Song Review: PLAVE – Star Trace – The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion

I (mostly) have a rule against writing about K-pop’s new virtual/animated groups, as I don’t think they fit the nature of this blog. However, PLAVE is an exception due to how incredibly popular they’ve become. The virtual approach still isn’t for me, but I get the appeal and when it comes down to it a good song is a good song no matter what visual accompanies it. And thankfully, new single Star Trace is probably their best yet.

My biggest gripe with PLAVE’s output so far is that it’s felt weirdly subdued and generic when compared to the unlimited ambition their concept should be able to provide. Star Trace isn’t some momentous, game-changing song, but it’s relentlessly upbeat and repaints them with a more dance-forward sound. It feels like K-pop’s love for UK garage and drum and bass is beginning to morph into more daring percussion. The beat still shuffles along, but with much more presence and drive. In this way, Star Trace isn’t too dissimilar from KickFlip’s excellent Kick Off The Wall released last week.

This aural playground also allows for some great vocal-focused highlights. There’s a brilliant, gritty power note at Star Trace‘s climax that kicks the song up to a new level right before we segue into its finale. I’d love to hear more of this vocal presence throughout since much of the performance feels a bit lightweight to match the song’s intensity. This is the rare case where I’d actually advocate for more vocal processing, as I could easily hear Star Trace remixed into a heavily-synthesized Eiffel 65-style Euro-dance track.

Hooks	9
Production	8
Longevity	8
Bias	8
RATING	8.25

Grade: B

5 thoughts on “Song Review: PLAVE – Star Trace”

Easily their best uptempo song. Love this group. Virtual and AI idols are something I want to see much more of, and I’m thankful to Plave for leading the way. I’ll give it a 9 cuz of my full 10 bias 😎

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i also really love plave, i think they’re one of the few groups in this new generation of kpop that actually have distinct vocals that you can tell apart.

also something about this song, and i don’t mean this in a negative way, but it gives off geometry dash vibes.

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I do not have much grip with virtual groups as long as their vocal was genuine and PLAVE was one of my best bet. The song got the right groove with a popular dance beat and the hook was serviceable. The verses were sounding nice and the chorus was quite powerful as well. However, in terms of energy and uniqueness, I much prefered their previous song Born Savage.

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Gritty power note is courtesy Eunho (white hair) who is technically main rapper, though he sings so well he often goes entire songs without rapping, and he tore into it again on the livestream a few hours ago. I totally agree with you about a dance remix, imho the back half of the song practically begs for it. Still, I love EDM and it’s my favourite title from them so far. Also as a motorsport fan, I’ve been really enjoying seeing an F1-inspired concept explored in ways that are difficult (if not inadvisable/literally impossible) for corporeal groups to do… Yejun, for the love of god please pit for wets next time!

Will try to not leave an essay-length comment this time (no promises though) but I will say I still think the virtual approach can be for anyone; it’s more a matter of whether it becomes approachable enough for anyone else to want to follow them there. Frankly PLAVE have bent over backwards to do whatever they thought would be approachable enough for the masses, and by-and-large that has worked for them. As much as I adore them in my own deeply biased way, I do recognise a reoccurring critique I see about their music, which is that their people-pleasing approach means they can often across as though they’re doing too little (hence your ‘subdued & generic’ complaint, Nick) and too much (the B-side genre roulette that peaked with Caligo Pt 1&2) at the same time.

By way of example, I gotta reiterate I did not dislike their Pitch Perfect acapella moment of the previous mini, but on seeing how much it taxed them to both record and perform Blossom Parade, my opinion is they really didn’t have to burden themselves with all that work just to flex a B-side for the fans, when a slick and straightforward R&B number would be way easier and go down just as well. Strivers be striving, I get it, and I’d obviously rather they try too much than not at all. But hearing them talk during the livestream earlier about how enjoyable it was to work with Kenzie on Rewind, I thought about what a relief for the members it must have been to not have to worry about song composition minutia or directing themselves/each other for a change, and to just be able to get into the booth and sing.

No doubt like other fandoms of groups who also partake in their own productions, PLLI are often overly protective (and in turn overly confident) in PLAVE’s ability to self-produce, and sometimes fret about PLAVE’s identity getting lost in collaborations. But imho the burden on them is heavy enough as is, they really shouldn’t be expected to do everything anymore, and if they pick their collaborators carefully it’ll only serve to strengthen them. And I do get the sense from this comeback that they’re finally starting to relax and (pardon the pun) enjoy the ride a bit more.

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