After leaving the agency he founded, SM Entertainment’s Lee Soo-man quickly began planning his next moves. This resulted in the founding of a new agency, A2O Entertainment, and some loosey singles from various A2O artists aimed toward global markets. Now, it’s time for him to throw his hat back in the K-pop ring with the double debut of A2O Lite and A2O Soul — female and male counterparts seeming to exist in an NCT-style universe.
A2O Lite is the girl group under this new umbrella and debuts today with Neon. The track is brought to us by some familiar faces: Yoo Young-Jin (yay!!) and Dem Jointz. I’m much more interested in the former name, as we haven’t heard from him since the Soo-man/SM split. True to form, Neon has many touches of 2nd-gen K-pop, from its herky-jerky rhythm to the equally rhythmic melodies that take advantage of the Korean language’s natural charm. In between are touches of vocal layering that are classic Young-Jin. Boy, it’s nice to hear them again!
While Neon can’t quite live up to something as incredible as SNSD’s The Boys, the very fact that it’s attempting to carry this baton is quite exciting. There’s a ton going on within Neon‘s seemingly repetitive nature, and these details are what make it feel more considered than the monotonous sing-talk we often hear in K-pop today. There are moments that sound almost alien in nature, attempting to replicate what we call pop music but landing just left of center. I love this mismatch because it draws my ears back for more. Let’s hope this is the first step in a very strong discography to come.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
God, I LOVE the chorus so much, it’s so catchy, and like rhythmically delicious + the vocal layering is amazing. I also see a lot of 2nd gen influences in here (which is also funny cause almost the entire group was born when 2nd gen was ending/3rd gen started)
8.5 (9, 8, 9, 8) for me
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Oh this song is GOOD. I already want to listen to it again to explore the architecture more. And it manages to avoid the recent trends of posturing club beats or beige lofi or under 3 minutes without sounding dated.
This group wasn’t on my radar at all (I hadn’t heard about them before today) and I’m intrigued for more.
It’s a good contrast with Meovv’s release today. Neon makes me want to think about why these elements are together. Meovv’s does the opposite. I love the club beat trend (sorry not sorry) but that song… the verses chorus and pre choruses seem stapled together. The only reason I can think of to pair that opening with that chorus is shock… but shock seldom works twice so there’s no replay ability. Only at the end do we get satisfying layers to suggest what good production might have made the song sound like.
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Harmonies are everything!!! Without the harmonies in the chorus, it’s just a good chorus. With the tight, dissonant harmonies, it becomes great! Very The Boys coded in the best way
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