Review: Apink cement their legacy with 'Dilemma'

Apink is one of the longest-lasting K-Pop girl groups of all time. One could not easily guess that when they debuted, however. They debuted with an omnipresent youthful, cute sound. However, 7 years into their career, they reinvented themselves with I'm So Sick, a more mature, synth-based sound, produced by duo Black Eyed Pilesung. Since then, the sextet's partnership by the composers has been one of the most fruitful in modern K-Pop memory. Their highest-charting single was released 9 years into their career, their most critically-acclaimed single 8 years into it, and their best first-day sales with new album Horn, 11 years into their career. Additionally, with the LP's lead single Dilemma, Apink has provided their best track, nearly eleven years into one of K-Pop's most storied careers.

With Black Eyed Pilesung once again at the helm, Dilemma embraces a diverse set of synth beats and samples, over a building beat. However, from moment one, Apink's vocal improvement continues to be evident. The members in Apink have always been able to sing, but rarely have they sounded as smooth and powerful as in the opening verse of the song. It helps that the hooks are particularly well-crafted, moving with a sense of regretless self-destruction, but further improved by the strong performances provided by Chorong, Hayoung, and the rest of the members. The synths soon fade away, for a strummed, silent, pre-chorus.

The chorus, however, is easily the song's trump card. After the percussional build at the end of the pre-chorus, the chorus smoothly transfers into a smooth and serpentine catwalk, with the essence of guitar assisting. The spoken "Dilemma" hook is perhaps one of the best moments in the track. Performed with tenacity, each repetition of the word switches into a mini call-and-response phrase with the previous repetition. A sort of pressure and release, dealing with the dilemma of the problematic love described in the lyrics. In addition to this, each "Dilemma" segment acts as a 'call' to a brilliant response segment; an oboe-synth. The synthesized version of the classical and jazz instrumentation certainly gives the song a more dramatic and royal feel, while the synthesizer of the instrumentation helps keep it smooth and limited. This is further improved by a dramatic post-chorus, with a new "I Love You" hook and an additional synth-line. Lyrically, this moment perfectly showcases the conflict of attempting to move on after a disastrous relationship. It particularly makes the next verse, where the singer calls into question her own conviction, more impactful.

The second verse half-time break has become arguably the song's most divisive moment. I wish that Black Eyed Pilesung did a better job at easing us into the segment, the electro squiggle and percussion slowdown don't count. However, the segment does a good job of building a sense of dramatic destruction. In particular, the autotune over Naeun's voice in the "No Girls Like Me" segment is utterly brilliant, haunting, even. While a mild diversion, the second verse does its part, and we are soon back into the transcendent chorus.

The bridge focuses on subtly building, and is one of the most major-key-based segments in the song, thriving on nostalgia. Then suddenly, we are dropped into an instrumental version of the first phase of the chorus. It sounds epic, but also serves a thematic purpose; skipping the "I can't live without you" line, and going straight to "I love you but I must stop". It also helps that the bass and synths go together perfectly. The song ends with a basic repetition of the post-chorus. In earnest, a little more than the high-note we were given could help, perhaps another synth or increased oboe synths. However, the segment does its job admirably, even if not flawlessly.

Dilemma is fantastic. K-Pop has had a slow and strange 2022 so far, but between Apink, Taeyeon, and Epik High all releasing full-length LPs within 24 hours of each other, it seems the year is picking up. If so, Apink are leading the pack with this fantastic single, perhaps one of the best, if not the best from the year so far. It is hard to say just yet, but I expect Dilemma to improve beyond its already impressive score.

Rating: 9/10

Image Source: Ali's Kpop Blog