Tag: ITZY

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Also making a comeback this week (and performing their new song for the first time at the MAMA Awards) is ITZY. Their new title track is titled Cheshire and is featured on the group’s sixth mini-album of the same name. Cheshire follows the release of their fifth mini-album CHECKMATE and their July single SNEAKERS. It also follows the pre-release of Boys Like You, which is an English single also featured on the Cheshire mini-album that I will review one day in the future as part of the International Song Review segment.

Despite being for a few days now, Cheshire doesn’t give me much rhyme or reason to be grinning. To be more accurate, I find the song to be quite dull. Again, the song could potentially grow on me with even more listens. But I just don’t see it possibly climbing to the likes of their past hits from their earlier days or even the recent SNEAKERS single (which I really enjoyed). The opening verse wasn’t exciting enough to pull me into Cheshire, which isn’t an ideal start, though you can fill the momentum accumulating in the background of the song. And this momentum eventuates into a questionable chorus. I think the producers were aiming for a similar explosive effect (given the contrast between Cheshire‘s chorus and lackluster verse), similar to the contrast from the previous song I reviewed. Unfortunately, I don’t think the intention is delivered. And it comes down to the ITZY’s vocals, which were very strained. The boastfulness that comes from the strained vocals just didn’t sit well with me and it distracted me from the rest of the chorus. You can’t really focus your attention much on the dance pop instrumental (though the ping-pong effect synth does poke through) nor the melodies, as the vocals are just in the way. They do a much better in the verses. The rapping was a positive aspect of the song, with the quieter rap sequence in the second verse showing off Ryujin’s charsima in audio form. Yuna’s rap segment in the bridge follows the same concept as the vocals in the chorus, but I find Yuna do have a much better handle on it. The plentiful post-chorus ‘La La La’ was pretty catchy, but I wished there was a bit more innovation to it. Overall, Cheshire is a slip for the group. Hopefully, next time around, their title track is better executed and punchy enough to make it an ITZY standout.

Not entirely sure what the concept of this music video is, but it seems like a magical performance of some kind. The members carry out a lot of magic tricks, transformations and special effects. And towards the end, there was a Cheshire Cat influence on the video, via Yeji’s smile being the last thing I could remember from the video – the Cheshire Cat in Alice In Wonderland folklore is known for its wide grin that remains behind momentarily after the cat itself disappears. What I quite enjoyed about the video is the changing background, especially around the second chorus segment of the song, that had to be applied in post-production. It was a really cool effect that gave a dynamic profile to the video.

Aside from the combination of the small swaying movement and the hand movement that makes a smile that pairs alongside the ‘La La La‘ post-chorus hook, there isn’t much else to talk about for the performance. It was rather bland looking performance, which I think was the intention. But it just felt like they did so much of it that it just ended up being bland.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 6/10
Overall Rating – 6.6/10

It has been over a month since it was announced that ITZY would be making a comeback in July and embark on a world tour that will run throughout the second half of the year. Fast-forwarding to today, ITZY made their long awaited comeback with their new single SNEAKERS and their fifth mini-album, CHECKMATE. It follows the release of LOCO, which was released in September (almost 10 months ago!) last year. It also follows their first Japanese original single, Voltage, which I have yet to review.

I didn’t necessarily follow their one month long tease towards their comeback (that is just too much), so I had no expectations going into this comeback. As a result, I am genuinely surprised about how much I enjoyed SNEAKERS. It is such a bright and giddy track. Sure, their past tracks have been youthful and energetic. But SNEAKERS brings a whole new level of brightness to their portfolio, in a similar fashion to the likes of ICY but with a cutesy tinge. The bright pop (which seems to have a hint of hip-hop as well) instrumental was quite playful and comes off as refreshing. I do think the backing could have been filled in more and heftier, just to give SNEAKERS some more body and oomph. But overall, I enjoyed the fun nature of the song. Adding to the fun nature are the melodies and hooks. At first, they do feel quite elementary and childish. But repeat listens to the song have helped these melodies and hooks grow on me considerably. ITZY also does a strong showing throughout the song, with the vocals in the first round of pre-chorus being my favourite moment of SNEAKERS. As for the rapping, I enjoyed all rapping sequences including the verses and bridges. But overall, SNEAKERS stands out to me for its fun nature and addictive hooks.

Music video was fine. I like how the video really encompassed the energy that the song exuded. In addition to that, it also emphasised the fun vibe of the song, by story telling how the sneaker travelled through time. It was first introduced to royalty in the first sequence, before a Spread Sneaker Worldwide mission told everyone about sneakers in the second sequence. The bridge seems to show the members opening a shop, with the ending showing them in the future. I really liked the green screen usage in the video, and the members looked great throughout.

I was only recently informed of this, but ITZY finishes all their main title track choreography with a crown. I don’t know how I missed that, especially since I have taken note of these endings before. It made me pay attention to their other hand formations, and I noticed the ‘W’ in this pre-choruses. As for the chorus, I liked how they incorporated the leg movements so the members can show off their sneakers. It is quite clever. Aside from that, I enjoyed the energy and brightness that the members brought to the stage for this comeback, as well.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.8/10

In preparation for their album review later today, I am reviewing ITZY’s SWIPE! For those who may have missed it. ITZY returned with LOCO (the title track) and Crazy In Love (the 1st studio length album – coming very soon) back at the end of September. In less than a week, ITZY also unveiled a music video for the sidetrack SWIPE, which ultimately became the group’s follow-up song, following the conclusion of LOCO‘s promotions.

When I first heard SWIPE whilst browsing the album when it was first released, I wasn’t much of a fan of it. That is the case with most hip-hop dance tracks, with exceptions. But SWIPE definitely benefits from its really infectious hook that really helped the song grow on me over the last two months. And since the song has grown on me, I have found some aspects of SWIPE to be quite interesting and well-executed. The members’ rapping and vocals in the song were pretty good, and their delivery definitely works well with the song’s leaning into the hip-hop genre. Their spoken delivery of the song’s main hook in the chorus helped it be memorable, and surprisingly kept it fresh and fitting for the group. I also found myself enjoy the ‘Ring Ring Ring Ring‘ hook that featured in the bridge of the song. It was clever of the producers to incorporate that into the song, given that the song’s theme revolves around mobile devices. But I also thought it was catchy and added a nice melody to the song. The biggest part of SWIPE that I am still not on board with is with the instrumentation. It definitely aligns with the hip-hop genre, and I do like how it is pretty low-key throughout. But I found the high pitch whiny vocal effect in the background following the first chorus and just before the final chorus to be quite obnoxious. Not a fan of it. I also find the entire backing to be quite plain and lacks excitement. I feel a more vibrant and poppier instrumental would have worked fine with the song, and this would have done a lot to boost the appeal of SWIPE. Overall, SWIPE is a decent song that I am in the middle of. Some of its good, other parts are not so good.

I liked all the mobile phone references throughout the music video. From the portrait orientation of some of the shots to the QR code that I am sure we are all familiar with to the massive green/red accept and deny call buttons. There are also some swiping references, such as in the choreography (more on that in the next section of the review), and the fun swiping Tik Tok trend. Everything just made sense. I wasn’t a fan of the choreography sets and the colours used in the background of the ‘portrait modes’, however. They felt noisy and had a lot going on.

The choreography looks good and suits the edgy vibes the song was going for. I particularly enjoyed the swiping move in the chorus, along with the vibrations they incorporated into the section for the ‘Ring Ring Ring‘ part of the song. Definitely some memorable moves there.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.1/10

From a review focusing on the major release from the start of the week, I am now time jumping to the end of the week to review the major release of today, ITZY’s LOCO. It is the title track off their 1st studio album since debut (titled Crazy In Love), which also dropped today. This is the group’s second comeback of the year, following April’s M.A.F.I.A (In The Morning).

I felt that LOCO was a return to form for the group, following the not-so-good M.A.F.I.A from earlier this year. If you want to know about my thoughts on M.A.F.I.A, feel free to read that review. LOCO still retains that edgy side of their previous song, but the new song also re-enters that vibrant arena in which ITZY’s earlier releases lie in that I have mentioned. What really stands out to me in LOCO is the song’s energy, which to me, is thanks to the bass and the electric guitars we hear in the background. The bass was like a common thread tying the different and distinct sections of the song together. It also added that definition and helps the song pack a punch, which complimented the rock influence. The electric guitars in the background delivers this rock influence, taking the song to a whole new level of me. I do think LOCO has potential to be more electrifying and hardcore. I think if the producers did this, LOCO would have been boosted to new heights. The bombastic nature of the start was a great entrance into the song and I liked how that was also continued throughout the song as well. LOCO also had a Latin influence, which was an intriguing influence to have in this mix. When it comes to the vocals and rapping, I thought both elements were rather strong and bold, which was definitely necessary to stand out over the instrumentation. The members definitely had a good handle on this. The melodies in the chorus and elsewhere were appreciable and felt like it did a good job of balancing the high energy that came from the raps. Overall, I thought LOCO was a strong song and definitely it took me back to their earlier days. However, I am definitely of the opinion that the song would have flourished if all their influences were more concentrated and intense (i.e. more of that rock!).

The music video for this comeback is fantastic. While the song doesn’t have that colourful tinge to it as per their earlier works, I felt this colour was definitely made up in the video. I also liked how that the video managed to convey edgy side of the song as well, which helped made the video feel so much more dynamic. I also felt a bit of epicness from the video when it came to the ‘Crazy In Love‘ billboard and the stage performance we were treated to, following the interlude within the video. I just wished the producers of the video CGI in a crowd for that part, as that would have really heightened the energy and ended the video on such a high note. Elsewhere, the post-production in this video really highlights the high quality of the video.

The performance was another highlight of this comeback. I really liked the powerful energy that came through, especially for the chorus, along with the attitude that sends a ‘you don’t want to mess with us’ message. This just really highlights their stage presence. The main move seems to be the holding of and shaking of the head, which makes sense, given that ‘LOCO‘ is Spanish for ‘crazy’. It is definitely a worthwhile watch.

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

Rounding out the week and the month is ITZY with their latest comeback single, M.A.F.I.A (In The Morning). This new title track is featured on their fourth mini-album. Guess Who?. Well, the answer to that question is ITZY, and it is a suitable question given that it has been a while since we have heard from the group. This is their first comeback since Not Shy in August of last year. Since that last comeback and a month (to the date) before this comeback, ITZY did release a digital single for their fans, titled Trust Me (MIDZY). But that had no music video, so I skipped over it. And so, we find ourselves here today for the review for M.A.F.I.A.

My first impression of M.A.F.I.A is quite simple – it appears ITZY’s direction for this song follows the big and bold nature of BLACKPINK and not of their own. Personally, I felt disappointed by this. Both are great groups and both have their individual styles. BLACKPINK has this more bombastic and dark energy with their recent releases (i.e. Kill This Love and How You Like That). ITZY differentiates as their music has this energetic colour and vibrancy, which makes their songs quite appealing in its own way (i.e. Wannabe and ICY). I just wished they didn’t tap into each other’s current niche. BLACKPINK, more recently, have not crossed the line. But it is clear with M.A.F.I.A, ITZY have. And I will mention it now, M.A.F.I.A is more of a cheap knock-off than a successful replication. One of the few positives of the song is that there was a good showcase of rapping skills in the song. But that all comes after a spoken syllable-by-syllable delivery that sounded undeniably very BLACKPINK-esquee, courtesy of Ryujin. While the rest of the rapping skills were good, I wished their lines didn’t feel weighed down and boring. It was probably a stylistic choice to fit in the suspenseful and mysterious vibes of the instrumentation, which features that paced and squeaky synth. But it was a choice that really didn’t appeal to my taste. The vocals that followed in the pre-chorus were actually also quite good. It gave the song that stability it needed and added in a splash of needed colour. And I was glad we got some colour into the song in the pre-chorus, as the chorus didn’t really give much of it. Instrumentally, it just felt like an extension of the instrumentation we got in the verses, and the chorus’ hooks were pretty plain and unimaginative. I can see it catching on briefly, but it will probably be forgotten soon after. The second verse was more less the same as the first verse. And well, the rest of the song felt more less the same as the first verse and chorus. Another let-down of M.A.F.I.A is the song lacks a peak. While I think Lia’s bridge was a nice touch to the song melodic-wise, it doesn’t feel in anyway different to the pre-choruses earlier in the song. While you expect her to hit a high note at the end of the bridge, she doesn’t. The instrumental doesn’t build up to the final chorus either. We aren’t pushed into an amplifed mix, nor are we given something to help to make it a memorable closer to the song (or even signal the end of the song is approaching). Overall, M.A.F.I.A is a very flat release that doesn’t live up to the ITZY style that I have associated with the group.

A music video acually comes off a lot better than the song itself. Despite the dark aura and the obvious black and purple colour choices that seems to bring out that ‘influence’ as I mentioned in the above paragraph, I feel that the music video does a good job of showing off that confident side to the group. This is a running theme in their music videos and I am glad they managed to link this video to their past comebacks. I also thought the editing in this video was also a strong positive aspect. But that is all pretty standard. It is that memorability factor that I am looking for, and there doesn’t seem to be much in the video. I guess the opening scene where we are looking from inside the gun barrell at Ryujin in her full red outfit was pretty intriguing. But nothing else really pinged as memorable for me.

The choreography is probably the only stable factor in this entire comeback. The confidence really comes off strongly in the routine, and I also liked the added sexiness that the group brings to the table with this routine.

Song – 5/10
Music Video – 6.5/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

Once again, apologies for the delay for this review.

Making their grand return earlier in the week was ITZY with Not Shy, which is featured as part of the group’s third mini-album of the same name. This comes after the group released the extremely catchy WANNABE earlier this year. Let’s see if Not Shy lives up to the standard that ITZY had created and instilled on all of their future releases.

Based on my own thoughts, the group does not go above and beyond that same standard they had set with WANNABE with this latest release. Not Shy lacks a certain energy to make it a blastful song. That, I believe, was a responsibility of the instrumental. To me, the instrumental was lacking and failed to bolster that punchy feeling that ITZY is known for through their releases and that was partly delivered by the vocals. And as odd as it may sound, I also found the typical instrumental for Not Shy to be rather loose. It just didn’t feel as tight as their past releases, which constantly felt full and loaded. I did like the use of the choppy brass. Though I wished it was much louder to add that blast of energy and colour that was needed. Regarding certain parts of the song, the one that I want to question the most was the repetition of ITZY’s name throughout the chorus. Was it needed and necessary? I don’t think so and it just annoyed me throughout the song. But other than that, everything else gets an approval nod from me. There were a number of catchy hooks. There was good vocal work and rapping in this song was quite good. All these elements would have benefited given a more profoundly dynamic backdrop. The main highlight of the song would have to be the bridge, which showed off Lia’s vocal chops and potential.

Shot in the desert, the members of ITZY are outlaws driving after a van carrying important and fragile goods. They are definitely Not Shy with their driving and threatening skills, as they catch up to the van that had a head start and managed to get the driver out of the car at gunpoint. The group drive the van back to their base and store the boxes in a freezer installed in the ground. The member, whilst performing their choreography and all their closeups, actually come off as quite edgy. I just wished the final credits stuck with that. I lowkey expected something dangerous like guns in the boxes. And if that was too extreme, then I would have expected some sort of expensive item or gold. But it turned out to be a bunch of cakes and desserts. So whatever touch image they had built for themselves in this music video ended up being dissolved once the video stopped playing with this innocent twist. Very typical for KPOP.

I really liked their use of space at the very start and during the first verse. This looked very cool and different from most performances, which tend to start with the focus in the middle of the stage/formation. I also thought they had good transitions between each formation throughout the performance and effortlessly moved to their new positions in a fast manner. As for their dance move, everything looked quite cool (given what they had to work with).

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10

The second comeback of the week belong to ITZY. This four member female group had a smashing 2019 debut year with two massive hits, Dalla Dalla and Icy. And we are all confident that ITZY will do it again in 2020. Kicking off their year is Wannabe, which is featured on the group’s 2nd mini-album, It’z Me. In other related news, ITZY took out all of the new female artist awards during the 2019/2020 awards season, including the 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Award for Best New Female Group. Congratulations ITZY!

The first thing that grabs my attention with ITZY’s new song, Wannabe (like many other songs) is the energy. I said a similar thing in my ICY review, but Wannabe manages to take things to the next level. Paired with the energy is a set of shouting vocals from each of the member. I have mentioned in the past this isn’t a great tactic and can bring a song down. But ITZY manages to commit throughout the song and use this technique to their advantage (even though they sounded pretty strained again at some parts). I mean, they get right into it when the song starts and I think this is fantastic. Otherwise, they would have been lost in the instrumentation. Together, they make the song very bold and defined. When it comes to the instrumental, I think this trap based background is amazing. There are many textures that makes it so interesting to listen to. It doesn’t rely solely on the trap, however. There is a bit of guitar in the mix that really stands out in the sea of synths. Rock vibes and house influences as well. Heck, the start had a very intriguing and eerie music box sound to it, capturing our attention from the very beginning. The song’s hooks are also another strong aspect and it had me singing along as soon as I heard it the first time around.

One way to gauge a group’s popularity nowadays might to see the presence of fan theories (fans need to be invested and dedicated to their group to write lengthy and detailed theories). ITZY’s latest music video has all these fan theories in the comment section. And instead of me interpreting the video, I thought I pick one of those theories as they would explain it better than me. The following was written by the YouTube user mich (so props to them for the theory below).

But I thought the video was interesting even without a theory. You could see what the video was about with just the English lyrics and the visual cues in the music video. I liked the balance between colour and darkness in this video. It wasn’t overly colourful, yet it wasn’t dark like the serious concepts we see in KPOP.

The choreography has two amazing moments in my opinion. The first has to be that music box start. The second has to be the sassy dance break bridge. The routines for each of these sections looked so cool. The rest of the performance looked very intense and energetic, as well. I thought they paired well with the music, especially the bouncy moments of the music. The only minor issue is the lack of smiles throughout the performance. The smiles switched off as soon as the camera diverted away from the members and I thought this brought down the aesthetics of the performance.

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

ITZY is currently one of the biggest girl group debuts of the year. Their DALLA DALLA debut back in February pushed them towards the top of the industry, with the track becoming immensely popular throughout the KPOP world. And they continue to push forward with their very first comeback! Returning today, the group released the music video for ICY at midnight (KST) and their first mini-album, IT’z ICY, at 6PM (KST – just a few hours ago).

ICY is loaded from the very start and it gets you with its infectious beat. I like how the song doesn’t take a breather. As they approached the slightly less upbeat sections (such as the pre-chorus), you would expect some slow energy. But the song builds up suspense instead, keeping you hooked to the song. I like the funky and grooviness of the instrumental, which kept me hooked. And I like how they incorporated a hip-hop vibe to the song, despite its instrumentation leaning towards a different direction. Their vocals seem to be the weakest aspect. They were pushing too hard to stay on top of the instrumental.  The hooks were interesting. I didn’t like how they framed the chorus initially. But given the infectious nature of the song, the chorus has grown immensely. The final weak point of the song has to be the dance break.  As much as I think an intense dance break was ideal, I felt this one was a little too awkward. It didn’t feel balanced with the rest of the track. Maybe they went down a little too low for my liking or it just didn’t carry enough of the upbeat energy to get my approval.

I personally liked their approach with the music video. The lighting, camera angles, quality and the setting overall reminded me of TWICE’s Likey music video. They had the background actors stare at the ITZY members, who were flaunting their confidence to the public. The actor’s expressions, however, were a little not so convincing. Their amazement didn’t seem like they were amazed. But I guess they did that to further highlight the confidence. I think my favourite part has to be the final montage when they were on the electric tram.

The dance was pretty good. The chorus was very underwhelming, especially since it had all the hooks loaded in the song. But I enjoyed every other part. I liked how they slowly added each member to the start of the dance. I thought that looked quite cool. The dance break choreography also looked cool and edgy. Just the music wasn’t too my liking. And I thought their final choreography montage was the best bit overall!

Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.6/10