It’s been well over a year since we last heard from The Wind. Since then, their agency has partnered with a new management company to shift the group’s sound with an eye on global markets. Yes, The Wind are following the path that 99.9% of bright, melodic boy groups eventually succumb to. They’ve ditched their old creative team for new blood (Block B’s Park Kyung and HYBE mainstay Peridot, to be exact). The thing is, their old sound wasn’t broken. In fact, it was a refreshing oasis in an increasingly generic industry. On the other hand, new single Party Like A Rock Star feels like an ill-fitting t-shirt.
Unsurprisingly given its composer, Party Like A Rock Star bears the hallmarks of a latter-day Block B track. You can hear those guys all over the track and it would have worked better if driven by their expertise in this genre. As much as I’ve loved The Wind’s work in the past, their voices don’t fit this material at all. Rather than act as a polished reinvention of their sound, the song comes across as much more amateur than expected. There’s potential in Rock Star‘s shout-along chorus, but the “edgy” production feels at odds with their natural appeal.
Adding to their uphill battle, the group keeps losing its main vocalists. First, leader Shin Jaewon left and now Kim Hee Soo is on hiatus. You hear this lack of a vocal anchor throughout Party Like A Rock Star, forcing the guys to resort to much more sing-talk than the melodically rich material of years past. It all adds up to an unnecessary reboot that misses every aspect that’s made their discography so wonderful.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Sounds like a BOYNEXTDOOR song, except BND would have injected some personality into it. Meh.
Rating’s the same. The production also sounds weirdly canned.
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This is my karma for ragebaiting that one commentor who was upset about the fact that EXO lost 3 members. This stings so bad, especially so since the agency has announced they’ll continue working with KZ for their new girl group (with addition to Sweetune).
Please fail. I hope this comeback fails.
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What are you on 😭😭
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on about*
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All I wanted was cutesy butterfly music and this is what we get instead
Im sick
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Umm… I’m disappointed to say the least. But I guess it wasn’t as bad as something like Sugar High.
I guess I’ll go back to H! Teen…
And my top 3 is pretty solidified now.
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1. With the Wind
Analysis: The chill execution and instrumental styling feel a bit like a standard BOYNEXTDOOR B-side, standing right on the edge of falling into average “beige pop” territory. That being said, their vocals are genuinely so refreshing to listen to.
2. Party Like a Rockstar
Rating: 7.5 (8, 7, 7, 8)
Analysis: This track blends rock elements with trap-infused production. Everything about the song is decent and nothing inherently offensive, but nothing truly stands out either, aside from the somewhat scattered production choices and vocal mixing. Because of that, I don’t see myself returning to this track very often.
3. Let’s Smoove!
Analysis: This release feels a bit too overly trendy and doesn’t quite sound like The Wind’s usual identity. The random lyric choices—such as “mac and cheese” and “bippity boppity boo”—feel like they are trying to force the group into a mold that is far too restrictive, leaving them sounding a bit constrained within the narrow arrangement.
4. Shiver
Analysis: Now, this is quite a bit better! The chorus is a true earworm, and there is something wonderfully catchy about the “da-da-da” hooks. It has a lot more substance to it, making it easily the standout song on the album.
5. Back and Forth
Analysis: This track is quite chill and pleasant overall. It carries a nice groove, and the members’ vocals sound lovely throughout.
Final Thoughts and Album Rating
Conclusion: Funnily enough, I haven’t listened to The Wind in over two years; I sort of forgot they existed. The last time I checked in with them was back in 2024 with “H1!Teen ,” which I thought was delightful. So, when I saw they had a new comeback, I was genuinely excited to rediscover them, but this project ended up being quite disappointing. The songs tend to be a bit too brief and rely heavily on current musical trends, though “Shiver” offered a very welcome bright spot. I will definitely continue keeping an eye on their future releases, but in order for them to become a group I would listen to, they will need stronger and CONSISTENT material.
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I hope when TWS ditched their signature sound later they wouldnt completely ditched it.
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they ditched their signature sound a long time ago wdym
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Who? TWS? What r u on about? Even the last CB still has refreshing sounds to it. Albeit not as heavy as before. But a cb before that (Nice to see u again) is full of refreshing sounds and the upcoming Japanese 2nd single would also go full refreshing summer vibes with some CityPop sounds to it. So yeah they’re the on of the only famous kpop groups still doing this. It has become their signature sound btw. Well I’m not going to kid myself, they will move on to more mature theme later in their career but I hope the change wouldn’t be as abrupt as this.
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you and everyone in this comment section is a bum if this review being front and centre on google is the reason they never make a cb it’s only you to blame
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Please, we are not responsible for the choices of their management. Blindly supporting subpar work isn’t being a “fan” and it would be disingenuous to say I love something when I don’t.
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If they do somehow read this, PLEASE bring back their original production team.
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People are vastly overestimating the influence of this site. If I really had that much power, do you think the industry would sound the way it does right now? 😭
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I mean, Hello Gloom and Fairy Mai noticed you, so anything can happen… right? :p
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If this site ever had any influences, please end the horrible trend of boygroups experimental noise music (less melody), talk-chanting (less singing), SNS/meme-focused song (no meaningful lyrics/catchphrase), and less than 3 minutes song duration (no bridge) that had taken hold of KPOP industry captive now and go back to real music.
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How I wished this site were as influential as u perceived. If this was true, groups tht Nick liked would’ve topped the Kpop industry rn while the bad ones wouldn’t have so much fans and attention.
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Nick is extremely influential that’s why Golden Child is the most respected boy group in the industry right now and they did not disband
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I could not find their new album on The Wind spotify page at first, imagine my surprise that the album was credited on some unknown Thai artist 😭 even Spotify forgot about them after no comeback for so long.
Okay back to music, I actually listened to all of their previous discography this past week as preparation before this comeback. Imagine my surprise that they decided to change their signature sound. It is still in bright category, but I agree that they had fallen to the trend where they incorporated many modern sound similar to BND. Still a dupe just can’t beat the original. I still like their past sound, a bit generic yes but it had more personality than thism
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Oh, this is … this is not good. It’s trying to hard to be edgy and punk without having any street cred. I am a child of the 80’s. When the punk bands there were going crazy, they actually knew exactly what they were doing.
Yeah, hit that high note off key, that’ll be punk. I am totally baffled by the break. And then, when you run out of ideas, throw in an unearned key change.
The mis-heard english at 2:09 sounds like “Stars porn, smash myself off the … form? off the … board?
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Damn, when Hui was announced to be joining With Us Entertainment, I was hoping he’d get to produce for The Wind. Instead, the company chose to throw The Wind away to some other smaller company. The song’s quite alright I’d say, but does not scream The Wind
Also, I saw a clip of Park Kyung saying he’s also producing The Wind’s next album, so I guess they’re sticking with this sound for a while.
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I understand the frustration this change up brings to long time fans of The Wind’s sound/style, but for me this is actually good . I’m not saying it is the best song ever, but it is definitely something that I prefer. I particularly like the chorus, but I recognize the song is a bit weird.
I always had issues with the main singer style, and the group’s sound was too youthful for my taste, so again, this is much more listenable to me. I’ll say 8/10 and see where it goes.
PS: Spotify has the album under someone else’s page😬
PS2: Nick, WHIB had a comeback today, not sure if you omitted a review because you didn’t think it was worth it😬
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WHIB’s song is a Japanese release so I’ll include it in the J-pop round-up this week.
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i dont get the concept of whiz attacking and shading nick on twt. he’s been reviewing kpop releases since before the wind even debuted
ayway, my thoughts about the release are that the vibes are giving a watered-down version of bonedo during their debut era. (first of all, im not a onedoor, and i hate their current music too lol, so im not promoting them)
i think with us is obviously on the brink of bankruptcy, so im not sure if theyll ever go back to their original music production team. i think the change in sound (aside from pp’s decision) is because they stopped taking risks to solidify their musical identity. instead, they just joined the pile of 4th/5th gen bgs doing this kind of music and concept bc lets admit it… we know the market tends to favor bgs doing more mature concepts
but will this actually benefit them? i don’t think so… mature and cool sound/concepts work for some groups bc they are backed by big companies. but what usually charts “organically” in the korean music scene and stays in the long run??? it is the kind of music that is distinguishable from the pile of hip-hop, hyperpop, noise or other trendy genres overused by 4th/5thgen bgs (aka, the wind’s music…. i want to say plot twist by tws directly but i know the beef between whiz vs. sais, but i cant blame the whiz on this one since some fans were really claiming that tws started it when it’s not, it’s okay to admit that the wind is really the blueprint)
anyway, it just so happens that the wind is from a small company and is still nugu. if they were from the big 4, im pretty sure the group would have blown up during the with us era, a trend their company failed to sustain due to a lack of resources
this transition seems like it will fail them, bc what made people talk about them in the first place was the distinct music they were releasing before. this is proven by the twts that used to praise songs like “hmfl”, “island” and “only one” and “with us” even trended on the clock app
but you know what, i still give props to the company since they managed to take a risk on a subgenre (christian horse girl music / 3rd gen bgs early sound) that was out of trend, and they avoided jumping on the bandwagon for almost 3 yrs. the company might have had its lapses (according to the twts from whiz), but the transition to another management just proves that things are worse now like, no buying of ads for yt views?
my “only one” wish is that this won’t be their last cb. bc if this is their last, i wouldve wished that “only one” was their disbandment song lol. at least they would be ending their career with a strong song
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The one sided beef from Whiz on Sai is sooo cringe. Like most Sai , me included, loves The Wind discography so much but I don’t get why their fans is so bitter on TWS success. Well, they’ve broken their music direction now, leaving only TWS as the only flag bearer for this refreshing sound.
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lol, you’re so delusional for thinking tws is the flag bearer for this sound when they’ve just been half-baking the refreshing concept since last festival. they’re even including noise music, like that nursery rhyme song (i forgot the title), and dt. the overrated overdrive doesn’t sound refreshing at all either. both groups have broken their music direction now and that’s a fact. and this is coming from a casual listener of these two groups
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TWS’s music does not all sound identical to their first 2-3 releases but it all lives in the same world and there is a clear through line to is. There’s some rare misses in their discography like the aforementioned head shoulders knees and toes song but they can afford this because unlike The Wind they have been releasing music prolifically.
It is only logical to respond differently to a drastic sonic change after a year of nothing than you would respond to a shift in sound from an act with a consistent output with mild shifts in sound like TWS.
No need to call people delusional especially as you are only a “casual” listener, I’m lost as to why you would care enough to insult people here.
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Add to the fact that DT , HSKT is experimental B-sides song while the title track was full blown refreshing like IF I’m S can you be my N. So I don’t think there was an issue there. TWS didn’t abandoned their music abruptly. The Wind did. And tht guy also ignoring the facts about Nice to See You Again and the upcoming Soda² is full blown refreshing sound. TWS IS THE FLAG BEARER for this sound whether tht guy like it or not. Not The Wind unfortunately.
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I mean to be honest that person cares way too much about what people think on Twitter which I think would severely degrade any person’s ability to make a substantive argument. Why would I care what fans of this or that group are saying on Twitter. It’s not real LOL and anybody who says ANY group is “the blueprint” for ANYTHING has Twitter disease most severely. Like bro this is kpop, nothing is original
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lets actually look at the releases instead of writing essays about twitter disease. tws japanese releases set aside, tws has been half-baking this concept since then. tws media play pushing their recent korean title tracks from LF up to current korean title track as refreshing is no different than the wind’s new management claiming party like a rock star is refreshing when its clearly not. it is delusional to think that recent tws korean title tracks or their b-sides are in the same world when they are transitioning to more mature genres since a yr such as house, afrobeat, power pop, or funk rock, which these kinds of genres are overtiringly used by current bgs whose concepts are not refreshing
the difference? digging through both discographies, the wind has been drastically more consistent with the actual refreshing sound without cluttering their albums with experimental filler noise b-sides. a group abruptly shifting their sound after a year off isnt the flex you think it is, and tws isnt the flag bearer of anything when half their output abandons the very concept and sound you are praising them for 💅
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lets actually look at the releases instead of writing essays about twitter disease. tws japanese releases set aside, tws has been half-baking this concept since then. tws media play pushing their recent korean title tracks from lf up to current as refreshing is no different than the winds new management claiming party like a rock star is refreshing when its clearly not. it is delusional to think that recent tws korean title tracks or their b-sides are in the same world when they are transitioning to more mature genres such as house, afrobeat, power pop, or funk rock, which these kinds of genres are overtiringly used by current bgs whose concepts are not refreshing
the difference? digging through both discographies, the wind has been drastically more consistent with the actual refreshing sound without cluttering their albums with experimental filler noise b-sides. a group abruptly shifting their sound after a year off isnt the flex you think it is, and tws isnt the flag bearer of anything when half their output abandons the very concept you are praising them for 💅
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Never in my life did I expect to see a fight between TWS and The Wind. That’s like puppy on puppy violence.
But seriously guys, none of this is important. Love the songs you love, dislike the ones you dislike. Listen to as many different artists as you can and enjoy the music that connects with you.
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3 sentences = an essay meanwhile every post from the “casual listener” is longer than the post you are commenting on. Who cares man
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