Song Review: (G)I-DLE – Hann (Alone) | The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion

After a strong start to the year, Cube Entertainment has collapsed in recent weeks with the mishandling of the E’Dawn/HyunA dating “scandal” and BTOB members’ impending military enlistments. It’s bound to be a rough road in the coming months, but new girl group (G)I-DLE remains a bright spot for the agency. Their May debut saw unexpectedly massive success, even though it adhered to a well-worn tropical pop sound. Thankfully, follow-up Hann (한(一)) retains the girls’ unique charisma but ventures into more interesting musical territory.

Much has been made of BLACKPINK becoming 2NE1’s successors, but (G)I-DLE seem more than capable of vying for that title as well. Hann embraces the edgier side of K-Pop girl groups, but doesn’t sacrifice strong pop melody in the process. Built on an evocative whistle that sounds as if its been torn straight from an old western (or horror) movie, Hann’s opening verse employs a simple, but effective melody. An atmospheric brush of strings gives this segment added drama and — more importantly — steers it away from current trends.

After an extended build, Hann impresses with its airy, harmonized hook. It’s not a particularly fleshed out chorus, but it’s so gorgeously arranged. The simplicity is striking, especially since the melody chooses to go soft rather than hard-hitting. In its own way, this shift completely upends expectations and really sets Hann apart from the crowd. The production could have gone even punchier here to fully tease out the contrast, but it’s still compelling in its dark, cinematic atmosphere. If (G)I-DLE can maintain (and build on) this quality, there’s no reason they can’t sit comfortably alongside K-Pop’s a-list.

Hooks	9
Production	9
Longevity	9
Bias	8
RATING	8.75

15 thoughts on “Song Review: (G)I-DLE – Hann (Alone)”

It’s really bothering me that when we first hear the whistle at the beginning of the song it begins to resolve downward which is very satisfying, but then it never RESOLVES AGAIN, WHICH IS AWFUL. PLEASE RESOLVE TO THE ROOT NOTE. CADENCES ARE IMPORTANT.

Also parts of the arrangement give me tinnitus. What is happening there? This has the potential to be a great song, allowing certain changes. All of the harmonic parts that I find interesting are buried in the back of the mix, where I have to strain to hear them. It’ll probably smooth out for me over time, but it sure is prickly the first time around.

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spectrales says:

August 15, 2018 at 3:45 am

Oh god that bothered the hell out of me too. It was actually distracting from my enjoyment of the song, lol. It resolves once more at the very end in the MV version but in the song itself you’re just left hanging. 😦

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Their first single was really good and showed promise, but the “I am” album didn’t have any other standout tracks on it. I was worried this song would suck. So glad it doesn’t! These girls have personality and talent. Now they just need to get some quality songs out there consistently. Still not sure how to pronounce their name, is it “I – DLE” or “G – I – DLE” ?

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Nick says:

August 14, 2018 at 5:48 pm

I’ve been hearing “I-dle” a lot. I think the “g” is silent, which honestly kind of makes it unnecessary.

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Andrew S. says:

August 14, 2018 at 7:32 pm

Are you sure? Because ‘Don’t Text me’ was fantastic

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I personally found the chorus underwhelming; the energy in this song is nowhere near the level in Latata. The song felt mellow at times; Soyeon and Yuqi’s rap portion brought back a tiny bit of momentum, only to have it mellow out towards the end. It’s not a bad song by any means, just wish it would have had a much harder drop and energy like the debut, even though the song intentionally shifts between dramatic and soft instrumentals.

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Raajaaa says:

August 18, 2018 at 5:07 pm

Same; from the second chorus on, i wanted something livelier in the background, like a chorus extension with a completely different melody.

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