Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
CHERRY ON TOP is a new girl group under United Creative that consists of four members — U, Ian, Yoonseul, and Naye — and they just made their debut with “HI FIVE“. Well, they actually debuted a couple weeks ago, but I only recently came across them randomly, which probably speaks to their nugu status.
https://youtu.be/gIu3McQ09TE
Well well well, nugu or not, this is a hell of a debut effort. “HI FIVE” starts stripped down with the members creating their own rhythm over pulses of electronic sounds, and things quickly get promising when the beat kicks in as there’s a nice groove to it all. The pre-chorus build is also textbook, or at least it seemed that way, but I liked how it actually pump fakes you once and repeats, which builds tension further.
Of course, after that trick the chorus better pay dividends, and fortunately it delivers. The central refrain that’s punctuated by “hi five” is fleshed out and catchy enough as it is, but the “you and I, we together, you and I, we go together” section before launching back into the central refrain was a perfect inclusion that keeps it from getting repetitive.
Really though, fuck any detailed or technical explanations, the bottom line is that “HI FIVE” is just a lot of fun and CHERRY ON TOP has made a hell of an impression. Honestly, I tried my best to convince myself I didn’t like it THAT much just so I wouldn’t have to write a review, especially knowing that like 10 people max would read it. Yet the more I hit repeat in order to make that case to my ears, the more I realized the problem was that I could listen to it over and over without tiring of it. I played myself.
