RIIZE just made their debut with Memories and Get A Guitar at the start of September. It hasn’t even been two months on, but the newly debuted group from SM Entertainment has returned with their first comeback single, Talk Saxy.

I really do want to like Talk Saxy. After how much I enjoyed Memories and Get A Guitar, I had high hopes for RIIZE. But despite the listens I have given Talk Saxy since its release earlier today, I cannot seem to form a positive impression towards the song. Talk Saxy features (quite appropriately) saxophone riffs and 808 drum sounds in its instrumental. And boy, does it not shy away from using that brass. But as much as I love myself some brassy elements in my songs, the saxophone feels distorted at times in Talk Saxy and this makes the central instrumental element come off as scratchy. It isn’t all bad, but it could have been better. The 808 drum sounds was a nice accompaniment to the saxophone and gave Talk Saxy some much needed oomph. I also think there are some guitar riffs in the pre-choruses, but I might be mistaking that for even more saxophones (I hope I am not). I do think Talk Saxy could have used a bit more in the instrumental department to give the track some flair. A prime example is more piano in the bridge to accompany the smoothness of the vocals (and lack of the brassy element). Another thing that I noticed was the uninteresting chorus. Both the rapping and vocals in the chorus felt bland. It is like the producers removed all of the members’ own style and charms to create a chorus that could be executed by anyone in the team. But by doing that, the producers also created a soulless central piece. On the flip side, I found the members’ personality and style to be so much more prevalent in the verses. There was some good moments in terms of delivery in the verses, but it all disappeared when we entered the chorus parts of Talk Saxy. And that pretty much dulled the song for me.

The music video feels as simple as the song’s make-up was. For me, the music video felt very focused on the bright lights that made up the words “Talk Saxy” in the background and the members wearing baggy old school shirts that reminds me of hip-hop from the 1990s. It is definitely a good and trendy look. The use of lighting on this set to either show the members or their silhouettes was pretty cool idea, as well. But the rest of the music video (i.e. the gigantic speakers and focus on the colour red in the members’ outfits) just fizzles out and becomes a distant memory. I wished there was more balance.

The choreography for this comeback is quite good. I like the ‘Kick It‘ part of the choreography and also the prancy-like style they go for in the outro of the song. I also enjoyed the bouncy nature and the wide arm movements they had going on in the middle of the routine.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 6.7/10