Review: woo!ah! - Catch the Stars

Last year, woo!ah! opened the year with an MV for b-side I Don't Miss U, paired with strong title track Bad Girl. It hinted at a woo!ah! building a burgeoning discography. However, a brief hiatus and a disastrous comeback later, woo!ah! are barely in the minds of fickle-minded K-Pop fans around the globe.

Thankfully, Catch the Stars is lightning in a bottle. Admittedly, it is not exactly very inventive, being a simple, aegyo-tinged, K-Pop track with a capital 'P'. Thankfully, all the stars seem to have aligned for this comeback, as each musical element works together to make a cohesive whole.

First, the vocals are just on-tune for this sort of release. Even the aegyo elements, while cringe-worthy and detracting from the overall release, are not as bad as they could be. While far from incredible vocalists, the members of woo!ah! provide just enough charisma for the release to get far across the line.

While the verses are forgettable, the chorus proves a headrush of lighthearted and dreamy pop. The melody picks up with percussional flourishes sliding through under a breezy guitar. Combine this with pop beats, and you have a perfect undercurrent for the central melody.

The melody proves an utter headrush. The first half is driven by an upbeat, sing-talk, speedy delivery, with a propulsive, almost running, sense of energy. Then, just when you expect the track to collapse under its weight, the breezy post-chorus proves you wrong. While one might expect a half-time transition at the time, the song opts for a full-speed melody. Sometimes, joy can be derived from a song doing nothing wrong, even if predictable, Catch the Stars does that.

The track misses some opportunities at times. The pre-chorus and bridge slow down a tad too much, and the finale could greatly benefit from a key change, but everything else fully fires in this song. The chorus is a highlight for the year already, and quite memorable.

Rating: 8.5/10

Image Source: Reddit