Last week, WayV pre-released the upbeat High Five, building on the funky energy of this spring’s Give Me That. Now, it’s time to move back into edgier territory. Title track Frequency melds old-school hip-hop rhythms with the harsh performance style many expect from the NCT universe. Compared to similar efforts in this mold, the song feels pretty middle-of-the-road.
There are so many tracks like Frequency floating around the boy group landscape. Turn your head in any direction and there’s a group of guys shouting at you over a hip-hop beat. A.C.E happened to be the most recent, and thankfully Frequency doesn’t go as over-the-top loud as Pinata. However, it suffers from similar issues. For a shout-sung chorus to work, the instrumental has to be absolutely dynamite and the song should counter its brashness with contrasting moments of melodic clarity.
Frequency‘s hook is so-so and the song doesn’t offer enough highlights surrounding its chorus. At two minutes forty seconds, there isn’t enough time to develop any ideas. I could have done with more of the nimble keys during the pre-chorus and would have enjoyed hearing the verses’ engaging raps given more spotlight via an instrumental that pushed and pulled on the rhythm. Instead, Frequency plays by all the expected rules and comes across as a copy of a copy. It’s perfectly solid but wholly unremarkable.
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
8
Bias
7
RATING
7.5