The instrumental carries an unrelenting sense of drive that makes sure to keep the momentum up, listening experience straightforward and even elevate the tracks quiter moments into exciting little detours.

And though it borrows a healthy dose of its sound from predecessors INFINITE, it does so with such panache and style that it feels completely earned. Fans have long wanted the group to promote a more straightforward dance pop sound and though they’ve tackled this sound incredibly well in a number of b-sides, Replay stands as their first promoted effort that carries this sound. Thankfully, all those worries were completely unfounded as Replay takes all the elements of the groups excellent back catalogue along with some elements of the past to craft an absolute monster of a comeback.įrom the explosive electronic stabs that punctuate the tracks opening moments to the grungy guitar that pops up during its latter half, Replay is an absolute thrill from start to finish, interpolating so many current trends into a dynamic dance pop package that feels so fresh. And with this being the groups first comeback without leader Daeyeol, the darker concept photos and future edm genre tag, I was a little concerned for what Replay would bring. Oh how could the group that gave us stunners like Lady be devolving into such bland, uninspired sounds. Ra Pa Pam‘s moombhaton inspired beat felt lesser in the shadows of the superior Burn It, DDARA‘s understated dance sound quickly got lost in shuffle and the less said about the groups Japanese efforts the better. I’ve always loved Golden Child but ever since last year’s Ra Pa Pam, I feel as though the group have started to slowly lose their way. But with the release of Golden Child’s explosive Replay, I’ve been pulled right back into the thrilling wonderland I had been missing. But even with these, my current musical rotation has either been dominated by fun, friend influenced jams or the soundtrack of whatever movie I’m currently obsessed with ( exhibit A, exhibit B). And how could I forget SNSD’s grand return.

Nayeon’s No Problem is one of my favourite and most replayed songs of the year and NewJeans’ Hype Boy, KB’s Be Free, CSR’s Pop?Pop!, from20’s Chemical and ATEEZ’s Guerrilla and CyberPunk have all been some recent standouts.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed anything though. Nothing has been particularly bad but a sense of mundanity has fallen over what used to be an otherwise exciting and always fun musical landscape. From what it’s worth, I’ve been incredibly bored with the overall state of k-pop recently. This is the kind of music that excites me. Will I regret it? (Well, probably in the future when my supervisor wants my draft) NOPE. Am I potentially risking my literature review for this review? Yes.

Replay book summary