Since debut, CLASS:y have set their sights on both Korea and Japan, signed under Universal Music for the latter. They remain on the periphery of both markets, though their music is slowly improving. Like so many of their peers, their sound is a hodgepodge of various global elements. They cast their net wide rather than specifically target one sub-genre or cultural touchstone.
Because of this, new single Target feels like a few songs thrown into a blender. Nothing about it is awful or jarring or inadequate, but I wish it would have taken one route and fully committed to it. Instead, Target feels like an exercise in corporate brainstorming rather than a piece of music with its own point of view. It’s not fair to lay the blame on CLASS:y or their team since this is an industry-wide problem. But, it makes it hard to be fully enthused by this comeback.
Target is at its best when it leans into its grand, cinematic arrangement – canned strings and all. I like the idea of Bond-Theme-meets-Hip-Hop-Banger, but I wish the song fully embraced the madness. If you’re giving us strings, crank up the drama to 150%. And for goodness sake, don’t devolve into a bog-standard second verse breakdown (complete with a lame “eeny meeny miny moe“). If all of Target sounded as gloriously alive as the instrumental dance break during its bridge, we might have a unique showstopper on our hands. Instead, the track’s quirks elevate an otherwise generic structure and execution.
Hooks 8 Production 8 Longevity 8 Bias 8 RATING 8
