Song Review: HYO (Hyoyeon) – Dessert (ft. Loopy & Soyeon) | The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion

Hyoyeon’s latest release under her HYO stage name has been classified as “jungle pop.” Jungle is a hybrid sub-genre that first emerged from the heavily-percussive breakbeat hardcore, incorporating elements of reggae, dancehall, funk and several other sounds into a dense, noisy brew that favors repeated electronic loops. That all sounds more interesting than Dessert turns out to be. Amidst its stuffed instrumental, the track enlists (G)I-DLE’s Soyeon and rapper Loopy for even more competing elements.

I appreciate Hyoyeon’s willingness to explore various sub-genres of electronic music. She seems to have an authentic interest in the production of her solo material. With that said, I wish she would have further developed the psy-trance of last year’s unexpectedly excellent Badster. Dessert has its moments, but is let down by a repetitive hook that consists of little more than the performers repeating the song’s title in the most badass cadence they can muster. It’s a lame English-language refrain, and undermines Dessert’s cooler segments.

I have no great love for Soyeon’s performance style, but her melodic hip-hop verses are the best thing about Dessert. While her bratty tone grated on (G)I-DLE’s Oh My God (probably my least favorite K-pop song of the year), it’s a dynamite match for jungle pop. The song’s first twenty seconds hold great promise, and actually sound like the base for a great (G)I-DLE track. In comparison, Hyoyeon’s more restrained vocal feels like an afterthought in her own song, though she has the most pleasant tone of everyone on Dessert. I won’t even bother going into how irritating I find the processing on Loopy’s droning rap. You all know how I feel about these kind of effects.

When it comes down to it, the whole thing’s kind of a messy mishmash. I’d gladly indulge in about a third of Dessert’s ingredients. The rest give me a stomachache.

Hooks	7
Production	8
Longevity	7
Bias	7
RATING	7.25

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9 thoughts on “Song Review: HYO (Hyoyeon) – Dessert (ft. Loopy & Soyeon)”

This song is so totally not my style, so I cannot comment on the quality. That said

1) The line “You know what I deserve, Dessert” is catchy as all hell. In the US this would be a multi-channel ad theme for an entire line of tasty treats, the TV version, the 30 sec version, the 10 sec version, the print ad version. I can even imagine my brother-in-law wandering into the kitchen declaring it as he opens up the freezer door. As a full length 3 minute song, not so much.

2) If this is Hyo’s song featuring Soyeon, why do they start with Soyeon on the first verse and only introduce Hyo with the lesser quieter prechorus. It should have started with Hyo, and then Soyeon gets the lesser part. I could see if the featuring was a guy who is talking up how awesome the main singer is (eg Rihanna + JayZ “Umbrella”), then the 1st verse could start with him. But here the two ladies are so equally matched, so Soyeon takes over Hyo’s song from her from the very start. Whyeee? Oh, yes, and lets also have a rap guest too, why not.

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This is incredibly fun. It just feels like party: that’s why I’m not bothered by Soyeon and Loopy’s parts. In fact, I think they really add up to the song!

And in my opinion, Hyo still manages to infuse this one with her personality (that middle 8 with the laugh!).
Oh, and I love that each chorus bring something new to the table (like that PC Music-like breakdown after the second one).

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Horrible

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Her releases truly seem to be her experimenting with all the tools she’s allowed and it’s fun to see someone having fun with their work. Truthfully I do prefer Badster but this is also a good time

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