When last we heard from WayV, they marked the winter season with a 90s hip-hop track. Hip-hop has become a bigger part of their ouevre in general, taking a more streamlined approach than the hulking vocal drama and theatrical arrangements of years past. New single Vision Wings (鸢) continues this overall trend but adds traditional elements for good measure.
There’s an alternate reality where this song would be an easy discography highlight. Its heart is in the right place, especially when it comes to flourishes within the production. But in keeping with this year in K-pop (and C-pop, apparently!), dynamic hooks are hard to come from. Vision Wings opts for a serious of monotonous phrasing, talk-chanted more often than sung. Rather than build toward an awesome chorus, the track takes the easy route and gives us a flat centerpiece that feels more like modern Stray Kids than classic SM.
It’s never a good sign when you come away from a song and struggle to remember much about it. With Vision Wings, I easily recall the overall mood and energy, but not a single hook stays rattling in my brain. This doesn’t portend much longevity for the track and frustrates me when I know how fantastic this group can be. In this case, they’re simply let down by the material.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
It sounds like their 2019-21 run ngl, I could see it be a b-side in their Awaken The World album. Sure not as strong as say, Moonwalk or Turn Back Time, but it’s decent.
8 (8, 8, 8, 8) for me.
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Oh, they are doing the Hanfu thing, temple setting, calling on the elements to do their warrior thing.
The song has its heart in the right places, but it just doesn’t gel. It’s also very noisy – not industrial noisy like NCT SKZ can get but synth noisy, too many synth lines all at the same time, drum lines with heavy distortion sound, and all that going on obscures what could have been a better song production with better choices. Less would have been more. I like it anyway, but only just.
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For some reason, despite the relatively flat melodies, I really enjoy this song!! I think it’s because of how full it sounds. And they take their time with it!! I am so pleased that there’s an outro.
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Huh, I’m surprised by the low rating! I really enjoyed this track, the production is awesome and I love all the switch ups in production, especially in the drums. The chorus melodies are a bit anticlimactic and boring but I appreciate the overall epic spirit of the song. Also, it’s 3:44 which gives it time to flesh out all its ideas and come to a satisfying conclusion. I’d probably say 8.5 (8, 9, 8, 9)
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I’m also surprised by the low rating.
To me, this is a very good song but here is the thing…it could’ve been awesome. To my ears, they sound restricted, held back. I kind of needed the vocals (especially in the chorus section) to be higher, stronger, more prominent?… I don’t know how to put it into words. Same thing about instrumentals in the outro…I kind of wanted them to be more dynamic, faster…
Also, I’m not a fan of the speaking parts, it kind of breaks the momentum for me.
I’ll say 8.5 and see where it goes
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