Review: ATEEZ - Fireworks (I'm The One)
I'll get around to the February end-of-month list soon. Sorry, it has been busy recently.
ATEEZ have slowly grown to become one of the most dominant groups of the 4th generation K-Pop. Their Treasure series was pitch-perfect, following a galvanizing redux of K-Pop trends with the support of producers Edenary and leader Hongjoong to write the music. Since then, however, Edenary have grown in popularity, and while they continue to write for ATEEZ, they have much more work, leading to a quality drop. Hongjoong has also been strangely absent from songwriting or producing credits, especially considering how he is basically Eden's production student.
Fireworks jumps between two identities, this crisis as the song cannot decide whether it wants to be trendy, or classic ATEEZ. The minimalist hip-hop sound reminds me of Kazakh group Ninety One a lot, and I almost feel like this could have been an attempt by Edenary to write a Q-Pop song, but it was rejected and thus went to ATEEZ.
Lyrically, Fireworks is another "I am the best" anthem, once again without much lyrical wit. And it, unfortunately, spends most of its time explaining ATEEZ's rivals are drunk (What?).
The verses are pretty aimless, and a bad example of lo-fi hip-hop. There also is some evident autotune. In fact, they as a whole drag the song down a lot. Thankfully, the pre-chorus is a return to form, with Hongjoong and Mingi both ripping out great rap verses. Hongjoong's impish line especially works great with the minimalist instrumental.
The chorus could use some (a lot) of polish. The first half is led by a "Burnoliya". The biggest crime here is that the vocals have been dulled to work with the production, and massive vocalist Jongho is basically unrecognizable. Thankfully, the second half of the chorus turns into a full-fledged hype track, with some tribal elements. I also heard a bit of BigBang Bang Bang Bang over here.
Of course, this being an Edenary production, there have to be galvanizing moments. Hongjoong's rap in the second verse is great, and the Jongho high-note in the bridge gives a good look at the song's potential.
While not inherently bad, it is hard to not be disappointed by this song, simply due to ATEEZ's track record. Thankfully, Take me Home from the album is a very different story.
"spends most of its time explaining ATEEZ's rivals are drunk" LOL, I was wondering what the deal was with that too, maybe the translation doesn't properly explains it. I agree with every word of this, ATEEZ deserve better for how much they can and should do and showcase.
ReplyDeleteI thought it would grow on me more with the live performances but it didn't that much, although the live stages are much better without the overboard autotune.
Maybe the lyrics have some obscure wordplay? That is the only explanation I can think of, other than the songwriter being drunk. It is weird.
DeleteHopefully this is just a small bump on the path to ATEEZ perfection.
I await you making a "Take Me Home" Review right hecking now!
ReplyDeleteWe want it fast 108 ent! We NEED it fast!
I don't know when I'll review it, but I certainly will soon. It is by so much the best song on the album!
DeleteWell I might be rushing an ATEEZ album review today. To be honest, I am super tired of writing anything after what I went through these past few weeks. But I still need time, anyways, this song is not good, mediocre at best. That is it. Take Me Home is just the best. One of the best b-sides of the year! Will be checking out!
ReplyDeleteWill look forward to your album review, take your time if needed though! The last few weeks have been pretty exhausting for me too, and thus my writing pace has slowed a bit. Thankfully the reviews still churn!
DeleteYeah, like many others, only Take Me Home is appealing in the new ATEEZ album. It hopefully will also be a grower.