the flash; kwon eunbi

aug 12 2023

I've been a pretty big Kwon Eunbi fan for a while, and I've been waiting with bated breath for her to release something new. She was wrapped up in Girls:Reverse (aka the greatest survival show of all time) for a while, and was obligated to record an EP for them since she made it into the final group. Recently, she went viral at Waterbomb (a Korean water festival), and the release of her first single album seems to be capitalizing on that popularity.

Her last release, Lethality (2022), was a fairly solid EP ("Croquis" being the standout), but I found myself disappointed in the title track "Underwater." It grew on me a fair bit, but I still considered it my least favorite title track of hers, with both "Glitch" and "Door" being top tier to me. I'm pleased to say I did like "The Flash." It has a lush instrumental that pairs well with Eunbi's smooth vocals and is significantly more upbeat than "Underwater," building to a much more satisfying chorus.

The two part chorus of "The Flash" works really well for me. I feel like a lot of Kpop songs nowadays don't really have sung choruses, relying on chanting or instrumental beat drops. This chorus is a little bit more melodically complex while also being simple enough to be catchy and memorable. The two hooks, "I fall in love" and "In a flash," keep each distinct part of the chorus interesting and fun. The song builds relentlessly and explodes in the final chorus, coming to a satisfying conclusion. That's really the word I have for this song— satisfying. It knows what it's trying to do and it does it well.

"Comet" is a little bit weaker, the weakest song on the album. Here, the relentless driving beat works against the song— there's not a gradual buildup, the song just starts at eleven and stays there for three minutes. Sometimes that can work, but here it makes the song feel stagnant. The chorus here is not satisfying, and the entire song feels like one overlong verse. This isn't the worst song in the world, and there are some interesting ideas here, but I don't see myself coming back to it.

Luckily, the single album closes off on another strong foot with "Beautiful Night." I'm kind of growing sick of Kpop-punk songs after the recent oversaturation in the market, but this song takes a more rock direction, which helps differentiate it from the more pop-punk focused music that has been in vogue lately (like Choi Yena's stuff). The chorus has a really satisfying melodic progression— nothing groundbreaking, but it works.

If there's one thing this single album does really well, it's making me want more Eunbi. "The Flash" is so good, and "Beautiful Night" is meaty too. You can always count on Eunbi to release great music, and I'm kind of sad that we only get a single album this time around. Hopefully this year she can release at least one more album, maybe an EP? Eunbi is finally starting to pick up some momentum with the general public, and I hope her company seizes the opportunity to keep the music coming. Do NOT show me any sales data, I don't want to know— Eunbi is for the arts, not the charts.