Everglow had a turbulent 2025, leaving their longtime agency Yuehua and joining upstart CHXXTA Company (whose name looks like a censored curse word). This move was applauded by many, as Yuehua’s track record with the group was spotty at best. Transitions like this can lead to renewed creative freedom or — at the very least — a reinvention of sorts. Given that context, it’s upsetting that new single Code does nothing but copy existing trends.
Sometimes I forget that Everglow have a few fantastic singles under their belt. Their discography has been so hit and miss that highlights like La Di Da and Pirate threaten to get buried. Of the misses, Code must be high on that list. This song is a real headache. It gleefully adopts the “charismatic talking over a club beat” approach that’s plaguing K-pop right now, but doesn’t even bother to make that talking palatable. It’s a mess of bratty affectations, made even worse by ugly vocal effects that make Everglow sound more like AI than human idols.
This is the kind of song that thinks “drop it like it’s hot” is still a cool phrase, which would be fine if its sound was actually fun. It really feels like the producers took every overused sample they could find and threw it into a blender without considering structure or execution. If nothing else, this will serve as a sad time capsule for this particular micro-era in K-pop.
| Hooks | 5 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 6 |
| Bias | 5 |
| RATING | 5.75 |
Grade: F
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Is the rating supposed to be a 5.75 or a 6.5? But either way, it’s a massive nothingburger of a comeback, what a disappointment.
6.5 (6, 7, 7, 6) for me
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Ugh… you’re right
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first miss of a title track, which is a shocker for this group tbh. I’m excited they are back but aghast at the quality of this song. Rating is generous in my opinion
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this is frustrating. I like how loud it is but the writing is all over the place and completely unmemorable.
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I wouldn’t say it’s F+ bad but it’s very, well, unoriginal to say the least. I miss OT6 Everglow.
I’ll say 6.25(6,7,6,6)
Now is a good time to think about how bad the yearly average is going to be. Hoping this month isn’t going to be another February 2024.
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how on earth is reddit of all platforms eating this up?
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Zombie was genuinely more listenable than this
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A song “Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
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We used to have it so good, huh? I look at Pirate, which I didn’t like when it released, and it sounds like a masterpiece in comparison to this song. Also, adding to the heartbreak of losing members, it’s crazy just how much Mia and Yiren added from a vocal and visual aspect. Their presence is deeply missed here.
As per the song, what a giant mess. It’s like girl Stray Kids in the worst way. The producers just put together some different beats from different genres and were like “yeah this bangs.” Very sad to hear this as a comeback…
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When I first heard this song, I thought it sounded like an ESPA song. After listening to it a few times, I started to like it, and each time I felt like an ESPA song would suffice.6/10.
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Yeah I actually think this is fine? It would be a very normal aespa song– something off the Savage album.
I might actually like it than many of their other songs; other than First and La di Da, I haven’t been able to enjoy any Everglow songs.
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FOCUS off the album is pretty cool, i think it does the hookless frankenstein structure alot better. i could play CODE a thousand times and I’d still have no idea what it sounds like
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and Can’t Be Broken is exactly the type of fluffy feel good album filler i’ll always be down for. the production is pretty crunchy but hey i’ll take it
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hey, now that everglow has been mentioned again, did pirate and la di da rise for you over time?
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if they wanted to do this talking over a club beat sound then breakout shouldve been the title like that beat is insaneeeee
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at least “FOCUS” exists
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EVERGLOW is like one of those kids in high school that was always to top of the class in their grade, but struggled as an adult and live an unsuccessful life. I’m so sorry to comment this, but they used to do so well😔
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