I thought we might finally be getting somewhere with INI. Despite a clunky single, the b-sides to this summer’s Password showed a ton of potential. Then, the group teamed with rock band Wanimana for the excellent Hero. I have a huge soft spot for INI. They’re immensely talented. They work with talented producers. They’ve got plenty of money behind them. But, their collaborators seem intent on giving them the laziest possible music.

I’m struggling to find any redeeming value in Spectra. It may be their worst single yet, and that’s saying something. It’s basically the latest bad K-pop song trying to emulate groups like NCT. We already have enough of those. Of course, this is technically J-pop — not K-pop. Somehow that makes this sting even more. I think of all the diverse, amazing talent available within the Japanese music community and bristle at the thought of K-pop leftovers like this clogging the top of the Oricon charts.

What is there to say about Spectra that I haven’t written hundreds of times before? The song is obnoxious from the start (its “we the new bad boys in the block!” intro is painful) and it doesn’t improve from there. The blend of recycled percussion is irritating and abrasive. The hook is a hodgepodge of shouted chants and lame boasts. The rap is over exaggerated to the point of parody and the song yet again fails to take advantage of INI’s strong suite of vocalists. This overused sound needs to find its way out of fashion soon because I don’t think there’s anything exciting left to pull from it.

Hooks5
Production6
Longevity6
Bias5
RATING5.5

Grade: F

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