Music Assessment: BABYMONSTER – Like That

Although I ought to know higher by now, I’m nonetheless shocked at how nicely BABYMONSTER’s Sheesh has carried out on the charts — particularly given its lukewarm-to-awful reception in lots of vital circles. It is a good reminder of the sway YG Leisure nonetheless holds over followers, together with the broader indisputable fact that disgruntled web chatter is never emblematic of the broader, offline world. With that mentioned, I’m nonetheless not a Sheesh fan — besides possibly as a nasty meme.

The group is following Sheesh‘s success with a particular efficiency video for Like That, the second Ok-pop observe prior to now two months composed by singer-songwriter Charlie Puth. Even a number of years in the past, I might have by no means imagined devoting area to Puth’s output on this weblog, however right here we’re. His ethereal, groove-oriented fashion is an odd match for Ok-pop’s extra maximalist presentation, however “subdued” is widespread for the time being so Like That matches the tendencies. Its guitar-and-whistle beat is sparse however funky, permitting the women’ vocals loads of area to breathe. That’s greater than you’ll be able to say about noisy tracks like Batter Up and Sheesh, and can seemingly please followers in search of an association that bucks conventional YG tropes.

Like so many singles of the second, Like That strongly remembers sounds widespread within the early 2000’s. I used to be particularly reminded of The Neptunes’ manufacturing on Justin Timberlake’s Like I Love You, although this observe is much much less participating or combative. As an alternative, Like That is content material to stay mildly groovy all through. Its instrumental retains an arm’s distance, by no means yanking you in with palpable pressure. That method is left to BABYMONSTER themselves, and so they steer Like That with a transparent — but oddly reserved — confidence. This description truly suits the music as a complete. There are various scrumptious components concerned, however the total product is a bit undercooked.

Grade: C+