SONG REVIEW: Dreamcatcher – Vision

As someone who has all but left the whole “fandom” culture surrounding K-pop, I’ve become increasingly more detached with the idea of following certain groups just for the sake of it. As such, most groups that I used to consider “bias” groups no longer hold such a position. But even with this shifted mentality, there are some groups that I can almost always count on for some “good fucking food” (Ramsey et.al., 2011). For the boys, Golden Child remain the gold standard and with the thrilling Vision, Dreamcatcher once again prove why they remain arguably K-pop’s most exciting girl group.

Based on this song and ATEEZ’ aptly titled b-side (should have been single) Cyberpunk, Edenary have clearly either been playing a lot of Cyberpunk 2077 or listening to adjacent soundtracks recently. The crunchy, electronic soundscapes heavily recall one of that games most iconic soundtracks (which I just found out isn’t even official), introducing a new, exciting sound into the k-pop landscape. Vision‘s atmospheric opening and first verse an excellent proponent of this particular influence, incorporating the kind of pulsating electronic beat often found in the groups back catalogue and instantly kicking the track into gear. It’s however a much more atmospheric build compared to previous effort Maison, creating a gripping “push and pull” soundscape by luring the listener in rather than hitting them right over the head from the first few seconds. An approach that I think works especially well here. The girls also sound phenomenal as always, bringing a stirring performance that punctuates each moment with the necessary grit and/or emotion needed to really sell even the tracks more rocky moments (Dami’s second verse for example).

Many people have mentioned the nu-metal influence and this is most evident during Vision‘s killer chorus. This is arguably the heaviest the group have gone on a title track and despite the overall weight of its centrepiece, there’s still a laser focused melody to be wrought out of Vision’s relatively aggressive brew. I adore the ascending vocal line that emphasises the tracks title during the chorus. It gives the song a real sense of dynamics, ensuring that hook never falls into mundanity despite an already potent arrangement and production. Which by the way remains immaculate throughout. If anything, I wish Vision built to a more exciting climax. Some of the groups strongest and most iconic efforts are regarded as such thanks to their epic final acts, something which Vision surprisingly lacks. Rather than climax off the heels of a blistering guitar solo like Deja Vu, thrilling double time drop in line with Scream or even an extended outro like You & I, the track kind of just ends. Sure there’s the classic climactic high note and additional adlibs but they’re a little too short lived for me. Now this doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the track too much but boy could it have absolutely legendary with those additional elements.

However, that is but a little bump in the road for a single that manages to continue Dreamcatcher’s near flawless singles run with ease, stretching the groups sound in new, exciting directions whilst still keeping all the attributes that drew fans to them in the first place. They’re just so damn good.

Verses: 9

Chorus: 9

Production: 10

Performance: 9

Final Rating: 9.25 / 10