As SM Leisure’s ascendant woman group, aespa have dipped their toes into a wide range of musical endeavors. Rare Korean comebacks are interspersed with English and Japanese work, guided them on a world pathway to success. Nonetheless, their sound has been in every single place, as if SM can’t determine whether or not they need them to be the following BLACKPINK or one thing nearer to breezy, Westernized pop. New single Drama leans decisively towards the previous, however I’d reasonably hear aespa simply be aespa.

On the floor, there’s not a lot right here for me. I’m fairly exhausted with infinite “I’m so badass” catchphrasey songwriting and vocal fry posturing, and Drama is essentially a lurching train in company world-building. I do know some readers hate once I evaluate artists to different artists, however that’s the secret in an trade as insular as this. And, there’s no manner you may take heed to Drama and never hear the BLACKPINK affect. It’s tempered by SM’s penchant for bizarre, distorted manufacturing, and there are moments when this instrumental legitimately slaps. I simply want they’d discovered a greater music to hitch it to.

If I take off my jaded ‘growing old Ok-pop fan’ hat and ignore Drama‘s vacuous makes an attempt at what passes for “empowering” lyrics, I believe I can virtually get into the campiness of its repeated incantation. The issue is, the music appears lethal critical. There’s not a tongue in cheek to be discovered, and that’s a disgrace. I like when Ok-pop goes bigger than life, however this melodrama is at its greatest with a wink and a nod. Fortunately, Drama‘s explosive bridge reminds us simply how properly aespa can sing and its herky-jerky stomp manages to ignite some 2014-era f(x) sparks right here and there. As is commonly the case, I simply crave greater than the identical idol group boasts regurgitated over new manufacturing.

Grade: C+