Almost 2 months on from their debut, C9 entertainments newest girl group have made a quick fire comeback with new single Assa. While technically a comeback, this track is being billed as a second debut, similar to how Blackpink debuted with both Whistle and Boombayah. However, the two month delay between songs does seem like an odd debut promotional strategy, even if it maintains Cignature’s presence within the public eye. And while ASSA (아싸) is a much more unique than their debut, it unfortunately succumbs to many of the same issues.
Opening with an instantly addicting funky guitar and snare loop, ASSA‘s instrumental alone is worthy of praise. I adore the 80’s influenced groove the track takes here, it feels refreshing in the best way possible, and transitions into one of the years most unique techno drops. While I have complained about drop choruses in my last two reviews, ASSA’s drop is probably its strongest moment. The psychedelic trance like groove of the hook is wonderfully executed and attached to a stronger track could have worked absolute wonders.
Unfortunately, the vocal production for ASSA is pretty much unbearable. While I did complain about the high pitched vocals of their debut, it’s pretty much turned up to 11 in this track. Usually I’m not too fussed about vocals, but for a track like this they come very close to ruining the whole track for me. I can’t help but think how much stronger the song could have been had the girls not been forced to contort their voices in such cartoony and overtly ‘cute’ styles. But thankfully, the strength of the songs unique backing track Is enough to *just* push it over the line.
Verses: 7
Chorus: 8
Production: 8
Performance: 6
Final Rating: 7.25 / 10
KBopped 