At this point I’m honestly surprised that DIA still exist. Though they whoo’d me (no pun intended) with last years retro-infused WOOWA it’s been more than a year since that track dropped. The group have been through so many member configurations and hiatuses that each comeback feels like a gift from the gods. Even this comeback comes without some of the groups core members, Chaeyeon and Somyi. Combine the extreme mismanagement with a rather forgettable discography and you’ve got one of the worst cases of wasted potential the industry has seen. And then you have Hug U, which really doesn’t feel like anything.
The last time DIA had their take on summer was nearly two years ago with the fun but rather slight, WooWoo. I liked that song quite abit although its more restrained take on summer wasn’t something that was really up my alley. Hug follows a similar restrained summertime template but isn’t nearly as successful. Produced by the always consistent production duo of Iggy & Youngbae (responsible for Gfriends incredible 2015-17 singles run), Hug carries the same new-jackswing inspired template that made tracks like Love Whisper so enjoyable. But while I enjoy the upbeat backbone, the rest of the track just feels so, dare I say it…. boring? It sounds like one of those Kdrama OST’s that you know exists but rather than be played during any iconic scenes, it would play as background fodder to those usually inconsequential ‘bonding’ scenes.
In an effort to collect my thoughts on Hug, I found a comment on reddit that described it perfectly. “It feels like a goodbye song”. It sounds a lot like one of those farewell songs a group releases before their untimely disbandment announcement, and honestly its kind of sad. Hug is one of those songs that just evaporates from memory after listening to it and while in no way a ‘bad’ song, I just don’t see myself ever coming back to it.
Verses: 6
Chorus: 7
Production: 7
Performance: 7
Final Rating: 6.75 / 10
KBopped 
DIA is really an awesome Kpop group. I have been following them since 2016. It’s really unfortunate that they keep losing members over the past years but the current members stay together longer this time. I want to see them become popular in the same level as Blackpink and Red Velvet.
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