[Album Review] TEENFRESH (3rd Mini Album) – STAYC

STAYC’s POPPY is nominated for Best Non-Korean Song by a Korean Artist (Japanese). Support POPPY and your other favourite acts by clicking here to vote today.

Over the last month, STAYC’s Bubble has really grown on me. So much so, if I had a crystal ball to tell me of this growth, I would have nominated it for Best Pop Song in the 2023 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Anyhow, this growth has led me to review the album in which Bubble is included on, TEENFRESH. It is also my first time reviewing a STAYC album. The mini-album features a total of 6 songs, including 3 versions of Bubble and 3 additional side tracks. Let’s see how the rest of the mini-album stacks up to the title track.

1. Bubble (Title Track) – Click here for the full review for Bubble. (8.5/10)

2. Not Like You – For Not Like You, I enjoyed the moodier tone (relative to Bubble) we get from the instrumentation. But while I did enjoy it, I wished there was more development in the song as it progresses. Not Like You suffers from a consistency issue for keeping to close to the moodier energy as the song went along, and I wished that had more to offer. The chorus, whilst fine now, dulls down each time I listen to the song. Even the end of the song sounds a bit too alike to the verses. On the flip-side, I think we get a great showing of vocals from YOON and ISA in the pre-choruses. (7/10)

3. I Wanna Do – We go down a contemporary R&B direction with I Wanna Do. Upon reflection, there isn’t anything innovative in I Wanna Do if you were to compare it to songs of a similar soundscape. But the vocals, melodies and nostalgia of the instrumentation is on point. And all of that makes it hard for me to turn away from I Wanna Do. (8.5/10)

4. Be Mine – Probably the most interesting track on this mini-album is Be Mine, which has a familiar retro pop vibe to it. The bounciness of the instrumental was quite a cool aspect of the song. The bright vocals do have a slight R&B tinge to it, whilst the hazy rapping in the second verse was very intriguing. All of this cohesive comes together to create a good side track on this mini-album. (8/10)