Review: MIRAE - Killa
MIRAE is the latest boy group from Korea's DSP Media. That agency has been behind my favorite K-Pop girl group Kara. Unfortunately, the agency has a consistent track-record of having no idea of what they are trying to do with their artists. So how does MIRAE's debut pan out.
Well, it is clear they have a plan with their sci-fi sound. To me, the biggest issue with title track Killa is that it clearly has a plan but just dips in the water instead of providing the knock-out it could be.
The elements are all there, an electric guitar riff, edgy raps, and a stand-out early 2010s SM chorus with complextro elements all in an epic sci-fi concept.
The opening moments hit at a massive riff. The first verse keeps up, but the pre-chorus feels a little rushed. A stronger melody could come in to save the day.
The chorus is an inverted classic Sci-Fi K-Pop futuristic dance track. The members' vocals come together excellently, though I wish the arrangement was a bit stronger. The post-chorus phase could be entirely cut to improve the song.
The second verse is more of the same, though some vocal processing is evident. Thankfully, the post-chorus for the second chorus is a way too short electric rock guitar riff.
The rap in the bridge is also a highlight moment.
In the end, Killa has all the ideas and moments but has no idea how to bridge them. Thankfully, the group seems to have plans, and b-sides such as We Are Future and Higher with the same style hint at a lot of potentials.
Interesting pan out! I am glad you said this yourself. I was shocked how even kpop stuffs hated this song. So I got curious what really was the consensus behind this. Surprisingly I was not even shocked when you said it was incohesive and just a mush of sounds that have no direction. It was actually clear, but I neglected those points. Great antithesis and review!
ReplyDeleteDo not watch Kpop stuffs, maybe I should check him or her out.
DeleteSurprised you were not surprised by my thoughts!
Yeah, I clearly am on the minority on this song, and I don't mind it. These guys have the potential to go big, and some of the b-sides are amazing.
Also, I don't necessarily dislike the song (7.75 is pretty positive), but I don't love it like everyone else seems to.
Yes, a 7.75 is also great in my spectrum. So no doubt about that!
Deletekpop stuffs didn't really state it in her videos but she tweeted it and I actually knew her from her genre videos, also she is a voting member of the awards. She actually likes weird songs so that was the reason I was surprised.
I concluded, that if the song was sickening then maybe you would too. I was right about that. B-side wise We Are The Future was weirdly too much for me and the album was pretty well tbh.