I’ve got a bone to pick with whoever schedules summer releases. I know summer technically extends most of the way through September, but why on earth wouldn’t you drop a song called “Sunburst” at the beginning of the season when listeners can get the most out of it? To be fair, Sunburst has been available as an audio track for a few weeks, but its music video is just now being unveiled at the tail end of August.
A couple of years ago, RIIZE was early to the summer season with the similarly-sounding Impossible. Sunburst definitely comes across as a less-great version of that song, but I’ll take a less-great version of a mega-banger over an adequate version of a “meh” track any day. Sunburst acts as a more subdued take on Impossible‘s high-energy house production. Its chorus is a bit more hollow, but preceded by an excellent pre-chorus that takes advantage of the group’s always-impressive vocals.
Like so many dance tracks before it, Sunburst trades momentum for an “aren’t we cool?” beat switch during its second verse. This doesn’t bother me too much since the segment is well-developed and lengthy. I especially enjoy how the pre-chorus gains the heft and placement of a proper chorus during its first repetition, blurring the structural lines of the track. And at over three minutes, Sunburst has plenty of time to play around. It’s both laidback and exciting… just like a satisfying summer’s day.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
Grade: B
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Regarding your first paragraph, if it makes you feel any better, late-August is basically monsoons (rainy season) for us, summer was already over by late-June or early-July here so I’d say you’re somewhat lucky lol
Anyways, it’s groovy, a somewhat inferior version of Atmos but eh, I find it okay.
Rating’s the same.
LikeLike
While this could be described as the “mall version” of “Impossible,” I do have a couple of minor critiques. The production feels a bit like it is traveling in a straight line with only a few small spikes here and there. The pre-chorus was executed wonderfully, creating a great sense of build-up to set up what felt like it should be a huge, megawatt, dramatic chorus. However… we unfortunately never quite got that payoff. Additionally, there was a brief electronic shift about five seconds before the end of the song, and that was about it!
Overall, it isn’t a bad track at all, but it definitely could have taken a few more bold risks, much like “Impossible” did. They most definitely could give us another Impossible but it feels like they are holding them back
8.25 (8, 8, 8, 9)
LikeLike
I forgot about this song for some reason. These J/K releases throw me off sometimes. It really clicked for me this time though. The vocals are very sweet and it has a nice, tender melody 8.5
LikeLike
i find it interesting SM seems to be releasing their best songs to Japan this year (???) huh. anyway this is my chill release, its unfortunate that I have to contend with the imagery because then again SM can’t really lure me in with those cheap tricks but the song is working so… 8.5/10
LikeLiked by 1 person
sounds like Love Language’s sibling
LikeLike
No shade to other SM groups, but this is no doubt the best SM summer song period, even if we included all japan and korean releases.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This year or all time?
LikeLike
Nah ofc not, I mean rhis year sunmer release
LikeLike
Now hold on, don’t do Atmos like that. Sunburst is fun ofc but it’s not as good
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh yeah Atmos came so early in the atart of summer that I forgot that it was considered a summer song. Sunburst is still In the Top 3 of SM songs this summer though all thing considered.
LikeLike
Off topic, but are you gonna cover Tiffany’s new album?
(Though I feel like I already know what you’ll say about Edge of Calm lol. C-, pleasant but not interesting)
LikeLike
Not planning on it. I consider it a Western pop release and usually only write about those if they’re from a very buzzy artist.
LikeLike
The energy and vibes are there, but a lot of the melodies are not very strong or engaging. The “if you jump I’ll jump” 2 3 7 1 melody is overused in pop music (imo) and not very pleasant for me to listen to. Though the song is filled with actual melodies, which is more than what most modern kpop is offering, none of them stood out as very well crafted to me. Production is good, guys sound great, music video is cool. I’ll give it an 8.25 (7, 9, 8, 9)
LikeLike
No but honestly I’ll take a hundred of these groovy, low-stakes house tracks from RIIZE such as this one, D-D-Done, Odyssey, 9 Days etc. Their vocal blend just fits this type of production so well. Hope they to continue to have one on every album!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely. They execute this sound so well that it never feels generic to me but distinctly them. The warm, tender vocals and steady energy make this instantly likable.
LikeLike
Easy breezy lemon squeezy. Not the most innovative house track, but as long we all bop along and don’t over think it, it is a fine track.
LikeLike
This is great! Thank goodness for RIIZE man.
LikeLike