Review: Yena - Smartphone

With her January solo debut, Yena went from being a successful member of a popular girl group to one of South Korea's top pop singers. She set her up as a quirky, generation z edition of K-Pop's 4th generation "It girl". Smartphone ups everything up from Smiley, though it is not as instantly memorable, and I doubt it will last as long as the aforementioned debut song.

Smartphone is extremely saccharine. Smiley was the same, but contrasted it with Bibi's rap. It also made conceptual sense with the lyrics. Smartphone crosses the boundary a little bit, but holds back just enough with rock influences. Yena's vocals prove intrinsically successful within this sugary pop style, adding enough energy to make sense.

While I am not sure the lyrics about a loner hiding away by spending more time on a phone are quite encouraging, the song holds together musically quite well. The verses are quite forgettable, but the sugar rush of the chorus is quite exciting and got stuck in my head the other day. While it is not as strong as Smiley's chorus, it works just about well enough

Smartphone is not as clever or musically intriguing as its predecessor, however, it maintains the same palette structure, even if it increases the energy and reduces the hooks. It is overall another decent entry for one of the year's most promising debuts.

Rating: 7.75/10

Purchase Yena's Smartphone album right here!

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