Song Review: Lisa (BLACKPINK) – Moonlit Floor

It’s always interesting to measure the lag between a very popular western pop song and the inevitable K-pop progeny. I’m not sure Lisa’s solo material can be considered “K-pop” given its language and her nationality, but you can definitely hear how new single Moonlit Floor echoes the approach of Sabrina Carpenter’s breezy global smash Espresso. Actually, the track reaches even further back in pop history.

The 2020’s have featured many big pop songs built upon past hits. Often, their choruses are a complete copy of the original they’re interpolating. Moonlit Floor is very much this. Its hook is lifted entirely from Sixpence None The Richer’s 1999 hit Kiss Me. I don’t know how many younger listeners will recognize this, but for me it makes the track feel like a cover… and not a particularly interesting one.

To make this approach work, Moonlit Floor needed to leverage its inspiration in surprising or creative ways. Unfortunately, the song simply surrounds its copy/paste hook with dull faux-disco, subdued to the point it nearly loses its pulse. We already have so much current music with this same arrangement – vaguely funky but sanitized to the point it loses all identity. It’s a “fine” track, but “fine” is the most dull, noncommittal thing you can be. Those words certainly don’t describe Lisa, so I’m a bit bummed she was saddled with something like this.

Grade: C