[Review] SNUPER continue a downward slide thanks to “You In My Eyes”

I can’t remember a time when a group’s music has fallen off my personal bias list as quickly as SNUPER’s. The group went from releasing two of my top three singles of 2017 to churning out an album so faceless and unappealing that I choose to pretend it doesn’t exist at all. And now, they’ve doubled down on that misstep. “You In My Eyes” is what happens when you run a poll to select your next single, but you don’t have a sample size large enough to make the voting meaningful.

This was a flawed idea from the start — releasing a months-old b-side never designed for promotion as the title track to an album devoid of any new songs (no, Korean translations of Japanese tracks don’t count). But it was made more problematic by being the result of a Makestar fan poll — one of those “you can cast a vote every hour” affairs that only encourage a few dedicated users to stuff the ballot box. As sad as it is to say, SNUPER just don’t have a fanbase large enough to make this kind of poll anything more than an exercise in self-satisfaction.

And so, we get “You In My Eyes” — one of the most generic offerings from their spring album ‘Blossom‘. The song (like “Tulips“) was composed by Obros, who seem intent on wiping any of the unique retro appeal Sweetune gave SNUPER’s discography prior to this year.

To be fair, the instrumental has been given a slight tweaking for this re-release, though the differences aren’t all that noticeable. The chorus feels just as lethargic as it did in April. The irritating “whoop whoop” and “yeah yeah” affectations feel even more constant and unconvincing. It’s fine to change directions. A group can’t simply repeat the exact style over and over and expect success. But with this and “Tulips”, SNUPER have found themselves in the mushy middle, unable to commit to anything remotely memorable.