Rookie boy group ALL(H)OURS has been in the news recently, as K-pop titan JYP Entertainment recently listed their agency as a subsidiary. I’m not sure what this means when it comes to company resources, but it does get their new release plum placement on JYP’s YouTube channel. Given this development, it’s the perfect time for the group to unveil their pre-release single Graffiti.
Everyone’s doing a pre-release these days, affording them the chance to showcase various sounds in the lead-up to album promotions. For Graffiti, ALL(H)OURS go for a very trendy, predictable boy group style. I could throw a stone in any direction and land upon a song exactly like this. I swear K-pop used to have more variety! Or maybe that’s simply nostalgia giving me rose-colored glasses. Regardless, there’s not an original idea within Graffiti‘s frame.
If you’re not going to strive for originality, you must deliver your tropes in the most engaging way possible. This is where the bedrock of songwriting comes in: elements like melody, momentum and climax. Unfortunately, Graffiti laces its skittering, pots-and-pans production with chanted sing-talk and fragmented hooks that crater just as you hope they’d blossom. Nothing here is objectively bad and if I were brand new to K-pop I might even enjoy the track. But as someone who’s heard this template hundreds of times before, there’s simply no compelling reason for Graffiti to exist.
Hooks
7
Production
7
Longevity
8
Bias
7
RATING
7.25