I have a soft spot for Park Jihoon’s title tracks. He’s had a few missteps, but by and large his promoted work has been pretty solid. The accompanying albums are usually a bit dull for my taste, but his more upbeat titles reveal a performer with tons of star power. New single Nitro veers into trendy synthwave, a genre I tend to enjoy even if the underlying song isn’t quite up to snuff. That sentiment perfectly describes my feelings around this comeback.
I’ll be honest. If Nitro‘s arrangement focused on different sounds — ones that didn’t appeal to me as strongly as synthwave — I’d probably dismiss it outright. Remove the instrumental and there’s not a whole lot left. The verses mostly kill time and succumb to needless tempo changes. Jihoon’s performance is workmanlike, but I can’t blame him. There’s not much to grab hold of here.
Yet, the moment Nitro‘s beat drops during the chorus, I can’t help but groove along. It’s nowhere near the best example of this style, but if you’re going to frame your hook around an instrumental drop it might as well be the evocative texture we get here. Never mind that the melodic centerpiece could be described as a well-produced mumble. Just mumble over some nice synth and we’ll look the other way! As a result, I like Nitro just fine. It’s no Gallery or Wing, but it sets a nice mood that makes up for its structural shortcomings.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
