Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Ever since Big Bang‘s ‘MADE‘ project in 2015, multi-month single album campaigns have become an increasingly popular mode of promotion for K-pop acts. It can be an especially enticing idea for struggling groups, allowing them to keep their name in the spotlight for longer than a typical promotional period. But for every prolific DAY6, there is an Imfact, who struggled to keep their ‘Imfactory‘ project going past a handful of months.
Sonamoo stand to benefit from their newly-launched ‘Happy Box‘ release schedule. Despite debuting all the way back in 2015, they’ve found it hard to capture a sizeable fan base. It doesn’t help that their agency has burdened them with forgettable track after forgettable track. But if the quality of “Friday Night” is any indication, the girls may have finally found their sweet spot.
The song’s disco dance template feels refreshingly devoid of the kind of bandwagon-hopping that has made much of their past material seem so derivative. With “Friday Night”, we get a straightforward pop track with a killer melody, and that’s more than enough.
The verses of “Friday Night” strut forward with a vampy, piano-laced beat that injects just enough funk to give the song some heft. The pre-chorus is less impressive, utilizing a standard build that we’ve heard a million times before. But more than anything, “Friday Night” is about its megawatt chorus. Though not as brilliantly propulsive, this hook recalls the glossy melodic pop of groups like Kara and Rainbow. It’s a bright sound I’ve missed terribly in this age of tropical house and downbeat r&b, and against all expectations, it turns out that Sonamoo is just the group to supply it.
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