Same.
[Video][Website]
[7.29]
Patrick St. Michel: Plenty of K-Pop groups from the generation where Hallyu became a feasible business strategy have mined the history of pop music for image and sonic purposes, but Wonder Girls have felt particularly unstuck in time. Their biggest singles have been girl-group throwbacks or taking the same formula into the future, and they’ve played around in other eras as well. “I Feel You” is a stab at ’80s pop, always risky throwback territory because of how easy it can turn into goofball nostalgia. But Wonder Girls have never been caught up in that trap, and have always used whatever bygone era they’ve channeled as a platform to just make direct, catchy pop (see also: Carly Rae Jepsen’s new album). “I Feel You” wheels out big ol’ “Axel F” synth melodies and all the new wave touches one would expect, but the song never trips over any of it (same goes for the video, which manages to cram in all sorts of ’80s imagery without turning into a gag…sometimes a keytar is just a keytar). Like all of Wonder Girls best songs, it channels the past but is focused on the present.
[8]
Madeleine Lee: Or, Nami and Kim Wan Sun in “Addicted To Love (LADIES ONLY Edition)”. “I Feel You” actually sounds better in the context of its host album, Reboot, which executes this same idea in so many different strong, stylized variations — even the ballads — that the larger project can’t help but be greater than the sum of its parts. But this part is still good on its own.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: OMFG it’s Exposé translated into K-pop, all frothy high-end keyboard stabs, freestyle 808s, and “ooh-ooh” vocals! This succeeds on every conceivable level.
[10]
Alfred Soto: Oh man — the synth sparkles could have been beamed from 1990, the vocals from a Seduction record in 1989 without the effort of projecting sexuality. Wonder Girls’ insistent mildness is its own kind of perversion.
[7]
Brad Shoup: They really settle into the synthbeds — Park Ye-Eun in particular, who puts a committed shiver into her “ooo”s. She sheds a withdrawn — but no less strong — performance at those points. But it’s not like JYP is going to let a non-vocal hook take precedence, so there’s only so much verisimilitude available, just friendly twinkle.
[7]
Jessica Doyle: More fun live, especially when Yoobin breaks out the rap-and-drums combination. The chorus still feels misshapen to me, and I’m not sure why even after comparing it to the direct antecedents, only one of which relied on a spare, heavily instrumental chorus.
[5]
Will Adams: This is a low impact, level one workout. But just because it’s low impact doesn’t mean you won’t get high results!
[7]