GOLDEN CHILD PUMP IT UP: In-Depth Album Review – Lean On Me | The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion

As usual, Golden Child gets the “bias group advantage” on this site. This means not only their title track and a buried treasure will be reviewed, but I’ll be taking a look at the entire new single album Pump It Up.

1. Pump It Up // 2. That Guy // 3. Lean On Me

LEAN ON ME

I’ll be adding Lean On Me (너의 뒤에서) to the growing list of propulsive Golden Child dance tracks that already includes instant-classics Lately and Eyes On You. Now that we’ve got Bright Child back with the release of Pump It Up, this is the Golcha sound I’m really pushing for when it comes to future title tracks. As evidenced by my immeasurable love for Infinite’s The Chaser, I have a particular weakness for this style of sleek dance anthem.

To be clear, Lean On Me isn’t up there with The Chaser (nothing is, to be fair…), but it borrows from that song’s musical DNA. In fact, the two tracks’ structures are remarkably similar, down to their use and placement of rap verses. What’s missing from Lean On Me is:

a) A big, memorable instrumental riff
b) The kind of towering vocal layering that gives a chorus extra oomph

Even so, Lean On Me is a total standout, and right up there with Golden Child’s best b-sides. It could have easily been an Infinite track alongside amazing material like 2014’s Shower. The instrumental crackles with energy, employing a series of ridiculously satisfying synth textures alongside a heavy kick drum, brushes of guitar distortion and synth strings. That’s a perfect combination in my book, made even more so as the percussion pulls away and slams back with renewed force. It’s the aural equivalent of a speed boat racing along choppy waters – occasionally thwarted by an oncoming wave but always powering through without diversion.

Melodically, Lean On Me is more reserved. It’s catchy all the way through, but without the kind of obvious crests that usually denote big pop choruses. I think this will play well in the long run, and it acts as a nice foil to Pump It Up, which is ALL CHORUS. Both are absolutely fantastic songs.

Hooks	8
Production	10
Longevity	9
Bias	10
RATING	9.25

10 thoughts on “GOLDEN CHILD PUMP IT UP: In-Depth Album Review – Lean On Me”

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I desperately want Propulsive Golden Child to be active in the title tracks during 2021! that would be heaven! Oooh! Sweetune-produced propulsive Golden Child would be awesome!

And Them Harmonizing with each other would be amazing!

Seriously , Golden Child can take any musical genre and make it theirs!

Funk pop Golden Child
catchy synth pop Golden Child
Classic pop Golden Child

My score for this song would be a 9.5

Nick’s score for this album is 9.08

Mine is 9.3

Also , Three b-sides have came till now! I think it can’t be avoided……..

Will Propulsive Golden Child be used as a title track in 2021?

I really hope so……..

Great Review , Once again

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The speedboat on choppy waters metaphor is spot on haha. I really like this as well. It reminded me of Lately and Eyes on You, too. No complaints here!

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I was expecting this song the most after hearing the highlight medley… And I am not disappointed. I thought why it sounded familiar… And then realised that it’s really like a typical 2nd gen song, like no breakdowns but just a continuous flow. For me it sounded more like ZE:A’s The ghost of wind at first listen. I do hope Golcha does a comeback later in the future with a song that just hits you in the face, instead of groovy or edgier trap based songs… Hoping for the best😊 And thank you Nick for the review^^

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yan zaman says:

October 9, 2020 at 9:10 am

Golden Child have never used trap in any of their songs. Just wanted to tell you this.😀

I don’t know if they have but I lean more on the side that they haven’t used it

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- Maya2818 says:
  
  October 9, 2020 at 9:58 pm
  
  Oh yeah I knew that they don’t use that usually,but I was thinking about the very slight possibility because of the genre’s large influence in kpop in the recent years… but Ofcourse, I trust woollim.
  
  And we both lean on the same side😊
  
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