Earlier this year, Kiss Of Life preceded their debut with a series of solo tracks. Though they were of varying quality, these songs did a nice job introducing the members and building interest in the group. Funny enough, I found their actual debut less successful than many of these pre-releases. Follow-up single Bad News struggles in a similar way.
The first thing that strikes me about this track is its strong vocal. The melody retains much of the cursed sing-talk / nursery rhyme construction that’s plagued this generation of K-pop, but the girls perform it with gusto. It’s refreshing to hear such full-throated delivery and this approach compliments the production’s bluesy twang.
If only this performance had been tethered to a stronger song! Bad News is perfectly fine, but its taunting melodic structure quickly grows tired. The chorus takes a standard blues approach but filters it through a cutesy lens that doesn’t work for me. At worst, the song feels too gimmicky for its own good. Kiss Of Life are clearly overflowing with talent and manage to elevate subpar material. I hope they’re given a song as great as they are in the near future.
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
7
Bias
7
RATING
7.25