[Review] Don’t Wake Me Up! – WONHO

It’s been a while since I reviewed a track from WONHO; the last was his pre-enlistment comeback circa 2022, Don’t Regret. Since his military enlistment, WONHO released his 1st studio album, SYNDROME, last year, which was led by the single If You Wanna (which I have not yet reviewed). Last month, WONHO released his 4th mini-album, CORE, and the title track Don’t Wake Me Up!. What attracts me to Don’t Wake Me Up! is the instrumentation. The high-energy, club-infused EDM track was very cool from the get-go. And after many repeats, Don’t Wake Me Up! remains pretty exhilarating and adrenaline-pumping as the first time around. The pounding percussion and shimmering synth line were very intense all throughout. The buildup and development of the instrumentation also help prevent the track from feeling overly repetitive, which was an initial concern I had about the song. The track follows through with a chanty and catchy “Don’t Wake Me Up” repetition that becomes quite a memorable and noticeable element of the song. But apart from that, nothing else really sticks out. You can tell of WONHO’s presence in the song. The brief melodies we do get were nice, but with the short verses and the song...