high-quality production. i liked the more upbeat songs where she leaned into the pop-punk (ballad of a homeschooled girl is a favorite, genuinely a great song; bad idea right? is super fun). otherwise, everything else starts to blend into one and the early 2010s sound starts to get tired by the end, especially with the more ballady songs. not sure i get the hype around vampire.

genuinely so uninspired. the title track is so formulaic and the rest of the tracks are just them releasing stuff they already have. the album is incohesive and this is a dent on an otherwise perfect discography.

disclaimer: i do not support mhj and do not plan on monetarily supporting newjeans. the fact that their music is so good has driven me to the point of poverty that is listening to boycott versions on spotify podcasts.

first 4 tracks are really great, especially "eta" (the car horn sample scratches my brain and i love the subtle inclusion of the samples beneath that loud blaring). the production in general is just superb. "get up" could have been developed further and ... read more

while i appreciate sm's willingness to experiment with nct's music, this was a little too maximalist. i wish they would have just pulled back a bit with the production and constant melodic whiplashes to achieve a more intentional sound, so the parts that do subvert expectations actually hit harder. relistening to the hello future / hot sauce album, i think that made the melding of genres enjoyable. here, it just feels like constant stacking of disparate elements. experimentation for the sake of ... read more

i like the production and i think they've really found their sound but the album really gets repetitive and no track stands out to me. just overall not super interesting.

cherish being the only good song and kitsch is fun on a good day

bad hobby is an unserious ass song but i personally really enjoyed hate rodrigo (very fun song with cute lyrics, giving avril lavigne playfulness) & wicked love (has nice moments in the instrumental). yena once again proving that she is super musically consistent and has one of the best post-izone discographies.