[Review] WEi’s anticipated “Twilight” debut is one to forget

New group WEi comes armed with an already-established fan base, thanks to its members gaining fame through the Produce 101 franchise. To be honest, they feel almost like a supergroup, cobbled together from ex-members of X1, JBJ, Rainz and 1THE9. Given this pedigree, WEi are guaranteed success – at least in the short term. The true test will be whether they can hang on to their fan base and carve out a meaningful place within the K-pop industry. Judging from debut single Twilight, that may be a struggle.

Co-composed by Pentagon’s Hui, Twilight is the kind of ungainly, joyless boy group track that has no identity of its own. It’s largely hookless, unless you count a repeated whistle that opens the track and forms the backbone for its chorus. Whistled hooks are almost always obnoxious in pop songs, and there’s not enough substance around this one to make Twilight memorable. The track is relentlessly mid-tempo, which is fine. But, the instrumental brings nothing new to the table. It’s stuffed with the kind of dull instrumental samples that have driven too many boy group comebacks over the past few years. The first time through, I kept waiting for something to happen, but Twilight almost seems apathetic in its construction. It goes nowhere.

Melodically, the song sputters. It doesn’t have much of a chorus, and the verses consist of the kind of halting delivery that make them feel choppy and underdeveloped. I assume the producers were aiming for a rhythmic appeal, but the final product feels more affected than effortlessly groovy. These guys will sell loads of albums either way, but it’s disappointing to hear yet another Produce-related group debut with such an unimaginative track — especially when its members have released so many great songs in the past.

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IATFB: It’s been 10 minutes since I last listened to WEi’s “Twilight”. I have forgotten what it sounds like already.