Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
To start June, tripleS have come out of the gate strong with what I’d easily consider one of my favorite songs this year. Love & Pop Pt.1, the group’s eighth EP, gives us seven songs to dive into. While I tend to lean more toward their Japanese releases, I was blown away by the single “Baby Flower” .
Right away, we’re hit with a rush of emotions. From the opening instrumental and the soft delivery from Chaewon and ChaeYeon’s lines, into Hyerin building us up and pushing the song into that full tempo swing, the track immediately launches into the full range of the group’s iconic “la la la” . Mayu’s line, “We’ll find the light,” perfectly sets the tone for the first half of the song.
As the instrumentals soften, the song shifts into an almost melancholic atmosphere, moving away from its fun and uplifting tone into something gentler and more emotionally raw. Xinyu’s line about enduring the day really lingers, carrying this heaviness to it. But before you even have time to fully sit with those emotions, the song rushes back into its endless wave of optimism. That constant emotional buildup, the power-pop sound is what’s kept me coming back to this song since its release. As the track continues rising, following its short but charming bridge, we start getting some of the song’s standout high notes leading into the climax. “Baby Flower” delivers an incredible power-pop finale that leaves you with that “just one more listen”.
This is that iconic GFRIEND power-pop sound, while “Baby Flower” feels much more hopeful and optimistic than say something like “Rough” it still invokes that same passion that the legends of Source Music made prior. Now, tripleS is obviously made up of 24 members, so having perfectly equal line distribution in a short three-minute song is a bit unrealistic. Still, I was pleased with the distribution. From the maknae line consistently getting lyrics that reference them still being young, to HaYeon and DaHyun delivering those over-the-top high notes at the end, tripleS shine as a group on this one.
This ultimately creates a strong sense of camaraderie, where the listener feels like they’re alongside all 24 members like a raid team heading into a final boss battle together. Going back to that power-pop feeling of empowering the listener, this isn’t a song that invokes individuality; it’s about our collective strength. Yes, “I endured the day. I’ll get up and run again.” But in the end, “we will run, we will fly, and we will find the light.” That one subtle touch invoked so much nostalgia for the K-pop sounds and theme’s I’ve been craving. While my favorite tripleS song is still “Untitled”, “Baby Flower” makes a lasting impression in this sea of monotonous releases recently.
