Though I’ve always loved AOA’s discography, I was only familiar with a few of the members prior to this year’s Queendom series. Because of this, I was delighted to find a group of ladies with an appealing sense of self-deprecating humor and a down-to-earth warmth at odds with their often-glamorous image. Korea seems to have fallen in love all over again as well, which makes the release of new single Come See Me (날 보러 와요) a big opportunity for the group.
Come See Me ticks off many of the boxes I look for in a K-pop track. It’s got a big, catchy chorus, propulsive electro production and no unnecessary momentum shifts. Yet, I find myself “in like” with the song, when I’d rather be in love. At their Brave Brothers-produced best, AOA painted a quirky, idiosyncratic brand of pop music that always seemed to be bursting with ideas and energy. Since returning as a sextet, and now a quintet, the girls have retained the catchy pop gloss of their past material but outsourced the songwriting to various European (and Korean) teams. The result feels a little more generic and safe.
As far as pop songs go, Come See Me is solid as a rock. It presents its Eurodance-meets-Spaghetti-Western motif right away, offering a swirling verse that’s as predictable as it is enjoyable. The build that follows is about as classic an EDM approach as you could expect, and forewarns a lifeless beat drop that (thankfully) never appears. Instead, Come See Me hits us with a fleshed-out, two-part chorus that even finds some room for Jimin’s trademark “heys”. I can’t fault the melody here except to say I feel like I’ve heard it before in many a faceless European dance track. The fact that it feels somewhat fresh in 2019 K-Pop says more about this year than it does the quality of the song. I can’t imagine any listener disliking a track like this, but I wish it caught us off-balance at least once during its three-and-a-half minutes.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
Be sure to add your own rating by participating in the poll below!
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
In my mind’s ear I can imagine a fusion of this song and Sunny Hill’s recent comeback that leans all the way into the fun Western influence while still having a strong dance beat and a barrage of quirky hooks.
The 2nd chorus part here is still really catchy though, I feel like it’ll grow on people after a bit.
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Actually it turns out the song I was auralizing was just Cowboy by f(x):
Maybe I’m kidding but also I really do love this weird gem of a song. I’m surprised it was never featured as a review on here!
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😎
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It seems like I really am in the minority on this one. It wasn’t bad at all but it’s got this super generic latin influence that I’ve always disliked for years now (not kpop specific). I’ve never really enjoyed it all that much but I’m so tired of this latin sound right now. I still think the song is enjoyable but I’ll probably never download it. If it plays I’ll let it play.
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I respectfully disagree with your rating, I’d give it a 4 or 5 at best. This track really typifies the generic k-pop sound that my friends think all k-pop is. AOA should have been given hoes and spades with this track, because no new ground was broken here.
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Well, I guess you just proved the last line of my review to be false! 🙂
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This song was produced by RBW’s production team Kim Dohoon and Yongbae. I have to admit, I give this a 7.5. It’s good but it’s not quite strong. Doesn’t feel like I’ve listened to an AOA song. Brave Brothers is the way to go. I wish they went back to them. This outsourcing to foreign music producers isn’t the way to go. They don’t KNOW AOA whereas Brave Brothers DO in terms of how to best utilize their talents.
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Oh duh, you’re right. I knew that, too! I think I was still thinking about Bingle Bangle.
#Edited the review with the correction.
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Well, if you think about it, going to RBW for this song was probably a smart idea. AOA was showered with praise for their Queendom cover of mamamoo’s “Egotistic” (which is also written by Kim Dohoon). So it kind of makes sense for them to try to recapture some of that magic. Somewhere during the creation process, the song strayed a little too far, but that’s my opinion.
As far as going back to Brave Brothers, I’m not sure that’s the direction the girls want to go. They needed Kang Dong-chul when AOA failed to instantly succeed. So, the skirts got shorter, the legs got longer, ooh la la. I think they want to forget the “shaking their asses” aspect of their past and embrace a mature concept.
As far as Western creators versus homegrown? That’s a hit or miss arena in itself with arguments for or against on either side. Like you, I cherish the “hey” day (pun intended) of sexy AOA. Who knows? They may surprise us with another “Short Hair” in the future. Time will tell.
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Starting from a “10” rating, my scoring:
Observations (No points applied):
– First few notes (before the singing starts), reminded me of Shakira and/or Enrique Iglasias. Verdict: N/A.
Pluses:
– While I’m not a big fan of Latin pop, I actually liked the nod to “música española” in this piece. Verdict: +1 point.
– The girls all stay in their lower registers. Verdict: +1 point.
– The girls are becoming a viable 5 piece group. I didn’t think about Choa or Mina a single time during my listen. Verdict: +1 point.
Negatives:
– Whomever mixed this song was clearly asleep at the switch. The music becomes overly thick as the song progresses. Too much layering, too many sounds trying to compete for center spot, and WAY too much white noise and fuzz. Towards the end of the song, the music always sounds like you’re listening to it with a TV in the room that is just displaying static. I was listening to this song with a good set of cans on my head. I can’t imagine what it sounds like on a tinny phone speaker. Verdict: -2 points.
– Jimin’s heavily compressed and muffled “Hey”‘s were a misfire. There were better ways they could’ve infused them. Verdict: -1 point.
– While there are hooks in the song, none of them are barbed; ergo; they aren’t echoing in my head after the song is over. Verdict: -1 point.
– Will this song make it onto one of my playlists? Nope. Verdict: -1 point.
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Final verdict: 7
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All 5 songs on the “New Moon” mini-album are worthy of a first listen because I think there will be something for everyone among them. It’s not an all-encompassing exploration of music, but there is enough deviation that at least one song will stick to the wall when thrown.
Of the five songs, the one that really leaped out at me is “My Way”. It’s a fun song that sparks nostalgia for me. I get tinges of late 90’s Western Pop from some of the synth stabs. There’s a pleasant “Robyn” vibe threaded in with the singing. It’s a song I didn’t expect, especially after listening to the first four songs, but gladly accept as the closing track. This one will make my playlist.
Reference:
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Bleh…
Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBs8HpKW9pI
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As someone who just listened on the tiny cell phone speaker it doesnt sound as bad as the new exo song which is all noise. The melody comes through nicely on top, as do the unnecessary trap beats.
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It sounds like generic kpop to me, except it has an actual sung chorus which sounds like generic anywhere pop.
Sonny boy likes it. He also likes the Gucci ad that ran before it.
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