Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Though I have my qualms about digital singles replacing album releases, the biggest upside of a monthly title track schedule is that it allows an artist’s material to change along with the time of the year. Now that winter’s over, I expect that DAY6’s singles will begin to take on a sunnier pop style. They’ve already proven their versatility on their excellent 2015 and 2016 mini albums, and “I’m Serious” offers another welcome change of pace for the rock group.
From the start, “I’m Serious” jettisons the harder riffs of January and March‘s releases for a soft acoustic sound. The instrumental screams summer, bolstered by a near-constant wisp of strings and a heavy dose of harmonic backing vocals. Towards the end, the song even breaks into a short doo-wop-inspired refrain where the guys strip away most of the instrumentation for an inspired a capella breakdown. The overall sound matches well with DAY6’s diverse roster of vocal tones, once again stamping their unique spot in Korea’s idol rock pantheon.
The melody of “I’m Serious” is similarly breezy, bopping along with few noticeable peaks. Its chorus isn’t one of the group’s more memorable pieces of melody, but that actually serves the song well. The track is more about painting a specific vibe than showing off its charms in any obvious way. This approach will likely yield strong results in the long run, as it’s hard to imagine any of the amiable elements in “I’m Serious” growing stale. That post-chorus “I can’t stop loving you” hook is particularly ingratiating. It manages to distill all of the song’s best intentions into one echoed refrain that endures long after the track has ended.
