Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Golden Child are one of those mid-tier groups in terms of popularity that have delivered pretty consistent quality with their releases over the years and deserve more credit than they get from K-pop fandom at large. They’ve explored different sounds and genres over that period but have usually done well to adjust, and they take on another one with “Feel Me” to similarly successful results.
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At its core, “Feel Me” is a nice little poppy rock song (or rock-y pop song) that’s buoyed by Golden Child’s vocals and enhanced further by subtle production choices. While guitars are obviously a staple of this sound (and they come eventually), it was the atmospheric synths paired with the beat hits during the verses that gave this a K-pop edge that prevented it from falling into comparisons with strictly rock bands that would make for tougher competition.
While those touches in the verses keeps things moving along and builds a nice sense of tension and anticipation, undoubtedly the highlight of the track is the chorus, where the track ramps up the guitar work and the drumming kicks up a notch, all while the melody propels the song to a new level. It’s not necessarily one of those instant earworms, but the totality of it has this soothing surge of energy to it all, while the “feel me” repetition to start the hook is enough for it to get by on repeat listens. In the end, it plays as almost this emotional kind of rock track that successfully navigates changing tones, featuring softer moments that eventually lead into said emotion pouring forth during the outbursts.
That said, I do wish it pushed things even further with the central melody, as I think they’re plenty capable of going that direction. But that especially applies during the final reprise, where the glitchiness leads into a more punchy and dynamic finale that really could’ve used equally dynamic vocal ad-libs and/or a wailing guitar solo at some point. Still, I do appreciate their performance during the more pensive moments of the song, as the necessary sincerity and sensitivity can be hard to capture on a track like this.
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Of course, the issues that do exist are mostly about sifting through degrees of great, which make them relatively minor compared to the overall package delivered by Golden Child. “Feel Me” is a good and thoroughly listenable rock track at worst, but for me it goes beyond that as it’s proven to be very replayable and highly useful for moods where you want that burst of energy but with a softer edge instead of aggression.
