Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
G-Friend have returned with “Summer Rain“, which … sigh. I get that the album is ‘Parallel‘ and so “Love Whisper” and “Summer Rain” sounding similar is part of the concept or whatever. Fine. But given that “Summer Rain” is basically a downtrodden, emo version of “Love Whisper”, this just never had a chance with me.
What has made G-Friend’s music standout to me in the past is catchy choruses performed over their surprisingly aggressive sound, yet one that still has a poppy innocence to it. They consistently seemed to create a contrast that you don’t hear a ton in K-pop, and they generally drew me in almost immediately. However, ever since “Fingertip” wasn’t a massive hit like their other singles, they’ve basically lost their intestinal fortitude and are just getting safer and safer. With this, they’re creeping dangerously into A Pink territory with basic, beige releases that fail to generate any interesting music but is fine enough to keep their fanbase happy and rake in the money.
In the “Love Whisper” review, I ended by saying that I hope they find their direction, but “Summer Rain” only digs their hole deeper. It’s discouraging because they’re not actually falling back to their old concept as a safety net, as at least that would still be interesting. Rather, it has ended up that they appear to be just chasing that magic again, and it’s resulting in a sound that’s rather lazy and one note. Their next comeback sure seems like it’ll be important, and as a fan of their music, I hope they pull out of the nosedive.
