While I predominantly cover singles on here, I’ve always been an avid consumer of albums. More often than not, this results in some songs that I adore but others that I detest. As a remedy to this issue, we have Beast Sides! These songs put the Beast in B-side and are either stronger than their accompanying title track or songs that are just too solid to leave out.
You know I was going to find a way to talk about this song right? Oh My Girl are my favourite K-pop group and I’m almost pre-disposed to like almost all their tracks. But even with this kind of overwhelming bias I found April’s “Nonstop” album kind of a bore. Apart from lead single Nonstop which has only gotten more addictive with time, most of the other tracks on the album lacked the impact of the groups best work. This is probably why the groups new Japanese song Lemonade feels so god damn vital. It’s the kind of upbeat summer smash hit I’ve been wanting for ages.
Oh My Girl have tried their hand out at summer songs before, most notably with last years Bungee but few have had as much of an instant head rush as Lemonade. Its frothy dance beat and soaring chorus are perfectly suited towards the season and would have made for an incredible single. It follows the likes of songs such as Weki Meki’s brilliant Moya Moya, the chart conquering summer single that never was. That’s honestly a shame because much like that song I think that had this song been actively promoted or even released as part of a repackage of Nonstop then it would have gone onto rule the summer.
So what makes Lemonade so great? Well for one, that chorus has got to be one of the best I’ve heard all year. It’s just brilliant, unadulterated pop bombast with one hell of a melody to boast. It’s breezy, roller rink ready backing track is just so god damn refreshing and the girls deliver an equally anthemic refrain over it. Oh My Girl have my favourite girl group vocal line in the industry right now and songs like showcase exactly why. It’s so great to hear an entire song where the girls don’t resort to chirpy aegyo refrains or bratty rap breaks. This alone makes Lemonade a standout. I complained in my review of Nonstop how I wished it would have leaned more into its more melodic aspects and thankfully Lemonade is all melody. And while I don’t think it would have been as big of a hit as Nonstop is on the charts, If I had a choice I would easily chosen Lemonade as the lead single for a Korean comeback. Here’s to hoping we get more material like this for the girls next comeback.
Verses: 9
Chorus: 10
Production: 9
Performance: 9
Final Rating: 9.25 / 10
KBopped 
2 thoughts on “Beast Sides: Lemonade – Oh My Girl”