Time to find out if we’re ready for this…
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[6.50]
Madeleine Lee: “Jelly” is Hotshot’s first release in two years, in an attempt to hold on to the attention gained from two of their members’ participation in the messy, massive second season of Produce 101. One, Ha Sungwoon, made it to the final 11; the other, Noh Taehyun, became known for his tight choreography to a remix of “Shape Of You,” which was one of the show’s most successful moments. Another success was “Never,” the “deep house” concept song written by Hui of Pentagon and Triple H, and “Jelly” is looking to ride that same wave. It has a great beat, and its steady structure resists the temptation of random melodic shifts or tempo changes that would interfere with that great beat — a rare show of restraint from producers Devine Channel, who wrote the show’s cluttered “future EDM” concept song “Open Up.” But the beat is what dominates. Hotshot’s vocals are passable but lack personality or conviction, and it doesn’t help that the final 11 group, Wanna One, has released a better, more charismatic K-pop house track written by Hui. It may be that Hotshot’s obscurity comes from more than a lack of opportunity.
[6]
Patrick St. Michel: A lot of Korean pop in 2017 feels like a makeover of the 2009-2012 breakout period, except with better optics. Hearing “Jelly” initially made me think the high times of “View” and “4 Walls” were about to get the same treatment, but Hotshot’s latest is really just a continuation of a corner of the industry enamored with future-leaning electronic sounds, “Fly” maybe being the best comparison. It lacks a payoff, but “Jelly” ultimately sounds shiny and catchy. If anything, it could benefit from looking back and seeing how similar works delivered something big besides house-pop sheen.
[6]
Olivia Rafferty: It’s like Caribou’s “Odessa” and SHINee’s “View” got together and had a beautiful, beautiful baby. “Jelly” has an unmistakable pulse that permeates and pushes through everything in the song, so by the time you’ve bopped around your bedroom to the first chorus, that “baby please don’t go” coming round the second time will jump out your throat before even asking permission.
[8]
David Moore: A K-pop “My Boo” with Futurama bell flourishes sounds pretty surefire to me.
[7]
Nortey Dowuona: Nice synth bass, mildly tolerable 2011 synthesizers and disembodied shrieks. And the Auto-Tuned singing and rapping is really good.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: At first you fear that it’s gonna be just another good-not-great EDM/K-pop single, but then the verse kicks in and it’s got a deep house tinge to it. And the tinge is actually a bit more than a tinge, and it endures for the entirety of the song. I’m not saying anyone’s gonna mistake this for Masters at Work, but it goes in a different direction than a lot of Hotshot’s contemporaries are currently going. Also, it’s dreamily romantic, and I’m still a sucker for that.
[8]
William John: Hotshot make use of what appears to be the very same ghostly, twitching preset employed by yesterday’s Jukebox subjects Fifth Harmony, but instead frame it in a manner far more athletic and dancefloor-ready. The beautiful sound design is offset by intermittent and superfluous English interjections, which break the spell somewhat.
[7]
Ryo Miyauchi: Hotshot skips out on trading precious words for a soothing beat drop, opting instead for a metronome pulse of a bass line. Though it certainly differentiates “Jelly” out of the pack, the decision comes with a consequence: while their peers seem relieved come the chorus, Hotshot seethes without an opportunity to let it all out. By the climax, “tell me what you want” sounds far from a sweet invitation; it’s now a desperate demand.
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Adaora Ede: “Jelly” might not hold the surprise of a typical lead single of idol pop but falls sort of in line with K-pop’s 2015 house resurgence. Though its bass-rooted synth pop reminds me even more of T-ara’s deliberate EDM, but less baroscopic in tone. It’s not even that edgy, but outside of the short super cool robotic techno rap verse, most of the vocal performance doesn’t feel well-suited for the genre. The track falls out of Hotshot’s range; perhaps the whole group dynamic doesn’t work with a disco divo throwaway.
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Joshua Minsoo Kim: For most of this decade, I’ve known Devine Channel as the production team behind numerous uninspired K-pop b-sides. While I’ve enjoyed some songs, I never considered them to be particularly noteworthy producers. That changed recently, and one particular reason was “Open Up,” an ambitious song written for Produce 101 that felt like a noteworthy addition to Korea’s collection of creative UK Garage–indebted tracks. “Jelly” may be Hotshot’s best single to date, but it’s hard not to see it as a disappointment in light of Devine Channel becoming more adventurous behind the boards. The vocal melodies don’t work in conjunction with the beat to provide a sense of propulsion, so the result is a song that ends up feeling noticeably hollow. From progenitor “View” to Devine Channel-written “Shangri-La” to Hotshot-affiliated “Energetic,” there are a lot of great, straightforward dance tracks to go around. Why settle for less?
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