Kiss Of Life are currently clawing their way back from one of K-pop’s bigger 2025 scandals, trying to assuage the very fans they insulted via a now-infamous livestream. Time will tell if their redemption arc is successful, but this being K-pop they’re chugging along with new music regardless. Title track Lips Hips Kiss comes courtesy of their new album and continues to see them dipping into Western pop trends.
When I first flocked to K-pop, I did so for a counterpoint to the music I could easily find in the West. That’s changed as the industry has become so global, but my ear still searches for unique sounds. Not only is Lips Hips Kiss pretty darn boring on its own, but it feels like a track I could hear from any pop girl in any country. And even then, I’d likely skip it. Kiss Of Life are skilled at this style of track, but this midtempo vibe needs either a bravura performance or killer melodies (preferably both) to stand out. Lips Hips Kiss is smooth as butter, but leaves no mark in its wake.
Last summer, Kiss Of Life found a great balance with the addictive Sticky. Lips Hips Kiss misses those addictive hooks, choosing instead to employ a repetitive sung/spoke refrain that drains energy from an already lethargic track. In this world of crystalline R&B, there are already so many better songs to choose from. By hitching their wagon to such a global sound, Kiss Of Life need even stronger material to compete.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Im afraid I’m in love😍☺️
8.5/10😍😘😇
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Hopefully, they’ll be able to get past the scandal. They got so much potential, and unlike their debut, they’re finally being given (or doing, I don’t know if they self-produce) material that caters to their voices and music style
To me, this track really does a great job pulling from the late 90s R&B sounds and gives it bits and pieces from the more atmospheric and mysterious from current R&B.
To top things off, the harmonies are sharp and the bridge is CELESTIAL. I definitely got a bias here because this group has been making music that alligns with my personal music taste, but it is definitely well-produced and done tastefully.
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Gonna use this stock pop song sound to segue into asking if you have any highlights from Snow Wife’s latest EP? She’s got a crazy good ear for pop music and recapturing some of its most fun aspects from the last few decades.
For me it’s a toss-up between If God is Real, Then Heaven Is a Club, which is early 2010’s concentrated syrup to me, and YoYo, which is what Katy Perry’s Lifetimes would be if it actually had any life to it. (Sweat is also great but you already highlighted it in last month’s round-up (which is what got me to give this a listen when it came on my feeds))
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It’s a fun EP! There’s so much of this nostalgic club sound in indie pop right now that it doesn’t feel essential, but it’s still a very good time. For me, Sweat and YoYo are the easy highlights.
Taking this chance to also share the super-underrated group Comanavago, which I’ve been posting everywhere I possibly can because their newest album is one of the best finds I’ve made in years. I’m sooo obsessed with it at the moment. The sleaziness of the second track I’ve embedded below actually feels like it could have been on Snow Wife’s new EP:
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Oh dang, the energy on these feel relentless! I’m gonna have to check the rest of that album out.
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I like the 90’s R&B vibe but the song just isn’t special enough to wow me. The girls have the potential to pull this sound off though. They just need better material.
Painting has a real fresh and fun vibe, so does Slide. I really enjoy these tracks. And Heart of Gold goes for R&B vibes like Lips Hips Kiss but is has more interesting elements.
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this is the best release of the day for me
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good song but to me would work better as a b-side rather than a title
I wish they had a strong summer bop like the one from last year
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boring, next!
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It sounds very Fifty-fifty adjacent. Very pleasant, very easy going, actually has a hook and song structure but in the end just not much going on there.
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They haven’t missed since golden touch.
2nd listen and I’m already loving it.
And I’m not just looking at the girls, swear!
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I wonder why they chose a midtempo R&B song for the summer when usually upbeat songs are the norm. But I think they wanted to take a new route and admittedly, it’s not as bad as you think. It’s a catchy earworm if you like this type of music. They saw the huge popularity of Sugarcoat, Nobody Knows and Nothing and ran with it, which is valid! They’ve always been more of a R&B-leaning group than anything else. I do wish they did more Midas Touch songs (give me Bratz!!!) cause I feel like they stood out so much with bringing back 2000s vibes without being a complete knockoff or imitation of it. I can Lips Hips Kiss making a buzz on the R&B side of Korean charts. I wish they added a PAUSE/STOP in the last chorus’s SHH SHH SHH since it would’ve left more impact in the end. The outro and bridge is a nice changeup too.
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I definitely prefer their more dynamic songs, but this wasn’t bad.
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It’s well-produced but man I don’t know, especially after the racism, if I’ll ever get behind them.
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hmm
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