As mentioned last week, there were some recent Japanese releases that needed to be addressed. Today, I will be having a closer look at one of them. IZ*ONE, earlier this year, made their Japanese debut with I Want To Say I Love You and their Korean comeback with Violeta. So, the group has already had a jam-packed half-year already. But they managed to sneak one more comeback just before June wrapped up with the release of Buenos Aires in Japan.

Listening to the track when it first came out and listening to it now, I honestly do not know what to say. The work that IZ*ONE had done to grow through the releases of La Vie en Rose, Violeta and I Want To Say I Love You surely would not result in a song like this. Instrumentally, I thought the song was good. Pop electronic does sound fitting for the Japanese market. That continuous extension for the instrumental break during the bridge was probably my favourite bit, providing intensity and an awesome platform for a creative dance sequence. Vocally, the song is haywire. Let’s start at the start. The introduction and first verse were okay. I thought the monotone effect and the buildup of autotune to be intriguing. But they should have changed for the chorus. They kept the same effect, rendering the vocals into a state of permanent monotone. They had cutesy yelling in the background that did not fit in. The melody was very unimaginative. The excessive autotune for the post-chorus hook was over the top. Urgh… And the rapping is even worse. I am hugely disappointed in the outcome of the track. And the disappointment is quite heavy, as I can hear so much potential in the instrumentation.

While I don’t enjoy the song, I thought the music video was a little better. I have warmed up to the visuals which I didn’t enjoy so much initially. The emphasis on the green was a nice pick, overall. But it was the filter that ruined everything, making the video feel pale and overwhelmingly bright. That feeling still stays with me but it isn’t as strong. I do still think the video is more on the bland side of the spectrum, as the close-ups and images of venus fly traps didn’t really add anything interesting to the video. To be honest, I felt the venus fly traps were a little odd, as they didn’t serve any meaning to the video, based on my knowledge.

The choreography was pretty good. I think the best word to describe it would be prance-y. I really like the dance break during the bridge, which was my favourite bit overall.

Song – 3/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 4.7/10