A K-pop group’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve.
Lucy would tell you that the strength of their music is “ambience,” and I wouldn’t disagree. But, I’d argue that their best work is even more indebted to a sense of build. A three minute pop song doesn’t really do them justice, and that’s one reason I found new single Hero a little underwhelming. Thankfully, it’s paired with the brilliant Stove (난로) – a song already familiar to fans through live performances.
Though not a rollicking epic like last year’s Flare, Stove carries a similar slow-burn quality. It’s largely structured on a looping verse, which repeats often but snowballs with greater prominence as the instrumental builds and the phrasing becomes more dramatic. This is a really odd comparison, but the melody actually reminds me of one of my favorite trot songs: Day That Sun Comes Up by Song Dae Kwan. Despite completely different tones, the two share a melodic warmth the envelops the listener.
Like all of Lucy’s work, you don’t realize how brilliant Stove is until you reach its climax. That long, drawn-out build makes the song’s catharsis all the more gratifying. It kicks off with a stirring high note courtesy of lead vocal Sangyeop, followed by a moment of stillness that fades to complete silence as if the song has finished. But, it soon revs up once more, as a choir of voices join the band to drive things home with a resounding, cinematic flourish. At this point, the track’s build has really taken you on a complete journey, and nobody is doing this better right now than Lucy.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 10 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 9 |
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The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Not surprised, but happily so.
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“Hero” is good and all that stuff, but if you ask me, It pales in comparison to “Stove”. which should have been the goddamn title track…
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Too long to promote on music shows, though. I’m sure that factors into decision-making.
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I think they could just cut a few parts…..you know, like to give a cliffhanger story type of way. Not only would that make a few people interested, It can fulfill K-pop’s hunger of more concepts.
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Off Topic, but why does ATEEZ feel the need to make so many concept photos? Not hating or anything, but we could really get music faster if they didn’t waste much of their own time trying to catch a good look.
Anyways, If they want to do it, I’ll be fine with it.
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I love slow burns in stories – not in songs. If it doesn’t grab me right off the bat, I want to skip it and find something else.
Reading your (and commenters’) praise, I feel it’s worth overriding my instinct now and then and sitting down to really listen to this kind of music. And it is beautiful. It’s so much more subtle than my usual taste, but it is not slow or sad or boring. It feels like a really long crescendo.
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I’m exactly the same way! I do love a good ballad or slow-burn song, but I’m not exactly great at FINDING them — I hear a couple measures, make a very neutral face, and carry on to whatever Day6 song strikes my fancy that day. It’s always such a good feeling when I finally do let myself experience a really nice, building song, and half of my favorites only are so because they were so fervently promoted by everyone here.
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Outro is also lovely. Hero, Stove and the outro form a very nice trio.
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