written by: MystifiedBulb
Nine Muses have reached a tricky point in their idol lives. They have established themselves within the K-pop sphere but now need to form a distinctive musical identity in order to maintain a healthy career for a period of time – but will their new song “Dolls” help them swim or force them to sink?
“Dolls” marks the fourth collaboration between Nine Muses and producing team Sweetune and past hits prove that it is certainly a winning combination, especially last year’s “Ticket“, which was as catchy as it was hyper and frenetic. But one could say that Dolls marks a slight change in direction for the group as it moves slightly away from the electronic bubblegum-pop style formed by “Figaro” and “News” into a more brass heavy sound. This shift definitely suits the tone of the vocals and effortlessly helps to display the singers’ timbres in a subtle yet effective way.
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The song itself is smooth and funky, a laid back number which muses about the more painful side of love. But instead of being too bogged down by a stereotypical melancholy sound, the tune is uplifting and slick with powerfully delivered vocals. The best part is that the song is in no way bashful in it’s pop-tastic nature. It may not present anything revolutionary or shocking, but it plays to its strengths – catchy melodies, tight production values and brilliant vocals. Plus, the key signature change at the end is just the cherry on a very well baked cake.
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In essence, “Dolls” is pretty much the perfect pop song. Some might suggest that it rips heavily into Girls’ Generation TTS’ sound of last year, but this track is being aptly released as nothing else in the K-pop market sounds quite like it at the moment. It would be nice to hear more swingy, big band style songs with a modern pop twist rather than the endless stream of EDM inspired tracks that are currently saturating the market.
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Score: 5/5
Singles of any kind are not rated with the same rating system used for mini and full albums.
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Reblogged this on awayfarday.
I always find it odd that music reviewers forget what’s most important about a song; whether it’s fun to listen to, and whether it makes you want to dance. Those two things outweigh everything else when it comes to whether people will listen to it.
Great songs are catchy, but not all catchy songs are great.
True; but like movies, they don’t have to be great to be very, very popular and sell. And selling the product is what it’s all about. Lots of classical music is considered great, but in proportion, few buy it anymore. Where as, Psy, for example, created a piece of entertainment that surely will never be considered great songwriting, but pretty much defined what is ‘catchy’ in today’s market!
From a marketing standpoint, I totally agree with you. But since I dedicate much of my writing to my standards of quality and other aspects of musicality (which include likability as well, definitely), I find it important to firmly express my thoughts about music, because there’s a loud minority who like to do the same.