Cute & Catchy, but not Quite My Cup of Tea.
The thing that this whole concept reminds me of most is Infinite's Last Romeo and their whole Season 2 Album condensed into a single release. In some ways, that's fantastic. There's a beautiful mix of bright, synthy instrumental and piano lines, a fantastic chorus of vocal harmonies, and visuals that flip easily between bright and soft with a twist of aegyo to a dark drama of genuine angst; all of which definitely go on the plus side of things. Unfortunately, drawing on such an incredibly well-developed release by a group that's matured significantly from their debut means that there's inevitably, a sense of hollowed-out immaturity hugging the vocal lines of the members of Romeo. For a debut, this is pretty impressive, but it's not the strongest sound I've ever heard from rookies, which unfortunately reflects a bit poorly on them. These kids have great potential, but they're not power-house singers in the way that it feels like they should be for this concept to be pulled off.
One thing that really bugs me about the MV is that it's in super-widescreen, so there's two lines of white around the active scenes in frame. The choreo is cute and it's well executed, but with so many glamour shots interrupting the choreo demonstrations... it's hard to tell if it's as frighteningly perfectly-in-sync as Infinite's. There's no real story in the visuals, so that's another tick-mark in the 'could be better column'. I love the track, even though it's not the profoundly impactful track it could be. The Chorus is fabulous and the raps and the bridge punch through with a great sense of intensity. It's well built, the mix and spatialization are lovely, keeping the vocals squarely in focus while the instrumental decorations bounce around without being too distracting. And over all it's a solid debut.
One thing that really bugs me about the MV is that it's in super-widescreen, so there's two lines of white around the active scenes in frame. The choreo is cute and it's well executed, but with so many glamour shots interrupting the choreo demonstrations... it's hard to tell if it's as frighteningly perfectly-in-sync as Infinite's. There's no real story in the visuals, so that's another tick-mark in the 'could be better column'. I love the track, even though it's not the profoundly impactful track it could be. The Chorus is fabulous and the raps and the bridge punch through with a great sense of intensity. It's well built, the mix and spatialization are lovely, keeping the vocals squarely in focus while the instrumental decorations bounce around without being too distracting. And over all it's a solid debut.
I Give It A 6/10: Good Job. |  |
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