Thus far in their career, Odd Youth have favored chirpy sing-talk and zealous chants. Needless to say, this isn’t a combination that tends to appeal to me, but they’re now over a year into promotions and it’s time to move things in a slightly more streamlined direction. Babyface does just that, maintaining their youthful energy but reigning in some of the music’s more cloying elements.

Babyface is a polished, satisfying pop track. It lacks the unique musical perspective to stand out among its peers and still relies too much on talk-style vocal execution for my taste, but it feels like we’ve finally moved past Kidz Bop into the real world. There’s a brightness and energy to this track that’s refreshing and fits the group quite well. Despite their young age, the vocal performances have an appealing sense of maturity (at least when the girls are allowed to sing).

With that said, I don’t see Babyface sticking around for the long run. It’s just not catchy enough to capture the ear when stacked against stronger material. Instead, I view it as a palette cleansor for the group — a blank slate of sorts to build upon for the next arc of their career. There’s plenty to work with here if their producers are willing to commit to this bright pop sound in the future.

Grade: C+