After a few underwhelming months, it seems as if K-pop’s comeback floodgates will burst open in October. Before that, we’re treated to a few pre-releases from artists slated to return next month. SM Entertainment’s Hearts2Hearts don’t yet have a mini or full album to their name and have presented conflicting sounds so far. The Chase and and Style couldn’t be more different from each other, making it difficult to parse just what kind of group H2H will be going forward.
Pretty Please further complicates things, though in some ways it blends both sounds together. It’s reserved in the way The Chase was, yet has moments of the buoyant joy that drove Style. More than anything, the song feels like a throwback to a different generation of SM idols. And when I say “throwback,” I mean all the way back. This light, mid-tempo R&B sound was favored by the agency’s first-gen girl groups — both the mega-successful ones and the flash-in-the-pans. In this way, Pretty Please elicits feelings of comfort. SM’s producers have always been great at layering vocals in a way that lends weight to these R&B-pop confections and that proven arrangement works wonders here.
However, the best songs of this genre also impress with timeless melodies. Pretty Please is quite nice in this department and I can see its hook growing more indelible with time, but it also feels a bit too understated. I guess this makes sense for a pre-release. The chorus works better than the verses, which pussy foot around in a way where the whole becomes less than the sum of its parts. Still, the blatant nostalgia is enough to pull the song over the line. It’ll be interesting to see what they have up their sleeves for the title track.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Another one from them that skews very young and very girly. That’s all I got. I don’t believe I will be in their target demographic at all.
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Hearts2Hearts is that one group who have generic concept but surprisingly executed the discographies really well.
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It’s almost 3:30mns tho, shouldn’t it be a bit higher? Since you’ve been having beefs with the below 3mns trend for quite sometimes. Haha. I like it but it wasn’t anything special.
I’ll give it a 8.25/10.
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Impressed by your raiting/review for this track! Considering the bubblegum pop feel, sugar-coated vocals and the throwback vibes, I was thinking it could be an A. Other than, TWS and maybe Yena, I can’t think of any other group or soloist taking on this sound.
I personally think it’s a cute song and even a cuter video. I was a child whose parents restricted his Internet access when SNSD had this sound LMAO. So while I understand that this is signature SM Entertainment sound, it actually takes me back to 2015-2016 GFRIEND. I think the teen me from that time period would’ve adored this, especially with the Pokémon imagery throughout the video.
In a way, this song kind of warmed my heart and made me feel a bit nostalgic about how much I enjoyed cute K-pop music and cute anime back then. But as much as I appreciate that feeling, I gotta admit I don’t see this song making its way onto my playlist. I’m not their target demographic and that’s ok!
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The sound is so old school, early girls band, Spice Girl style. Would be perfect for karaoke. Maybe I’ve been brainwashed by current TikTok kpop tracks but I do find it TOO long, by the time it’s over I feel I listened to it twice. Still not sure about Hearts2Hearts, so cute and pastel and inoffensive I’m falling asleep halfway through their songs.
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Too airy!
Doesn’t quite have that oomph the early SES and Soshi songs did.
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pretty good for a pre release. I just which they went further with the breakdown in the bridge
The intro instantly reminded me of girls’ generation. I hope they continue to do that
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A demagogic production, in the regressive lineage of STYLE. Where is The Chase?
I remember when NMIXX failed at convincing with O.O. The following singles were a more polished yet confident confirmation, not a u-turn.
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generic, nothing new
the MV is pure ILLIT-rip off, just gives off magnetic+tokiyo tomare with a tiny bit of I’LL LIKE YOU album cover
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I prefer Style over this.
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The nostalgia is palpable easy eight for me
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