Review: EXO - Don't Fight the Feeling


Review: EXO - Don't Fight the Feeling

 EXO is a group with a massive variety in age. Thus, their overall military hiatus has been lengthy. It started in 2019, and will most likely end in 2023. Thankfully, this variety has allowed sub-units and solos to thrive. Lay has become one of China's most popular solo stars (and a controversial supporter of the Communist party), Baekhyun has become a rising Korean solo force (I dubbed him as 'The crown prince of K-Pop' back in September), and they also have been able to sneak in comebacks with a few members.

2019's Obsession, their last comeback, split opinion. Some called it the song of the year, others called it a disappointing mess. I initially agreed with the latter but it slowly grew on me, and now is one of my favorite songs from that year.

Don't Fight the Feeling is mostly led by a funky groove. It is lighthearted electro-funk but does not fully deepen itself like SHINee did with Atlantis. It sounds pleasant, but a bit too simple for one of the biggest boy bands in the world at the moment.

The first verse has a nice and easy bass at their heart, along with an electric keyboard, to drive the rhythm. Snaps, claps, and more synths make a strong groove, even if it does end up being quite generic in the modern K-Pop scene. The pre-chorus simplifies the production and builds back. EXO's vocal timbres are processed, and thus it is hard to hear them as distinct as normally, but their years of experience show, as they clearly know what they are doing, especially with a song as simple as this. Xiumin especially sounds sharper than ever for his return.

The chorus's speciality, and the song's as a whole, is the repeated chant of "Don't fight the feeling". It is a simple line but is repeated often, with varying timbres. The first time, it is simply stated, and in the second time, while it is commandingly spoken a bit more forte the second time, with an emphatic resolution, the third time, it is confidently and seductively said, while the final time is spoken almost factually. The repetitions of this call phrase cut the response phrase short, allowing for an increased vigour. It is a simple hook, but cleverly arranged, with a simple, driven, electronic production. It is easily Don't Fight the Feeling's best moment.

The second verse opens with a down-tempo trap rap by Chanyeol. Chanyeol sounds as great as he can in a song like this, but the production cuts the flow of the song quite a bit. In a simple dance track, momentum is important. This rap ends up cutting the flow quite a bit. Baekhyun's voice does not fit it the production well though. Thankfully, the song soon picks up back to speed, with Kai and Xiumin delivering some simple yet melodic lines to get the song back in place.

Then, we get another awkwardly placed rap by Sehun. Sehun's 'Shawty' line is back, a fun call back for EXO-Ls, but the rest of the rap is dull and flow breaking. It is set in a crucial moment and really breaks the song further than needed. What is worse, is that the production does not compliment Sehun's voice at all.

The pre-chorus is a solid relief, D.O sounds sharp, and Lay is back. It becomes clear though that his scene was probably shot at a different time and locale than the rest of the members. He probably recorded elsewhere too. While it is certainly great to hear his voice again (and he really does great with his one line), it does little to dissipate the fans' fear that Lay is becoming less and less of an EXO member. He does later appear in a dance shot, but it is hard to tell if he was at the shooting location, due to the fact that the whole MV is CGI.

In the chorus's repetition, Chanyeol's voice stands out, making it the first time there is an actual clear voice in the song (along with his aforementioned rap, and Yixing's minor cameo). D.O and Baehyun get a brief bridge, but it feels like it is there just to tick a box, rather than to do anything dynamic. Bridges can really do a song wonders (see: Higedan's Laughter), I am getting slightly worried by producers just writing a copy-cat bridge.

The final chorus is a more club-ready version of the song so far, with some awkwardly entered vocal ad-libs. And then, it ends in a second. A coda of some sorts or even a second repetition of the chorus could really up the song by a lot, but this lazy tactic hurts the song.

You may notice that I did not write anything about the lyrics in this song. The reason for this is that they are just serviceable. They could work in a more dynamic song, but they do little to elevate the song.

In the end, Don't Fight the Feeling ends up as an awkward piece of music. It does little to live up to EXO's legacy, and instead seems stuck exclusively in the world of releasing a piece of music to keep fans satisfied. EXO have shown themselves to be boundary-pushing idols, so Don't Fight the Feeling seems oddly sedated. At least it is a solid piece of simple funk-pop.

Rating: 7.25/10


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Comments

  1. Simple pop fun, tbh. Definitely not their best nor nearly as iconic as some of the past releases (including Obsession) but for a special album... I'll take it lol.

    Also... can I, like, pay you to finish my masters thesis for me cause this review is longer than what I've written these past 2 weeks. [screams in agony and too much work]

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    Replies
    1. Yep, a simple fun pop song. Not really boundary pushing. Still, I've enjoyed it at times.

      Haha, this is easily the longest post on my blog yet. I had some free time yesterday, and was supposed to write reviews for three days, but I guess I went overboard with this one. At least it is probably my best piece yet lol.

      Good luck with your masters thesis!

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