February Multi Song Review Pt. 2 (VIVZ, Caroline Polacheck, Kat-Tun, Jungkook, Wonho, Rolling Quartz)

VIVIZ - Bop Bop & Mirror

You can tell when an artist has experience. In the hands of a true rookie group, Bop Bop would have crashed. It is a cute K-Pop girl group filler track with a little bit of post-Future Nostalgia disco. However, VIVIZ is not any rookie group, SinB, Umji, and Eunha were all part of Gfriend before the group disbanded in a fishy (and almost corporate) manner. All three members provide a bit of a serpentine edge over the basic instrumentation. Production team Papermaker eventually get their act together for the fantastic bridge, middle eight, and pre-chorus with fantastic strings.

Off the album Beam of Prism, Love You Like is quite strong. However, b-side Mirror is classic Gfriend, recalling the best of Rough and Me Gustas Tu. I have no idea where VIVIZ will go next, but I am sure it will be fantastic.

Bop Bop Rating: 8.25/10

Mirror Rating: 8.25/10

Caroline Polacheck - Billions

Caroline Polachek's latest single Billions utterly relishes in its lush, diverse, and melancholic production. Wearing its Renaissance and Roman influences on its sleeve, vocoder and strings and layers to the beautiful forest weaved by the songwriting in this song. While the melody is not perfect, praise is deserved for how fantastic the choirs, production, and instrumental go. The choir climax alone deserves acclaim.

Rating: 9/10

Kat-Tun - Crystal Moment

A special song for the recently concluded Olympics, Kat-Tun provides a poppy, anthemic single with just enough classic J-Pop elements to remain memorable. While I wish the chorus chugged with more synths and guitar, I have nothing against the fantastic, strummed melody already in place. I can't wait till they release their album.

Rating: 8.25/10

Jungkook - Stay Alive (Prod. Suga)

While BTS are still on hiatus, maknae and vocalist Jungkook has come back with an OST single, produced by fellow member and rapper Suga. Stay Alive is certainly generic as OST ballads go, but it clicks all the checkmarks. Flying strings, intense performance, dramatic pre-chorus, and all the other essentials. The first phase of the chorus is forgettable, but the second phase utterly peaks in its utter ambition. While the vocal processing does limit it, this is a strong producing return for Suga, a highlight into a future Jungkook solo career, and the best BTS song since 2020's We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal.

Rating: 8.5/10

Wonho - Eye on You

Wonho's smooth and sensual discography has arguably been one of the most consistent of modern K-Pop, even if it lacks originality and highlights. That said, Eye on You stands as a highlight for the pop star's recent career. Most of this comes down to the abrasive and aggressive synths in the chorus, clanging down over the vocoder-struck vocals of Wonho. This might seem like faint praise, but all the elements come together for one of the year's most vigorous, sensual, and dark dance tracks.

Rating: 8.5/10

Rolling Quartz - Azalea

Rolling Quartz' new EP is solid, but it makes a few baffling choices. Introducing Blaze into the tracklist would not only improve the overall quality and make conceptual sense, but it would give enough tracks to claim their first LP. Equally frustrating is the Good Night cover, with the original track clearly intended for an idol group, well outside Jayoung's vocal range. B-Side Azalea is the album's highlight, with a surging K-Rock melody that feels both classic and applicable to Rolling Quartz' burgeoning discography.

Rating: 8.25/10

Image Source: Allkpop