As we enter the pre-Chuseok holiday period, new K-pop releases are bound to slow down. However, that doesn’t affect Japanese releases from K-pop idols since they don’t have to worry about Korean music shows being cancelled. i-dle are taking advantage of this with new J-pop single Where Do We Go (どうしよっかな), which paints a summery vibe just as we enter fall in my neck of the woods.

i-dle’s image is usually edgier than this track presents, but some of their biggest hits have actually mined older sounds with a wide appeal across generations. Where Do We Go sounds as if it could be equally at home blasting out of a car stereo in Japan or Korea in pretty much any era. Its breezy, sing-along vibe is surprisingly straightforward for an i-dle release and forgoes rap almost entirely. In another world, this could easily have been a song by a group like GFriend.

While Where Do We Go doesn’t reinvent any wheels, I enjoy its effusive chorus. I’ll always go to bat for a chorus that spreads its wings in a big, open-hearted way. i-dle make a surprisingly convincing vessel for this approach, adding a big spoonful of sunshine without ever coming across as cloying or try hard. They should dabble in this song style more often!

Grade: B