With Kai serving his obligatory navy enlistment, it’s been simply over two years since I’ve gotten to jot down about one in every of his solo singles. However now that he’s again, he’s wasted no time moving into the studio. A brand new mini album is on the way in which with pre-release Grownup Swim tiding us over within the meantime.

This isn’t truthful to Kai in any respect, however I usually crave one thing totally different from his solo music. The world is so quick on a sure sort of virtuosic male popstar that dotted pop music’s previous. I’m pondering Michael Jackson, Prince, George Michael, Usher — or in Ok-pop phrases, Taemin. It’s way more frequent for these acts to embrace a moodier, vibier sound that feels intentionally modest. To me, this merely belies their expertise. Such is the case with Kai and Grownup Swim. The music appears aimed for optimum virality, hinging on a spoken-word, catchphrase hook that actually anybody repeat. That’s the factor, although. I need popstars to ship work that I can’t replicate. That’s the enjoyable in being a fan!

Even by these requirements, Grownup Slim is sort of slight. Past its mumbled hook, the observe presents a muted verse over percussion that’s feeling an increasing number of generic inside SM Leisure’s latest output. The melodies are so-so, killing time however by no means providing fascinating turns or prospers. Grownup Swim begins to select up towards its finale, however even right here the music depends on clipped, repetitive hooks that don’t elicit a lot of something. In one other world, this fashion may very well be repurposed into one thing hypnotic and compelling. However for as thrilling a performer as Kai is, Grownup Swim is doing little or no for me. Possibly SM ought to have spent his enlistment time crafting the largest, greatest comeback music they might discover.

Grade: C-