Next up on the blog (and finally moving away from Monday releases) is KWON EUNBI’s SABOTAGE. This new single is featured on her second single album of the same name, and follows on from her 2023 single The Flash.

SABOTAGE continues KWON EUNBI’s venture into club music. I liked the set up behind SABOTAGE and the groovy disco elements in the instrumental that gives SABOTAGE a very bright and poppy feel, ideal of the summer season. KWON EUNBI delivers the song to the best of her abilities – that must be acknowledged. All in all, I think SABOTAGE is an alright song. But there are a few aspects upon reflection that makes SABOTAGE feel awkward for me. The first has to be KWON EUNBI’s vocals. I don’t think she is at fault, however. For some reason, the producers pushed her vocals to be higher than what it needs to be. As such, KWON EUNBI sounded scratchier than usual. Not exactly sure what the intent is by doing this, as it doesn’t necessarily put her in a good light as a singer. As mentioned before, she does well enough but I can tell that she is pushed beyond her limits. The second aspect that makes the song awkward was the second verse. The energy in SABOTAGE was good before and after the second verse. But I am not entirely sure why it needed to lull via another one of those typical trap-based sequence. Sure, it gives SABOTAGE some variety, but it felt counter intuitive at the same time. Thirdly, I am not fond of the song’s shouty lines in the background of the chorus, the “Stop, wait, let’s go” in the first verse and the “This is sabotage” as the bridge between the first chorus and second verse. I personally feel they are out of place and have no clue what value of these lines are to SABOTAGE.

As with all KWON EUNBI’s music videos, her visuals stands out. If there is anything to take away from this video, it is just that KWON EUNBI is stunningly beautiful. Alongside all the visuals and choreography shots, this particular music video features a story. KWON EUNBI plays a character that is part of a group of friends who have a romantic interest with one another. But it gets real messy when KWON EUNBI catches two of her friends kissing, leading her to (possibly) end her friendship with them. The fourth friend also has romantic feelings for her, but she quickly shuts it down following what happened with the other two. That is what I got out of the music video. And if my interpretation is right, then KWON EUNBI’s character’s reaction is confusing (as she also had romantic interests in both of her friends).

As for the performance, this one was very good. I really liked how chair was incorporated into the first portion of the routine. I won’t spoil it for you, but she doesn’t exactly use the chair for its intended purpose. Lifting KWON EUNBI up at the end and having the chair continue to spin even after she finishes was an interesting way to end the routine. The rest of the choreography was well presented and showed off her skills as a dancer, as well. The dancers also looked good and performed well with KWON EUNBI.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.9/10