I just havn’t been able to get into Cherry Bullet. Apart from their great debut, none of their singles have really connected with me. This lack of enthusiasm was furthered thanks to February’s Hands Up which attempted to incorporate an interesting Für Elise sample to less than impressive results. I thought that track was a little too flat for my liking so when I found out the group were returning with a summer themed single, I was a bit more optimistic. Unfortunately Aloha Oe continues the groups string of underwhelming singles.
Although I love a good summer song, Aloha Oe just doesn’t do anything for me. It’s one of those songs that adhere strongly to the standard Kpop summer setlist without ever really doing anything to differentiate itself. It’s nice and fun but pretty difficult to recall once you’ve finished listening to it. It’s opening verse has a nice playful vibe to it and while I do enjoy some of the instrumental flourishes as we enter the pre-chorus, nothing here is really worth mentioning. The second verse also collapses into the dreaded half-time trap breakdown, this time assisted with some very distracting blasts of distorted big room brass. It’s not really something I can imagine myself listening to over and over again and in a summer with so many strong tracks, Aloha Oe doesn’t really manage to conjure up anything to really pull me in.
In saying this, there are moments where Aloha Oe does exhibit signs of greatness. The post chorus hook and celebratory synth line are especially addicting and could have really been show-stopping moments had they been tethered to a stronger track. The same could be said for the bridge onwards, which injects a more generous dose of energy to create a pretty enjoyable finale. But these moments are far too sparingly utilised to really improve upon my initial opinion on the track. This coupled with a rather unpleasant vocal arrangement and you’ve got another Cherry Bullet comeback that I just can’t get behind.
Verses: 7
Chorus: 7
Production: 6
Performance: 7
Final Rating: 6.75 / 10
KBopped 
One thought on “SONG REVIEW: Aloha Oe – Cherry Bullet”