Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
As somebody who didn’t really follow Boys Planet, EVNNE are most notable to me so far for their previous name of BLIT, which was hilariously probably changed due to ‘boy clit’ associations. Anyway, despite the quick turnaround necessary to take advantage of their survival show momentum, their “TROUBLE” debut turned out quite cool.
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The drop for a chorus and the lack of pop melodies don’t make this a release normally in my wheelhouse, yet it still holds a lot of appeal thanks to the production. Accompanied by distortion that rattles the listener’s brain are uptempo, thumping bass hits that have a fist-pumping energy to them just destined to work at a club/festival. Furthermore, it’s been a while since we got a relatively hard-hitting drop for a chorus, though I wish it followed the formula of A.C.E‘s early hardstyle stuff, where it goes a step or two harder and also has a hook attached. Can’t have everything you want, I guess.
On the initial listen I wasn’t wholly convinced by “TROUBLE”, but one of the things that stood out on repeats was the competency during the rap verses, which were actually a highlight at times, something quite rare for a K-pop track. While vocals aren’t central, the pre-choruses and final note is convincing enough to put a cherry on top of the whole thing, and eventually that “because my name is ‘trouble’” hook embedded itself quite well — oddly enough so did the “I’m a little butterfly” line.
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“TROUBLE” was quite the risky debut choice, as it’s certainly not a song that’s likely to go mainstream in terms of appeal, and the members themselves sorta take a backseat to the production. That said, this won me over eventually by reminding me of a more frantic and hip-hop version of A.C.E classics, and their sound really helped to sell heir concept of hardcore rebel teens or whatever. While admittedly likely not for everybody, it’s hard not to envision this as at least worthy of some kind of gym playlist.
