If you would have told me I’d be salivating over the prospect of a new Odd Youth comeback, I would have looked at you like you were crazy, but this one comes with a major caveat. Can’t Go Back is the first new Sweetune-produced work in ages and follows an interview in which the production duo announced that they were officially back in the K-pop game after an extended hiatus!
Sweetune also mentioned that they were updating their signature sound to match current trends, which makes me all sorts of anxious, but I’m thrilled to have them back either way. With Can’t Go Back, I can definitely hear the moves they’re making to align with our modern landscape. There’s more chanting, less dramatic vocal layering and more sing-talk. Yet, their specific touches poke through in their choice of synth textures and ability to imbue any song with a sense of dynamic progression.
Is Can’t Go Back the best Sweetune song ever? Not by a long shot. Is it better than 95% of K-pop released this year? Maybe! The chorus has a sneaky sense of anthemic heft that grows more exciting as the production ramps up. The songwriting feels like actual K-pop rather than a replica forged from American hands. And although we’re headed into the last few weeks of summer, this captures the season better than any other “summer queens” song released over the past few months. Welcome back, Sweetune. You may just save K-pop yet!
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I like this one, although I’m unsure of how it’ll age for me.
8.25 (8, 8, 8, 9) for me.
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It’s cute however I find it slightly western sounding – but in a peak Carly Rae Jepsen way so that works (Canadian!)
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aw, I really thought we were gonna get out first 9-rated girl group song of the year. still happy it’s at least above an 8.5 though lol. maybe it will grow over time like ITZY’s Motto did.
Is it a bit shorter than expected? Yes. But does it sound good? Yes!
i’ll give it an 8.5 for now, feeling it might grow.
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the thing about kpop that is so great is that it’s a genre where everything is thrown at the wall and everyone scrambles for whatever they can grab onto. which is how you can go from odd youth performing possibly one of the worst songs ever to this turbobanger.
i’m glad that while this is a sweetune song clearly tugging on the strings of 2nd gen nostalgia it’s not a backwards looking novelty and shows how sweetune can produce songs for this new generation without losing their spark. i especially liked how they added my favorite element of their production, the sneaky rock melodies. Parts of this feel like a secret arena rock song especially the bridge leading to the key change and final chorus without being too showy.
it’s just a simple pop song buffed up to high heavens. in the end we all got into kpop for that.
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Buffed up and also, crucially, knowing when to stop hitting the buttons too. People, friends, this is what a mid-tier song polished by a top shelf producer at his best sounds like. The young ladies also do a good job with their performance.
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SO HAPPY SWEETUNE IS BACK!!! not a fan of the aegyo sing talk but the beat is nice and groovy. reminds me of the outstanding Like You Better from last summer. Even if it doesn’t reach the heights of that song, the fact we are getting something this refreshing and upbeat is a sweet summer miracle!
8.5(8,9,8,9)
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“Sweetune also mentioned that they were updating their signature sound to match current trends” I’m just afraid that the trend they referring is to make a song that’s lesser than 3 minutes. I would be really frustrated.
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Sadly, its no longer a trend and more like a feature of modern songs. I really hate it as it gives less opportunities for the vocals and production to paint a story and drama. Sigh…
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I really like this! the cringe English lyrics don’t even matter to me because the songwriting is actually good
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A powerful late addition to the summer is very much welcomed. This is so much better than at least half of KPOP summer comeback this year. The song fulfilled all the checklist of summer hits: bright, powerful, catchy, and anthemic in one listening experiences. What an odd suprise that it is ODD YOUTH of all group that saved KPOP summer this year.
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Great to hear Sweetune is back to stay!!
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I didn’t know it was sweetune before looking at the comments of the video, but there was something about this song that just felt different. To know they’re back is an exciting prospect, it doesn’t sound like they’re going to completely abandon their past sound either! Best odd youth song by far. They add a good amount of personality, but it’s no coincidence they sound the best on a sweetune produced song
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welcome back Sweetune
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i have suspicions that they used ai for the song, like those chopped vocals at the very beginning soynd very suno…
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could you elaborate? i’m not familiar enough with suno to understand how this sounds more like that than normal chopped & edited vocals. though if you can’t really elaborate because it’s just something you feel but can’t explain then fair enough lol
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I love Sweetune, but I wouldn’t have known this was a Sweetune song unless you told me. I don’t really hear their signature sound(s). This is like a 7 for me.
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there are hints imo but i do think their sound could still come through stronger so it’s maybe understandable to not hear it much in this song.
what makes it still feel specifically like sweetune to me is the electric guitar flourishes in the first verse that have a very sweetune timbre, same can be said with the final burst of electric guitar when the song ends.
i also think the guitar in the pre chorus is very sweetune (similar to the guitar in the pre chorus of step & janus for example). it shows up again at the start of the key change too, and ofc they also love to do key changes.
something about the post chorus feels kinda sweetune to me as well – i think it’s the hybrid oh/oww sounds that do it lol.
so yeah all those things together give it some of that sweetune flair imo even if i do wish it was a bit stronger.
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I thought Sweetune updated their sound wonderfully with the 2 songs by RoadD-B and Nine.I’s Turn It Off. I thought that was the way forward for them, with those big synth sounds. Their trademark squealing guitar sounds weren’t featured in those songs, if I remember. I still think it’s criminal that those 3 songs didn’t pass the 1 million stream mark almost instantly. If they’d been recorded by Infinite, I have no doubt it would have been *huge*.
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yeah i get what you mean. it will be interesting to see what style they lean towards with their next title track.
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I like this, it’s cute. Kind of reminds me of a Sistar or Brave Girls single, but edited to suit the young ages of the members of Odd Youth. And even Sistar had some aegyo-style rapping in there, if I recall.
Anyway, happy to see Odd Youth getting some stronger material as I’m still very attached to my daughter, Myah. But my, how time passes. She turned 20 a couple of months ago. Now that I think of it, Girls Planet 999 was 5 years ago… she was one of the youngest contestants on the whole show back then. I feel like I raised her from an egg. Sunrise sunset…
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This is a lot of fun in a way I feel like I haven’t heard since pre-2020. If this is the level and quality of Sweetunes modernization we’ll be getting I’m happy with it!
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A nice surprise for sure! It’s a bit much English for me but the song hits all the right spots. 8.5
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