Last year, The Black Label’s rookie girl group MEOVV released a pair of singles. Neither Meow nor Toxic did anything for me, with the first being oddly inscrutable and the second quite boring. But as they say, “the third time’s the charm,” and MEOVV are back for another try with pre-release Hands Up. Once again co-produced by the prolific Teddy, the song sees the group borrowing equally from current trends and K-pop’s past.
Hands Up does not open with much promise. Its most irritating instrumental riff hits us right at the start, but the song improves from here… at least for a while. Overall, I’m a fan of the insistent beat. It’s nice to hear a new track with such a steady pulse, and that energy drags Hands Up‘s less-than-thrilling composition over the line. Much of its melody, structure and even performance feels like reheated BLACKPINK, which is to be expected given its composers. This makes Hands Up feel quite extraneous, but that’s not automatically a reason to dismiss it.
Apart from moments in the chorus, I’m not convinced by Hands Up‘s hooks. The rapping in the verses often feels awkwardly placed and the more melodic segments play things so safe that they risk flattening entirely. The song unfolds with a lot of vocal affectation, as if the girls have been instructed to sing in a certain way to fit within this specific musical universe. This makes it difficult to connect with Hands Up, even as that steady beat continues to resound in your head.
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
8
Bias
7
RATING
7.5