Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
After the epic that was “Love Wins All”, IU continues to release singles leading up to her The Winning mini, with “Holssi” being the next up. The contrast between this single and her last is stark, as one was always clearly building to something while the other just kinds of coasts along, purposefully or not. And really, the most striking thing about “Holssi” is how empty it feels, both instrumentally and in terms of performance, almost like it’s meant to be played as background music and/or listened to unattentively. I realize minimalism is in, but at least those tracks come with better pacing a lot of the time.
I’m assuming the hook of this is supposed to be that nursery rhyme/schoolyard sounding refrain, which is a demographic that makes sense as it goes along with the messaging of being free and going forward like a plant’s spore in the air, but it’s just too musically unengaging to ever hit home for me. Well, she wanted a chance at a TikTok thingy for the kids, so I guess this is it.
