HYBE and Geffen’s American (Okay-pop adjoining) lady group KATSEYE made a pre-debut final month with the strong however underdeveloped Debut. Lower than a month later, they’re again with follow-up Contact, which succumbs to the identical points as its predecessor with out creating its personal strengths.

Like Debut, Contact is a wisp of pop observe. At simply over two minutes, it’d as effectively be an prolonged ringtone. The group turns down any trace of bombast with a sonic panorama that borrows many components from HYBE’s different lady teams NewJeans and ILLIT. At their greatest, songs like this may be addictive little earworms, so pleasantly ethereal you can repeat them a number of instances over with out even realizing the place one play ended and the opposite started. At their worst, they’re a flat line devoid of compelling peaks and valleys, carried out in a indifferent monotone that robs listeners of human stress.

Sadly, Contact falls into the “at their worst” class. The track is so light-weight it fizzles into the air. The instrumental is all muted synth tones and skittering percussion with out weight or influence. And when the observe hits its refrain, the repeating hook is extra irritating than addictive. With its ultra-short size, Contact doesn’t go wherever or construct to something. I do know many listeners get pleasure from this basic sound, however to me it’s essentially the most uninspiring nook of right this moment’s pop music market.

Grade: D