Lisa, can you teach us Thai?
[Video]
[5.67]
Will Adams: A functional, if blatant, rehash of “Rockstar” — right down to the hazy, Tame Impala-esque breakdown — with added perks like playground chant vocals and a bonus rave outro. But it’s been five years since “Lalisa”; are we really still stuck on introductions?
[6]
Alfred Soto: Booming hook. I’ve played “Sawadika” twice today. Lisa is unfamiliar to me, which helps.
[7]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Loudly obnoxious and obnoxiously loud.
[7]
Al Varela: I worry that Lisa can’t seem to develop a personality that isn’t just “annoying”. This is such an awful chorus. Like you’re being yelled at and swarmed by a bunch of middle schoolers trying to spur a reaction out of you. I’d like to believe Lisa has potential as the hungriest solo member from Blackpink but there’s a reason that Jennie is running circles around her.
[3]
David Allun Jones: Lisa’s version of “rapper” will probably never fully overcome sounding like a Bad Bitch SNL spoof, but her umpteenth re-heating of this particular brand of nacho does give some sturdy enough Blockbuster Solo Event: The staccato phrasing of the hook is scrumptiously shiv-sharp and the twists and turns of its ever-morphing post-apocalyptic production grasp onto some dynamic thrills (especially the rave-y, footwork-friendly final twenty seconds). I’d sell my two big toes to hear those two components merged with some sinister Pusha T coke-rap though.
[7]
Lichelle: If you asked one of the AI music generators to create a tepid bitch track in the style of Yo Majesty, this is what it would cough up. All of the attitude, with none of the sweat. A vibe so flat, it barely registers.
[3]
Iain Mew: The chorus verges on totally empty gesturing, iykyk, but is saved by just how enjoyable its patterns of repeatedly lined up vowels are. It doesn’t matter whether Lisa’s Ferrari is indigo or why, it’s a nice sounding word. Together with the cold booming bass, the song it most reminds me of is “Victory Lap”, achieving a similar effect to the out of context sampled hook but turned up a further intensity level. The verses aren’t even slightly comparable, but it’s a good mode for triumph.
[7]
Charlotte Gaze: If the K-pop industry is going to continue being dominated by artists who appeal to their crazed fans through some sort of shallow power fantasy involving chart records and first week sales figures, I suppose it’s only natural that the music itself sound so aesthetically dominant yet substantively empty. I just wish they wouldn’t nerf Black American genres in the process.
[2]
Jel Bugle: Sometimes, a little more humility may help an artist connect with their audience. It was alright, hasn’t she done a lot of “I’m Lisa!” ego trip songs already? I admire the confidence really.
[6]
Nortey Dowuona: I’d like my flowers now, pls. also FAN Thom Bridges… you’re off the shitlist for now. Not you tho, Ojivolta. You are done always.
[6]
James M Errington: When I was last in Thailand (nearly 20 years ago) “sawadika” was one of the two words farang used to learn, the other one being “farang” of course, so it’s enjoyably playful for the first Thai K-pop star to have it as the single from her first EP. The song itself is a playful mix of styles, all of which go hard. Lisa is as ever convincing both as a rapper as a singer; not quite there in my favourites yet, but give it time.
[8]
Tom Feckerdt: As a song, “Sawadika” is merely serviceable. As the soundtrack for its music video, one of the best I’ve seen in a minute, it’s just about perfect. The track needs to have that grimy, relentless pulse and pace to properly uphold the tremendous visuals that accompany it. Director Bang Jae Yeob frames Lisa in contrast with many famous (yet notably empty) Bangkok locations, presenting her as the leader of some amorphous mob twisting and bending in abstract directions. She’s slowly strutting through a rain-soaked train station, posing alongside her bizarre crew in front of what appears to be some beat-down project buildings on a cloudy day, riding in a tuk-tuk on a deserted avenue, dancing with her feet soaked in water while the silhouette of one of her dancers is reflected on a large industrial-like building. There’s all these stacked, imposing images, but they feel off. Lisa is impossibly beautiful, as per usual, but she’s framed at such a cold distance from the architecture around her, always a couple of steps ahead, never directly interacting with any of it, and often just as static even when she’s moving. Paired with the instrumental’s steady midtempo, the final product ends up looking chilly and clinical, like Lisa and the indifferent, all-seeing eye of the metropolis are one and the same. I sure as hell have never been to Thailand, but I do know what it’s like to walk by a deserted city boulevard at 2AM and get the creeping sense of feeling out of place. It’s refreshing to be able to put a face to that feeling, if only for three minutes.
[6]