when I’m in the mood to listen to their stuff, this would be quite low on the list.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Lucy used to be one of my favorite kbands but more competition on that front and a years long backslide into boring mush that sounds exactly like this and feels more and more tired has knocked them down considerably. I’ve always thought that their technical prowess would be more suited to something like prog rock but at this point it’s probably not going to happen even more than it wasn’t going to happen before because that’d require them to go out of their comfort zone and to actually try and that might sacrifice some precious coffee shop playlist won.
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It is more intellectually interesting to listen to than musically and emotionally interesting to listen to. There are interesting changes from verse to chorus to another section to another section, and they all work together. But none of it makes my heart sing.
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I’m happy this exists, but nothing would change for me if it didn’t, not the way older Lucy songs sparked emotional reactions from me.
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I think I’m a bit higher on the song than everyone else, but I’m also less familiar with Lucy’s discography. I’ll have to see how much it sticks on its own, cause I really fancy the music video. That hippo is adorable
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