Song Review: Treasure – Yellow

Treasure pre-released their single Last Night in December. It was a sturdy rock-influenced anthem that fit them well. That song re-emerges as part of their new album Pleasure, which sees the guys tackling a variety of light pop sounds. Title track Yellow takes a more laidback approach in the vein of past YG Entertainment highlights like iKON’s Love Scenario.

Given the right song, this can be a very effective sound for a boy group. However, Yellow doesn’t do much for me. Its sing-song chorus has a nostalgic first-gen feel, though K-pop’s first-gen acts would have bolstered it with ridiculous techno or faux-reggae. Instead, we get plinky plonky percussion that doesn’t really commit to anything. The song revs up during its final moments, unveiling a more robust arrangement that should have been used throughout the entire track. I appreciate the sweet unpretentiousness of Yellow, but it needs at least one interesting musical quirk to contrast its simplicity.

Taking all of Yellow‘s elements into account, the song feels like a sigh rather than an exclamation. For as infrequently as Treasure comes back, they really need to hit it out of the park each and every time. Yellow has great potential as a b-side but I don’t see it matching quality with the group’s best singles.

Grade: C