Since moving on from Wanna One, the quality of Ha Sungwoon’s solo career has been mixed. For me, his music peaked in 2021 with the one-two punch of Sneakers and Strawberry Gum. New single Blessed takes him down a more aggressive sonic route, but falls apart once it reaches its chorus.
By now, anyone with a passing familiarity of this blog knows how I often feel about choruses like the one in Blessed. Chants and repetitive vocal loops can work if tethered to a killer instrumental, but more often than not they feel like obnoxious placeholders waiting for a satisfying hook. Blessed falls in this second category. The rest of the song is tolerable (if devoid of new ideas), but the stuttering “Blessed uh uh uh uh uh” centerpiece feels like a pesky mosquito circling your ear. No matter how hard you swat, it always finds a way back.
I’m more encouraged by Blessed‘s effusive pre-chorus, which sees Sungwoon belting out the melody with panache. The song needs more of this heartiness to counter the non-starter at its core. Sadly, the chorus feels like at least 70% of the track, even if it’s probably less if measured in a purely objective way. This makes Blessed an easy skip.
Hooks
6
Production
7
Longevity
7
Bias
7
RATING
6.75