ARTMS’s new single Burn was initially scheduled for launch final week, however selling a tune with that title throughout South Korea’s wildfire emergency could be fairly insensitive in order that they properly pushed the discharge again till at this time. It’s ARTMS’s first promoted work since final yr’s debut album and provides a sleeker, extra mainstream sound.

At its greatest moments, I can virtually hear a little bit Sweetune-style synth in Burn‘s instrumental, however the monitor as an entire is nowhere close to as melodic or constantly partaking as that nostalgic touchstone suggests. The sound is slinky and welcoming, providing a slow-burn construction over undulating bass and twinkling digital parts. Nevertheless, the melodic vary is extraordinarily slim, typically veering towards the type of sing-talk that mars so many tracks of this model. On this approach, Burn feels extra like a efficiency piece than an thrilling tune in its personal proper.

Burn‘s refrain — particularly the second half — reveals potential. It greatest capitalizes on the manufacturing’s sultry environment, however feels virtually like an anti-drop model hook. And with out thrilling verses to counter this subdued vitality, Burn lacks peaks and valleys. It’s relentlessly nice, however by no means as smoldering scorching as its title suggests.

Grade: C