While it may not be that wise to release your new comeback during a week where all music shows are cancelled, you do ensure that all spotlight is on you without having to compete with a ton of other artists. I assume ONEUS will promote Say Yes! after the Chuseok holiday is over, but for now the song arrives like a welcome deluge of rain on a parched K-pop desert.
Before even listening to this song, I noted its composer R.Tee, who has crafted many dance hits in the past. And more than this, I noticed that the song’s credits aren’t clogged with ten or twelve collaborators. Refreshingly, Say Yes! seems to be the work of a singular vision. No wonder it holds together and actually has a point of view.
The song’s opening verse moves between uplifting guitar strums and sharp, stabbing synth. From here, Say Yes! moves into a melodic chorus before dropping its biggest and best calling card — a euphoric post-chorus that offsets its chanting with a wonderfully dynamic synthline. I love the relentless energy here. It’s the kind of sonic boost we rarely hear in K-pop anymore and puts a very welcome exclamation mark on the track. Better yet, Say Yes! is a complete song, hitting the three minute mark with a full bridge, build-up and payoff. It makes a conscious decision to grow and change as it unfurls, progressing into a fantastic second verse that maintains and builds momentum. It’s the strongest thing I’ve heard from ONEUS for quite awhile.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 9 |
Grade: A-
A 9 rated song?!? Yay!!! 😍
Hve yet to listen to it but the preview I heard sounds good!
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*Have
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Am I seeing this right? A 9+ rated kpop song in like… *checks notes* almost 4 months? Nick, are you okay? Do you have a fever? Do I have a fever? Are we all collectively hallucinating?
Okay, jokes aside, this is great! It would have made a banger summer track but I guess kpop 2026 is intent on fucking with us and dropping all summer-coded bangers before and after the season (at least according to Western standards).
8.75 just to be safe.
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My goats have finally returned whole T_T ive been praying on this day thank you kpop god
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Niiiice, we have a SONG here! It’s great, I love the sense of building energy the whole time. My only complaint is that I wish that post chorus drop had more of a lower end to it. I think it would hit harder with some more bass! Still, leaps and bounds better than 80% of kpop songs this year. 8.75 (8, 9, 9, 9)
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I should mention September and October in 2020 were both strong months in an overall weak year. And given this year is following a similar trend, we should be getting at least 6+ 9 rated songs.
(I hope I’m not wrong)
Anyway, I’d say this is a joint second best ONEUS song with Life Is Beautiful, I think Valkyrie is still my absolute favorite by them(a 10 for me). But this is excellent nonetheless.
Same rating as Nick
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I agree!! I feel like this is the grown up version of Life is Beautiful.
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Groovy and a nice repertoire of tones. The post chorus wants to be something you sing from the rafters but falls just short. Going to listen to their full discography in a couple weeks and my rating about this one might change in a month or two 🤔
8.5 (8,9,8,9)
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I literally leapt for joy as I heard this song for the first time :,) I’m so excited for ONEUS’ new chapter
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I share your joy…such a consistent group!!!
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Absolutely!!! It’s practically perfect! You said it exactly as I would, a full song, no excessive/unnecessary autotuned vocals (I can actually hear all their different tones…nice!!!), a short intro, nice first verse, great prechorus/chorus/postchorus, a sinple bridge, and a post-chorus outro with a little extra vocals in the background. The second verse is also my favorite. Loved it….9
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**simple
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OK I have to admit I’m a bit annoyed that this song got a 9 but I mean the chorus is very strong, the structure is very focused, the foundation is hefty. The one thing I’m a bit concerned about this one is how safe it is on the verses and the bridge, but well there is a bridge even if that is fine by my standards. In 2019 if this was released this would have been a 7 on this site but well that’s just how bad the music is really and I’ve been feeling that since 2020.
I have to say ONEUS has impressed me since 2019 I got on the Valkyrie train, I loved their debut run from Twilight and LIT. They were offering electronic music at that time an interesting proposition they had this very percussion based sound and very melodic at that which is why immediately ONEUS became something I just anticipated, even when some people found A Song Easily Written as generic they recaptured their edge with TO BE OR NOT TO BE and then LUNA (which is still their best song and I got it right by giving them a nod to my 2021 Song of the Year).
Say Yes with R.Tee (which I’m glad R.Tee is doing non-YG K-pop songs) is a good start to a post-RBW ONEUS, and I’m hopeful they continue on this route and find more interesting flourishes. I’m naturally optimistic we’ll get another hit in a few weeks. It’s just something unexpected. As for Say Yes I’m giving it an 8.5 for now but I think as with how Anda and R.Tee did What You Waiting For, this might be heading there. R.TEE please do us a favor and do something quirky like What You Waiting For again.
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After recently seeing them perform live, I realized two things:
This song is pretty fantastic, reminds me of Only One and Bbuseyo. I can agree with this rating!
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Solid song. 8.75 for now.
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The intro promised us a wonderful story and thank God the song did not disappoint us. The song highlight was definietly the chorus & post-chorus production. Its not the bombastic kind, but it got enough groove to pull our ears and attention. The production during verse was unfortunately a bit bare bones, but the vocal parts were solid and functioned well. Other song in the album was nice too, especially By chance & Never Ending Us as both songs have dedicated youth flavour & energy built-in.
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The melody chorus (or pre-chorus?) before the drop does remind me a little bit of Atmos by Shinee. But I really wish if they could go more bolder during the drop as hearing this from my earphone + speaker does feel a little bit “restricted” on the execution – perhaps an underlying synth/electric guitar would lift it up.
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