Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Slowly but surely LISA‘s solo releases have been creeping up on me musically, with her getting closer and closer to finding a right balance, as stuff like “NEW WOMAN” was only sidetracked due to an oddly incorporated feature. So with her new collab partners in Doja Cat and RAYE on “BORN AGAIN“, I didn’t quite know how things would work out, but thankfully they end up putting together the pieces to create a great sound.
To be fair, feeding me a disco-tinged production with a funky bassline is cheating right off the bat, and while RAYE’s vocals aren’t a surprise, LISA deferring to Doja Cat on rapping and opting to sing instead was. It was the right choice, as the trio mesh together better than I ever could’ve anticipated, each presenting their own distinctive sound, yet the transitions between them feel seamless. The result is a striking combination that make the verses a standout themselves, and there’s definitely a certain happiness in the fact that the chorus feels expansive and declarative. It’s an appropriate tone for effectively a “fuck you, look at what you lost” breakup song, and includes a hook that grows on the listener with repeats that’s hard to resist singing along with.
Remarkably, it’s a four-minute long song, but it’s a throwback in that it certainly doesn’t feel like it with the energy bouncing off all the collaborators. The groove it finds makes sure there’s no real dull moment as it builds following a fully-fleshed out bridge, along with a conclusion that amps things up to that final gear. It’s not necessarily that “BORN AGAIN” does anything new, but the high degree of execution just results in pop excellence with a timeless sound that I don’t think I’ll be tiring of anytime soon.
