[Review] Wonder Girls - I Feel You

Wonder Girls are back! We've heard that line before many times but weren't expecting a return given the events of the past year. It's another roster change for the girls, with Sohee and Sunye's departure and the return of Sunmi, Wonder Girls comes back as a quartet with "I Feel You," which was set to showcase some instruments, along with some absolutely brilliant teasers.

If you thought the Wonder Girls couldn't get any more retro than past hits then boy are you in for a surprise. "I Feel You" has retro written all over it, in gigantic font, too. From the breathy vocals, universal outfits, colour scheme, flashing lights, etc. I'm not claiming I know what music in the 80's or even 90's sounded like, so I won't try and draw any comparisons there, but it's obvious that given the flashy top-notch production videos of modern Kpop, this is a throwback for sure.

Yubin's rap is passable. She's certainly not excellent and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in the showing, but strangely similar to Erin's rap in "Hurt Locker," it's definitely good enough to not hurt the song. But the short bursts of rapping at the end of the first and final choruses could've been done without. Like the unnecessary chant-esque lines in Mamamoo's "Piano Man," the similar lines here could've been removed.

The problems I have with "I Feel You" boil down to some pretty obvious ones. Firstly, the instrumental break popped up one too many times for my liking. It shows up at the very beginning, very end, and after the initial chorus. It's not exactly exciting, and when used that many times, makes the song drag on. There's no reason for the song to not end with Yubin's final "baby" but instead we get another repeat. Secondly, I dunno what happened to Hyelim but her parts do not sound good. Hyelim has previously shown a stable, richer undertone. Her voice is lower and generally sounds more "full" in songs like "2 Different Tears" and "Like This." Having her with this breathy reach ruins her lines. I understand they were probably aiming for the breathy voices from the start, but the difference is that Sunmi and Yeeun are naturally geared towards that end of the spectrum (think Sunmi in "24 Hours"). Forcing Hyelim down that route just wasn't a good decision. The last "major" issue I have with "I Feel You" is that some of the lipsyncing just looks lazy. It's like they weren't even really trying. Kind of upsetting given Wonder Girls have been in the industry for forever. Oh, and that damned "JYP" spam is back after however many years of dormancy.

It's exciting to see a previous Kpop titan once thought to be gone forever, resurrect itself and with an intriguing band concept at that. But the lives haven't been impressive thus far, and the retro concept is a familiar but curious choice among the tidal wave of comebacks. I definitely would've liked to see more focus on the instruments. Maybe for another track later down the line. At least this comeback pushes the need for a Wonder Girls vs. AOA band competition as soon as possible. Make it happen.

[ Overall: 82 / 100 ]