[Review] PURPLE KISS make their pitch with excellent “Ponzona” debut

PURPLE KISS is the new girl group from RBW of MAMAMOO fame, and they’ve been impressive in pre-debut activities, even if their “My Heart Skip A Beat” and “Can We Talk Again” pre-debut releases didn’t captivate. Thankfully, “Ponzona” doesn’t suffer from the same problem, as it’s a well-oiled machine of a debut that perfectly sets the table for a promising future.

“Ponzona” showcases everything the group is about and it’s a surprisingly complete effort. The song itself has an addictive melody backed by a hook that revolves around essentially promoting the group’s name as an earworm in itself. It’s backed by a music video with impressive visuals that are better than most other “box” types, complete with cool styling and choreo that speaks to their concept. Even the lyrics are designed to make it seem as if the group is pitching you on coming along for the ride to world domination. There’s just so much to like about the package.

If I had to nitpick a bit, I did come away thinking that they left absolute excellence on the table, a the chorus doesn’t quite peak where it could’ve, and the production at times seems to bizarrely lack confidence in the members to truly take the song by its horns. Still, everything flows well and the melody is effective with the “baby PURPLE KISS on bloody top” working well within the track’s rhythm, and on repeated listens it quickly embeds itself in your brain.

Note: Thankfully, the dance break in the music video is only for the music video, so there’s no momentum killer there.

Overall, “Ponzona” is an excellent debut song that effectively establishes the group’s identity from the jump and shows flashes of brilliance that will hopefully become commonplace for the group going forward. While there are always groups who show some kind of capability on debut, it’s rarer to think you’ve gotten a glimpse of a potential monster. If the melody ages well and continues to grow on me, “Ponzona” could end up as year-end material.

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