Review: ATEEZ - Deja Vu

It's Deja Vu all over again! But no really, how many K-Pop songs are titled Deja Vu? We have got Sonamoo, Nu'est W, Dreamcatcher, and now ATEEZ. Of these, Nu'est W and of course, Dreamcatcher had the best songs with this name. Funnily, both Dreamcatcher's and ATEEZ's Deja Vu have been produced by Edenary. Thus, I could not help but compare them.

And yes, the Dreamcatcher Deja Vu is inherently superior to the new ATEEZ release. For one thing, the song perfectly uses tempo variations to tell a story. From the faded verses to the absolutely exploding chorus. The key change is one of the most striking in Dreamcatcher's discography, while the piano in the pre-chorus is used properly, essential for the build. There is a reason why this is considered one of the best 4th generation K-Pop songs of all time.

Onto the ATEEZ release. For the Fever series, ATEEZ have moved in a more trendy direction, utilizing trap hip-hop in particular. For their excellent Treasure series, they often borrowed from trends, but Edenary and Hongjoong built around the trends, the trends supported the songs, not the other way around. This has largely been missing from Fever, with the exception of the acclaimed Take Me Home.

Deja Vu is highly minimalist, never exploding or concluding. Instead, it plays off its trap groove for a gritty sense of momentum, even if it never reaches a sense of galvanizing euphoria. Even Jongho's high note is surprisingly reserved (at least by Jongho standards) and serves only to push the song forward.

Given that the melody is so reserved, the clunky beat comes off as forced at times, even if it does provide the needed contrast for the vocal performance.  However, ATEEZ have become much better performers since their debut. Mingi is sharp for his return, Hongjoong captures any intended emotion in his performance, Wooyoung is more aggressive than ever, and San has fully evolved into an absolute beast of a performer, from dance to singing, he is better than ever.

Hongjoong (which my autocorrect thinks is Hong Kong) and Mingi are stronger than ever here. It makes sense, this song is driven by a hip-hop groove, and thus, it makes sense they thrive here. Hongjoong, in particular, captures the sense of drunk frustration that the song seems to be aiming for.

Unfortunately, while Deja Vu does have a few interesting ideas, they are repeated without enough variation. I am quite surprised by this because Edenary and Hongjoong have shown they can do really interesting stuff with even the most basic of ideas. It all leads to a disappointing climax, which is even more surprising. It is hard to realize that this was produced by the same team that gave us the climaxes of Scream and Answer less than two years ago.

If this was released by a rookie group without a set sound or any expectations, I'd praise the chorus's catchiness, but this is not a rookie group. ATEEZ grow in stature by the day, they are incredibly talented, and they have one of the best K-Pop production teams in recent memory. Thus, I reserve little wording in my criticism of this track. It is good, but ATEEZ and Edenary are forever condemned to be compared to ATEEZ and Edenary.

Rating: 6.75/10

Image Source: K-Pop High India