At the start of this week, Golden Child made their comeback with their latest mini-album, AURA (their 6th one to date), and their latest title track Replay. This is Golden Child’s first Korean comeback since the release of Ra Pam Pam and DDARA from last year and the first release following their Japanese debut with A WOO!! and first Japanese comeback with RATA-TAT-TA. Replay unfortunately does not feature Daeyeol, who earlier this year became the first Golden Child member to enlist into the military.

Right off the bat, Replay is electrifying and shocking (in the best way possible) EDM dance track. It has been a while since I could say that with a song, as it has been a while since we have been given a song that really lurches out at you from the first second. And that is one of the aspects of Replay that I quite enjoyed, how the song starts with the chorus, kicking Replay into gear from the very first second with its high-octane energy and never giving you a chance to even ease into the song. Hence why I described Replay as shocking. We do get some reprieve in the verses, but they do maintain the intensity from the chorus, so that the entire track feels cohesive. A bit more about the instrumental – it is super gritty, textured and abrasive throughout, but done so in such a way where it feels satisfying and enjoyable. I like the heavy rock presence we get in the bridge as a dance break and at the end, which capitalises Replay‘s intensity and energy and takes the ending to an epic finale. I liked how the members stayed on top of the instrumentation, as they easily could have been drowned out with the loud, noisy and busy backing. But instead of being shouty or overly aggressive, a sense of refinement was used and the members only pushed themselves slightly. The rapping adds further intensity into Replay, amplifying everything that has been described above. If I have to be critical about Replay, it would be the hooks. They just didn’t take it to the same level as the rest of the song. But honestly, with the thrilling nature of Replay, I can overlook that.

I am not entirely sure, but I believe the premise of the music video is that the members are in jail and they escape so that they can have a chance to ‘replay’. The reason why I am not entirely sure about this is because I feel the music video was a bit under developed when it came to the plotline, but I believe there is one there. It was just really light on. Aside from that, it was a reasonable music video. The editing helped make the video appear more intense, the use of flashing lights heightened this feeling and the members looked amazing throughout the video with their tougher looks.

Choreography was fantastic. I liked the play of textures throughout the performance. The chorus routine was relentless and intense just like the music, whereas the verses allowed the members to showcase a smoother set of moves. I liked how aggressive the choreography for the rock parts of the song were, which really summed up the performance well for me.

Song – 9.5/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.2/10