A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve.
NMIXX’s first full album is very strong, which is all the more impressive when you consider how many tracks are on it. Of the twelve songs, only one or two feel like filler to me. There’s also a satisfying breadth of sound represented, even though all the material exists within NMIXX’s wheelhouse.
When I’m looking for standout tracks, I’m often searching for something big and ambitious that stops me in my tracks. Reality Hurts‘s sledgehammer electro stomp captured me immediately. This soundscape has become slightly more present in K-pop over the past year or two, but few mainstream artists are really going for it. Reality Hurts‘s production hits hard and never stops hitting even as it shifts gears for a jarring chorus drop. But most importantly, the song doesn’t forget to tether an exciting pop melody to its experimental frame. The melodic centerpiece here is super strong, allowing the listener to sing along even as the instrumental punches them aside the head. In the best way, this contrast reminds me of classic f(x).
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
what do you think about phoenix?
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My second favorite, probably
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Oh gosh there they go again. So clever again. What else can a producer play with? So many songs go hard and soft quiet and loud high and low, hey what is this TEMPO lever? Let’s pull it! Wheee away we go.
I think its awesome. I think it will sound even better in the car. We will be That Car with the subwoofer sound even in the old mom-mobile.
I see your classic f(x) (which it is) and raise you a 2NE1 “Come Back Home”. Come back hoo-ooo-ooome.
For the kids here. You’re welcome.
https://youtu.be/vLbfv-AAyvQ?list=RDvLbfv-AAyvQ
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Come back home and Ugly are my favorite 2ne1 jams.
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This was my favorite song in the album. An absolute knockout (this is the sound I was hoping aespa would have explored in Whiplash). Anyway, fantastic song, a 9 for me. It’s like if BoA’s Breathe had a baby with Charlie xcx’s Von Dutch. I also really like Phoenix, but I keep finding myself coming to Reality Hurts more.
On another note: hoping to see NMIXX in concert soon. Even if I don’t particularly call myself a ‘fan’, I really enjoy their vocals & the music production in a few of their songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv-gTsoGFiE
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the beginning gives GOTCHA by IVE.
NMIXX has really solidified their sound and it’s very satisfying to see after that disastrous debut year.
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I agree that it is a unique song with nice EDM sound production. I couldn’t say I enjoyed the jarring chorus effect for casual listening, but it is a good song for club dance. Phoenix is still my favourite song in the album.
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Of note, Lily has lyrical credits on this one, as well as the English version of Blue Valentine that just released. Seeing the credit on BV Eng version, I’m guessing her role here was making sure all the English lines made sense since it is all in English, but def still cool whatever level of creative impact she had.
Also of note, Haewon was also credited lyrically on two songs on the album, “Podium” and “Crush on You”
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I think that sense-checking still requires some artistry, similar to translation/ transliteration. In any case I’m glad if they’ve got their English-speaking member doing that, because there are a lot of groups with native English speakers singing lyrical nonsense lol
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So true! I found that for Reality Hurts she is listed first on lyrics, so that should mean she contributed most heavily, so it was more than just translation work there. On the English version of BV, I did notice noticeable wording changes, likely done to maintain flow when the Korean translation wouldn’t have kept the feel of the verses correctly. So like you noted, I think even in the translation there’s lots of artistry going on to find phrases that still capture the sounds, feelings, meanings, flow, etc.
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Reality Hurts and Phoenix are probably my favourites, largely in part because they sound like video game soundtracks to me.
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This is their strongest project tbh
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I’m not as crazy as other people are about this comeback, BV hasn’t hit me the way it’s meant to, but this is definitely the highlight. There’s so much going on and I enjoy every moment of it
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I absolutely loved this album, but I think adore u was my favorite track
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YES at Reality Hurts! It’s also my absolute favorite b-side in their new album.
As for the new album, it’s their strongest album overall for me.
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It is also their only album XD
But it is a really strong album for me still ❤
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Generally when a full album arrives, it’s filled with fillers, different language of title track etc. Very rarely filled with good songs that only some groups manage to achieve (looking at you Dreamcatcher).
for nmixx’s long awaited full length album, every song slapped, even the fleshed out versions of O.O much to the joy of haters of the original when it realeased (me included). Very much an album of the year right here, as I highly doubt another group will manage a 12 song album with even more than 7/12 bangers
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Meanwhile for us O.O lovers these two just confirm what we already suspected: each of them is decent enough on its own, but not nearly as impactful as the resulting chimera.
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I’m inclined to agree… when I listened to them individually I was like WHERES WATCH ME BAILABAILABAILA
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Podium was the clear stand-out track on the album for me, love it. That’s exactly what I want from Nmixx. I also grew to like Spinnin’ On It, I’ve come to terms with the title track BV (although still don’t like it). The rest of the album left me really cold, especially Reality Hurts. But it’s cool that most people seem to love it.
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The instant I hit play on this I thought, “Trent Reznor if he slayed….”
I adore this album and this direction for them and I think they are making some of the most exciting material of any kpop group right now. To be honest they’re making precisely the type of music I wish SKZ was making lol. If you’re going to be loud and experimental, it needs to be this engaging and interesting.
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Nail on the head here, SKZ should be putting out tracks like Phoenix and Reality Hurts.
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The album is generally super solid. Reality Hurts also stood out to me, but my favorite B-sides are Adore U, Shape of Love, and Crush On You, in that order. And I’m also definitely not over Blue Valentine yet. It’s just great!
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Two years ago, would I have expected NMIXX to be the girl group to go on the look out for? Not at all, they were not much of a concern for me to be honest. It is with great excitement that I add NMIXX to my stanlist because they have been cool for simply too many consecutive comebacks now for me to ignore any longer.
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The song now has a “track video”
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And now I need to decide if it counts as a “single” or not! Haha K-pop makes it so confusing sometimes. I wish they’d perform it on music shows.
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Good point that might in fact be why they’re releasing this now… I guess we’ll know by tomorrow morning after The Show has aired.
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