Last month, China partially lifted its nine-year ban on Korean content, including K-pop concerts and releases. This news didn’t receive nearly as much attention as it should have, especially considering the massive effect it may have on the industry. Given this year’s global affairs, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if K-pop agencies pulled resources from their American expansion and redoubled efforts in the Chinese market. Time will tell if this comes to pass, and Solar’s Chinese-language debut Floating Free was likely in the pipeline far before this ban was lifted.
Chinese-language debuts like this used to be far more common in K-pop, but after nine years it’s almost a novelty to hear them again. For Floating Free, Solar pairs with Taiwanese singer 9m88 over a track that sounds very much like her Korean fare. The song has a pleasant mid-tempo bounce, upbeat enough to jump around to but chill enough to function as background music for any number of activities. To me, songs like this feel stuck in the middle, never quite committing to a sound. Floating Free won’t offend or excite many. Without any instrumental or melodic sucker punch it simply coasts along in a way that’s unlikely to stick in memory.
Those eager for a Mamamoo reunion may enjoy hearing Solar trade vocals with another female singer, and 9m88 makes a nice duet partner. The two voices blend well with enough variation to keep things interesting. Beyond this, Floating Free makes for solid connective tissue on a playlist but would easily get lost among bigger highlights.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Oh, yeah, time was before the THAAD thud, every kpop group who had ambitions would release in Korean, then in some order Japanese or Chinese, or all three. (Kyuhyun’s “Gwanghwamun” is in all three.) Remember Super Junior-M and EXO-M? Wayv was created in part to avoid the ban. I remember faintly that Super Junior-M even had their faces on Chinese postage stamps.
As for this song, its fine. The performance is confident. I wish there wasn’t the tinniness from the vocal processing as it would sound even better without some of Solar’s character smoothed out.
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As a native Mandarin speaker, I have a mixed feeling for this. Speaking of C-Pop, this song definitely deserve a 9 or even 9.5, it’s little bit chilly here, vibey there, dance-able beat, lo-fi 80’s mood is still a good choice. But in K-Pop spectrum, I’ve the same rating as you, where is just felt under those background style music.
I’ve been looping this song since it released (12am GMT+8 on my zone) and I’m still figuring out my feeling on it. But I might give it a 8.5 for now (just an average between my C & K-Pop).
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I think it’s a dynamic enough song to not get lost on my playlist of favorite recent releases, even those from this year; but on a larger scale, it definitely has a coffee shop background melody that goes unnoticed.
Personally, I liked that this is a collaboration worthwhile. I feel the other singer’s voice enhances the song and makes it more lively, and I love the overlapping of their voices in the last 10 seconds of the song. The lo-fi feel also made it very enjoyable.
It’s an 8.5 for me.
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