Oh boy.
In my July monthly roundup I mentioned how Daniel’s pre-release single, Waves had fallen from a rather strong single to something that I rarely returned to. While still a fine song, I described my desire to see a much stronger and unique title track. Well, I’m pretty sure I jinxed it because Who U Are (깨워) isn’t just more underwhelming than Waves but it’s probably the most faceless thing Daniel has released since his debut.
This is going to be a rather short review because I honestly can’t bring together much to talk about at all. With many modern K-pop tracks there are usually alot of things that I can discuss but songs like this honestly just leave me cold. For me Who U Are is a complete bore, lacking much of an engaging melody and instrumental backing. The entire thing feels oddly compressed like it’s wanting to burst into something more substantial but pulls back at the last second. It’s not bad but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s good either. It’s a song that leaves me with pure indifference and is a suprising step down from Waves.
I bring up the comparison between the two because Who U Are and Waves are two songs that are cut from the same cloth. But if I were given a choice on which song to promote, I would easily pick Waves. This isn’t a hit on Daniel as a performer but at least Waves diverse set of performers make listening to it kind of entertaining. Who U Are lacks that kind of magnetism to really stand out. And because of that we’re left with a track that really fails to leave any kind of mark once it’s over. And that’s a real shame.
Verses: 6
Chorus: 6
Production: 6
Performance: 7
Final Rating: 6.25 / 10
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