Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
ONF are a rare group in that despite having some truly great musical output over the years, they almost seemed to get more attention for their time together in the military than people gave them prior. Either way, now they’re back and hopefully people give them the same attention now, as “Love Effect” goes down as their latest bright anthem.
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The foundational beat is appropriately funky, the energy is as bouncy as ever, and both the orchestral strings of the pre-chorus and brass of the chorus make for something of a standout production. Speaking of which, the decision to go with a piano-laced rap verse instead of working in a generic-ass trap break like every other group is a nice play on the switch up. Furthermore, “Love Effect” has a nicely-timed downshift for the bridge that prevents repetitiveness, then uses that to eventually springboard into a jubilant final chorus with a key change, as these songs always should.
That said, this actually didn’t hit with me immediately because the melodies and hooks aren’t quite as instantly memorable as their previous anthems like “Complete” and “Beautiful Beautiful“. Nevertheless, the chorus is meaty enough to satisfy most listeners, and eventually the peppy electro-pop effort should be able to win you over based on the strength of production and little Easter eggs like callbacks to their past hits.
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With the dearth of boy group songs on the charts nowadays due partially to them forgetting what happiness is, ONF’s return is timely, as their well-crafted, almost throwback anthems are always welcome on the scene. While “Love Effect” is not the best among their own anthemic trio of songs, it does stand out nonetheless thanks to their great production choices and the constant energy of the members. Hopefully ONF find themselves still having enough of an audience to continue on past their “curse” years and continue to churn out quality releases in the future.
