VAYONN are the second new boy group to emerge from Kin Jaejoong’s iNKODE label, adopting a brighter sound palette than their hip-hop peers KEYVITUP. They teased their debut with the so-so Watta Day last month, and I suspect that song will play better in the context of an album. The bouyant MUAH! is their big title track and definitely makes a greater impression on me.
I prefer my K-pop to sound as “K-pop” as possible, meaning the songs don’t feel like something a Western artist would easily replicate. MUAH! has a heaping dose of classic power pop woven into its form, but delivers a specific K-pop fizziness that sets it apart. It’s a burst of energy from start to finish, with each segment building on the last until we reach the bounding, ebullient chorus. It all skews very young, including the vocal performance, but that energy is welcome — especially during the summer.
In the long lineage of bright boy group debuts, I don’t see MUAH! sticking out in the way others (Astro, NCT Dream, Golden Child, TWS, etc) have, and part of that is due to a very oversaturated market. However, this K-pop summer is in dire need of some big, upbeat pop tunes and I’m glad to see a new group leading that charge. MUAH! will get the job done, especially when its percolating synths and stomping percussion come in.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
Grade: B
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
it’s honestly really good! my nitpicks are the two different pronunciations of muah (lol) and the “muah muah muah muah” that opens the chorus doesn’t hit hard
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Bright, poppy, summery. I sounds like a squishmallow in aural form. All soft and squishy and cute and huggable.
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It is cute and adorable! The kisses made me laugh, not sure why🙃. The vocals are a tad too youthful for my taste, and the music is very heavy (which sometimes throw me off a bit), but overall the song is complete, fun, bright Kpop. I’ll take it.
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The actual kissy noises grated on me, but there weren’t too many, so overall this is a pretty solid bright boy group debut song.
You may not know this, but 4/6 of the members were plucked straight from Boys Planet II (well Sen was already an inkode trainee but you know what I mean), and they were very clearly selected for a group with a bright concept. So we can expect to see a lot more in this vein from them!
Also, there’s 3 Japanese members, 2 Chinese and 1 Korean. It’s a little surprising but not nearly as much as it would have been a few years ago. The expansion / globalization of kpop has been interesting to see.
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Never left a comment here on this blog before but I felt so happy listening to this song (thanks for bringing it to my attention!). I feel like it’s been some time since I’ve heard a track like this – adorable, cute, loveable, and bright in kpop – among male groups since everyone seems to want to be edgy. I’d appreciate any recommendations of recent releases in this vein by anyone else!
Other than the music video being super fun and such a cute choreo to go with this bright song, I do like that I can tell the members apart quite easily. I quite miss the time when kpop groups’ members all have quite distinctive facial features. Nowadays there seems to be a preferred aesthetics (not necessarily a bad thing), but distinctive features can really be something that builds personality and make them memorable to me.
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It’s always fun to see which post inspires someone to comment. Welcome!
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Some parts are just ripped off from CROWN by TXT.. Second Verse and the pre choruses are straight up parts from crown.
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Since you tweeted about TRCNG recently, i don’t know if you’re aware but member Hayoung is actually one of the credited composers of Muah! by VAYONN and is in the 13 producing team and now in Monotree. In fact he has been in (13) since 2021!
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Btw his producer name is Luke (13) or Luke (Monotree) when he’s credited in songs
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He’s credited as LUKE (13) or LUKE (Monotree) in songs. The way the songs he participate in tend to have a fresh sound in it
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