Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
While ONF certainly aren’t nugus, the strength of their discography to this point unfortunately hasn’t been reflected in their level of popularity compared to other boy groups. Regardless, from singles like “Complete“ to “Bye My Monster“ to a host of B-sides between, they’ve been able to find the right range more often than not, and “The Stranger” marks another successful entry.
Funky pop with some brassy flair and a bright melody is essentially their wheelhouse at this point, and I’m impressed by how they manage to craft a relatively unique take on it all the time. The verses showcase this nicely, and includes some Michael Jackson-inspired delivery as it builds and builds momentum. Once it hits that expansive pop chorus, the first thing that came to mind was SHINee, especially since ONF’s vocals are up to the task of providing the necessary punchiness to the emphasized lines in the hook. The melody didn’t grasp me on the first listen — a sadly common theme this year even for songs I ended up liking — but it definitely begun to make more sense on repeats, and the post-chorus scatty (no, not that kind) ad-libs are a highlight all to themselves.
Other than the aforementioned lack of an obvious earworm of a hook, another issue was the bridge is a surprising dud. They have the skills to push the envelope and instead opt for what merely operates as a generic lull, though it thankfully launches back into a rousing final edition of the chorus.
Still, in a sea of title tracks that are either made solely for virality on socials or to simply play in the background, “The Stranger” stood out for demanding and keeping my attention, with ONF able to deliver a captivating, dramatic (almost theatrical) performance that comes through even if one eschews the accompanying visuals. While I’m still not sure where on the ‘like’ to ‘love’ scale “The Stranger” will fall for me this year, it’s another release that makes me glad ONF is still going strong.
