SONG REVIEW: Hwaa – (G)I-DLE

Despite their popularity continuing to grow as a near astronomic rate throughout last year, (G)i-dle had a less than successful year musically. At least in my opinion. The group attempted to cover many different sounds but despite some strong concepts, the tracks failed to really deliver when it came to a strong melody or consistent song structure. This lack of enjoyment didn’t leave much to be desired despite the many promising teasers for title track Hwaa. And while it doesn’t completely reinvent the wheel, it is a much needed improvement.

Though many despise moombahton due to its overuse in modern day pop music, it’s a genre that I’ve come to appreciate. It’s soundtracked some of my more favoured tracks of the past few years and this sense of familiarity gives Hwaa a much needed boost in my eyes. And while the base of the song is built upon these more predictable elements, it takes some interesting turns throughout its run time to prevent it from turning into a bore. The more middle eastern influences are a nice touch and are a strong callback to the much stronger (and my favourite of their singles), Hann. This leads well to the chorus, which primarily utilises a strong instrumental to deliver a hook that feels fitting to the entire package. Unlike last years Oh My God, it has a nice sense of climactic contour and feels much fuller and more developed.

But there are still some key elements prevent me from fully embracing the groups music. And the lack of melody is still a key factor. The verses to me feel more like a stutter than a natural progression which alongside the wordless chorus make it seem as though Hwaa won’t have the same staying power as initially thought. The track also ends prematurely, ending abruptly just when it could have gone even bigger for its finale. I appreciate the tonal shifts but I feel like a more consistent melody would have benefited the rather stutter stepped Hwa.

Verses: 7

Chorus: 8

Production: 7

Performance: 8

Final Rating: 7.5 / 10