Lady group Say My Identify debuted late final yr, the primary act below Kim Jaejoong’s iNKODE label. Regardless of this pedigree, their single WaveWay was surprisingly faceless Okay-pop — the sort of music that might have been peddled by nearly anybody. New single ShaLala manages to be generic otherwise, although it’s an unlimited enchancment upon their debut.

At this level, perhaps we simply want to return to phrases with the truth that Okay-pop’s woman teams will likely be releasing subdued beigepop for the foreseeable future. In all my years listening to Okay-pop, I’m unsure I’ve ever seen a pattern utterly eat one half of the business for therefore lengthy. To ShaLala‘s credit score, the music injects a bit extra bounce into this now acquainted template, particularly when the second verse transitions into an effusive rap. Within the grand scheme of this musical model, ShaLala is certainly above common.

A lot of this goodwill comes all the way down to the melodies. In one other world, the music could possibly be reinvented with a extra energetic breakbeat and strong vocal, however even on this muted model I’m fairly charmed by the refrain. The ladies’ voices have good character and the percussive backing vocals add a welcome distinction to the airier topline. ShaLala jogs my memory of one thing Apink may need launched within the mid-2010’s, and that’s a a lot better start line for Say My Identify that no matter WaveWay was.

Grade: B