Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
DIA have returned with “Can’t Stop” by taking a concept that’s been done over and over again and somehow making it feel interesting again.
“Can’t Stop” definitely brings a public-friendly and familiar sound in the mold of A Pink‘s better efforts and G-Friend‘s singles aside from their latest. There are obvious similarities, but complaints about lack of originality in K-pop are pointless, and it’s the execution of the concept that matters in the end. Thankfully, DIA do exceptionally well in this area, even if it takes a bit longer than most to convince.
After the initial burst of the hook and the calmer verses, it seemed like “Can’t Stop” showed all their cards right off the bat and it would be just an above-average innocent girl group track. However, what convinced me that it was something more was when the chorus hit the second time. It just has a different impact due to the quality build the verse provides, and the extra circulars that immediately follow the hook enhances the chorus further with a burst of spontaneity.
The guitar riff bridge definitely took the best parts of G-Friend tracks and incorporated a rap before immediately seguing back into the hook to keep the momentum pumping. And momentum is important throughout “Can’t Stop”, as the track makes excellent use of it, which helps it gets better the longer it goes on rather than feeling repetitive, leading to excellent replayability.
While I was disappointed that they didn’t roll with some kind of iljin schoolgirl concept, the visuals of the music video stayed on point and the choreography thankfully avoided basicness.
As an aside, while I thought this was a dumb look initially, it is definitely growing on me.
https://twitter.com/asianjunkiecom/status/899854055215779841
DIA’s “Can’t Stop” basically takes two concepts from two groups that people already complain about being retreads and remarkably seem to combine them to make them interesting again. Definitely didn’t come into this with high expectations, but the result is the first DIA song I really feel attached to.
