Toheart – Delicious

Judicious or malicious?

[Video][Website]
[5.22]

Edward Okulicz: Look, I know that it says that it’s a new song from Korea, but if you don’t know to be sceptical of labels by now, you’re in trouble. You know better! It’s 1993! It’s alt-pop-rock with flowers in the hair and bright mismatched colours, along with equally bright, lobotomised and scarcely matched song parts and ridiculous facial expresions and cheekily and vapidly spat words! Energy to burn, and possibly homocide-incuding after ten more listens than I’ve given it so far. 
[6]

Madeleine Lee: Toheart is the first proper product of the odd coupling of labels SM and Woollim, capitalizing on the pre-existing friendship of SHINee’s rapper Key and Infinite’s vocalist Woohyun to present a unified front. The writing credits on “Delicious” are split down the middle, with two representatives from SM’s international crew working alongside Sweetune, the production team that basically raised Infinite, and the result is what one might expect: SHINee’s zippy R&B, Sweetune’s retro styling, Key’s charisma and Woohyun’s big notes. It’s surprisingly laid-back, coming from two groups known for the complexity and intensity of their singles; maybe a little too laid-back, since it seems somebody forgot to fill in the bridge, or find another word that rhymes with “delicious.”
[5]

Alfred Soto: Nobody in this thing rhymes the title with “ridiculous,” which is exactly why this bubblegum is almost a triumph. The rhythm guitar slinks faster and better than anything Maroon 5 has done since 2007, and unlike Adam Levine the singer doesn’t hide his puerile demands in stupid double entendre.
[6]

Scott Mildenhall: It’s not just the nutritious/delicious pairings that make this sound like a rad and gnarly Sunny Delight advert. Toheart bound around to a sound too vacant in its happiness. Even if the girl was interested in either of them, they’d probably be too wrapped up in each other to notice — she’s not even in the video. An unambitious if not inauspicious start.
[5]

Jessica Doyle: On the one hand: this is unequivocally terrible. On the other: there is an energy to it, a sense of being let in to watch best friends goofing off and having fun together, that makes me grin. Back to the first hand: the Jukebox is not, and hopefully will never be, a place where you can win a high score by combining the third runner-up for Jedward’s Eurovision song choice with a seven-minute-long argument that Key is the big spoon.
[4]

Brad Shoup: At times, it sounds like they’re flexing over some “Been Caught Stealing” guitar. This is boypop completely through the looking glass; they’re busting capillaries trying to put over assurances no one really requested. But after the dropout, there’s no gearshift keychange. Maybe the caffeine wore off.
[4]

Iain Mew: “Love is so nutritious” doesn’t quite meet any demand for more songs about food, and is also one of the more ridiculous possible word choices. Still, two guys having a laugh in the kitchen of love is distinctive in its own way, and these two guys are just charming enough to keep the music sounding light rather than limited.
[6]

Megan Harrington: In high school I had a good natured biology teacher who was generous enough to indulge any of the class’s questions and it was during a unit on cellular biology that I learned that semen, while mostly protein, would have to be consumed in bulk to be a significantly nutritious part of an average diet. It’s also very low-cal. So girls, if he offers that he’s both delicious and nutritious, you’re now armed with enough facts to disprove one claim taste un-tested.  
[6]

Patrick St. Michel: INGREDIENTS: Artificial Sweetener, High Fructose Corny Lyrics, Repetition.
[5]