DISCO STRINGS!
[Video][Website]
[6.50]
Katherine St Asaph: If you told me this was Mya, trying to crack the K-pop market after her last two albums only sold in Japan, I wouldn’t question you. If only because this sounds so much like a Fear of Flying offcut. A great one.
[8]
Will Adams: Could someone give me an example of a moment when disco strings don’t work? I’m beginning to think it’s an absolute. On “Give it to Me,” they ramp up the theatrics to Broadway levels, but there’s still the problem of that bare chorus.
[6]
Alfred Soto: Rather good trio-pop, with the rhythm guitars and strings complementing the breathy vocals.
[6]
Iain Mew: There’s a bit in the video that’s quite emblematic. Bora raps about writing a letter hundreds of times and tearing it up again and again, and then after miming that she throws a handful of glitter. “Give it to Me,” with the group’s performances of controlled desperation and its funk and delightfully swishy strings, is the sound of taking heartbreak and turning it into sparkle.
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: Dear modern K-Pop: Hope this finds you well. Don’t get too worried…I’m not writing this to announce my intentions to stop listening to you. Nope, you are still putting out some of the best pop on the planet right now…you should YouTube “Thrift Shop” and have a good chuckle knowing that topped the American charts this year. But just wanted to let you know sometimes it’s OK to not go overboard with the maximalism. Yeah yeah, I can hear you now…”but what about ‘Bubble Pop!,’ what about ‘Go Away?'” Those are great, but just listen to the new Sistar single. It’s so smooth and that chorus is simple but effective, drawing so much out of just some single syllables. But overall it has way too much going on…the strings are a touch over the top, and…here’s your big problem…why tack on a rap section, especially one as cobbled-together as this? Love you still, but sometimes less is more.
[7]
Brad Shoup: Is this a “Daydreamer Dream” sighting? Fuckin’ eerie. Still, I can’t go for that blowsy penthouse disco unless the voice is utterly commanding.
[5]
Daisy Le Merrer: Hyorin is still one of the best singers in K-pop, and she gives a wonderful breathy performance on this, but Sistar’s songs almost never rise above the serviceable, and this one’s no exception. Bonus point for the disco strings, though.
[7]
Anthony Easton: Who knew that breathless falsetto and finger snaps would go so well with sex moanings and general exhortations? It’s like the banana split of erotic signs and signals, but less interesting.
[5]