Music Overview: GFriend – Season Of Reminiscences

(EDIT: It seems it is a pre-release audio of the particular title monitor, which is a bit disappointing to be trustworthy. I might edit the primary assessment, however it will find yourself being extra of a rewrite than something so I’ll depart it as is and possibly revisit in every week. I swear their promo talked about a pre-release earlier than the title monitor on the thirteenth, however I suppose I misunderstood.)

I wouldn’t often write a full track assessment for an unpromoted pre-release with no music video, however GFriend have not too long ago been inaugurated into my “Okay-Pop A-Z” membership. Over the previous few months, I’ve been writing about each single track they’ve recorded (just a few extra to go!) and commit to put in writing about any track they could launch sooner or later. That begins with Season Of Reminiscences (우리의 다정한 계절 속에), a pre-release taster earlier than their massive reunion in a couple of week.

Each fiber of my being anticipated Season to be the requisite ballad countering what’s going to doubtless be a extra up-tempo title monitor, so when the track kicked off with sprightly guitar I discovered myself instantly shocked. Greater than present Okay-pop developments, the manufacturing echoes sounds at present common in Japan. I suppose this is smart since GFriend’s music has at all times borrowed closely from J-pop types. The instrumental is swift however nonetheless a bit subdued, forgoing bombast for a nimble — usually jazzy — method. It befits the mature period the group finds themselves in now, even when it by no means seeks to recapture the glory of their most iconic materials.

I’ve a sense Season Of Reminiscences will get pleasure from sturdy longevity, however after the primary few listens I’m nonetheless craving the melodic magic GFriend constructed their discography on. Slightly than blossom and soar, the melodies play issues cool and aloof. The refrain comes closest to breaking free from the track’s constraints, and is only when the ladies’ voices are layered collectively. That sense of overwhelming optimism is their strongest calling card and I’m hoping that’s the path we’re heading in.

Grade: B