I’ve been searching for my entry point with NEXZ’s music. They’ve released material in both Korean and Japanese, befitting their status as a “global” group, but too much of it has fallen into the kind of chant-heavy swaggery peddled by so many current boy groups. Pre-release Simmer did not point a promising way forward and title track O-RLY feels like a more bombastic iteration of that template.
As usual, the energy here is great. The instrumental is loose and funky, especially during the second verse when the percussion has a chance to shine. And when the guys sing briefly during parts of the chorus, pre-chorus and bridge, I get the sense of how NEXZ’s music might sound at its most potent. Unfortunately, they spend most of O-RLY shout-rapping or shout-chanting. K-pop producers have found a way to make this vocal wall-of-sound feel identical across every group. It’s this irritating, bratty tone that might as well be AI at this point because the approach drains any personal color from its performers. It makes for an exhausting, rather than enjoyable, listen.
This approach is most evident during O-RLY‘s undercooked chorus. There’s potential in the arrangement and the guys pull as much funk from the hook as they can, but the combination of drawling call and shouted response feels like an easy way out when the producers could have crafted a more melodic centerpiece built to stand the test of time. On the whole, O-RLY is still one of the better examples of NEXZ’s formula so far, but the group desperately needs a sonic makeover that gives them their own identity.
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
8
Bias
8
RATING
7.75