Two years on from her solo debut with the widely successful POP!, NAYEON has returned a solo artist with her new single ABCD and 2nd mini-album titled NA.

NAYEON throws us all back to the early 00s with ABCD. Within a matter of seconds of recognising the the strong presence of the hip-hop and R&B influence from that era in ABCD, I was very much into the song. The verses pays nice homage to the era. But I loved that NAYEON goes even further when it came to the chorus, which I put down to amazing replication of said era. So much so that it took me right back to the music that I was exposed to while growing up. Her vocals were really well done throughout ABCD, and I do really liked the slight spoken nature of the chorus. All of this (i.e., her execution and delivery) exuded a lot of natural charisma and personality that helps make ABCD very addictive and attractive to me. As for the instrumentation, I liked the strummy and plucky nature of the guitar throughout the verses. I also found that additional string instrument (which I have no idea what it is) to be very intriguing, but in a good way. The chorus brings out more of a dance pop and hip-hop colour in its instrumental, finishing off with fast beats that definitely is a throwback to that 00s era. The music video version of ABCD features a dance break that (in its current form) slides effortlessly into the song. I personally think it could have gone harder to give NAYEON more opportunity to showcase her performance skills, but it is a pity that the official studio version doesn’t feature any of it whatsoever. It didn’t disrupt the flow or needless break the song. Aside from that, however, I am definitely impressed with ABCD on many levels and how nature NAYEON comes off in the song.

Throughout the music video, NAYEON is portrayed as a show-stopper. Everyone throughout the video becomes engrossed when NAYEON walks by, to the point that it is causing car accidents as we saw at the start of the music video. I honestly don’t blame them – I too would be in awe if NAYEON was to walk by me on the streets one day. I liked the idea of no matter the era or location, NAYEON’s presence is always the talk and focus. Her various looks throughout the music video were all stunning, my favourite is that long red dress. Very striking. Just like the song, I liked how some of the shots reflected that 90s vibe quite well. I do have one issue with the music video, however. The CGI text that appears in the video (‘A Girl Named NAYEON’, ‘Crossing the Cosmos’) cheapens it and felt totally unnecessary. It didn’t help they looked like WordArt.

The performance for this comeback is amazing. She really showed us a more mature side with the choreography, which suits the song. The hip-hop influence also comes through quite well. I really liked the chorus routine, particularly when those fast beats came through. Great to see the dance break on stage. I did like how the routine in the music video was a little more daring. It definitely pushes the boundaries, but doesn’t do it a very in your face manner.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9/10