PastelNoir

To say I was disappointed would be accurate. I felt that the group had only grown on me, even their debut track wormed its way into my head, but this is I think their weakest release not because it's grating, annoying or tired, but because it's underwhelming. Where their stellar Hands Up led to a great chorus and terrific finale that reminded me of peak BLACKPINK, Burning Up fizzles out in the chorus and finale, with no such memorable drop for its admittedly good buildup. For a group ... read more

Logically, Boys Can Be is a 9.2/10, while Yes I'm a Hot Mess Girl is I think one of the most fun kpop songs of the decade, so this shouldn't hit 100. But it does because both tracks are the perfect debut for a new soloist. They do well to showcase her bubbly, lively and upbeat energy that a lot of kpop tends to gloss over nowadays. YIaHMG is just the ultimate blast of fun and it's a song that'll always hold a special place in my heart for its catchiness and the sheer joy it ... read more

I wanted to give this a 100 because Forward blew me away for the most part, but I found myself liking this album a bit less than I wanted to. That said it's still NMIXX proving their dominance with strong production and vocals as per usual. The first two tracks happen to be the album's strongest, and unfortunately, I found a solid number of the bsides to be just alright, with few of the songs overall providing the experimentation that made their Fe3O4 series so compelling from a ... read more

It would be a lie to call this a perfect debut album, but what it lacks in overall cohesiveness in lyrical content, it finds strength in some tracks that reach the level of depth the rest of the album lacks. Where some tracks are too short, even the best ones, sometimes, the album lets Lydia's vocals and decent enough writing shine through.
Highlights:
Pity Party - One of the most outright accessible songs is also one of the album's best, and this really hits at 4 in the morning ... read more