Song Review: Yena – NEMONEMO

Choi Yena has straddled the line between rock chick and quirky popstress, often combining the two for a bubbly sound that capitalizes on her colorful personality. New single NEMONEMO (네모네모) dives full-on into the quirk, delivering the kind of a hyperactive dance track more commonly heard in J-pop. It won’t be for everyone, but the madcap energy is quite contagious.

I had my doubts when NEMONEMO‘s initial teasers rolled out, promising a ton of affected cutesy talk that can often overtake an otherwise solid track. Fortunately, the full song has much more to it than expected. The silliness is definitely present, but as a feature rather than a flaw. In fact, much of NEMONEMO reminds me of Orange Caramel’s irreverent singles run. It’s clearly not taking itself too seriously, but at the same time you can tell a lot of thought went into the track itself. The synths are bright and explosive and the percussion barrels forward with peppy enthusiasm.

In fact, it’s because of NEMONEMO‘s in-your-face approach that its eccentricities work so well. Given a different sonic palette, its sing-talk chorus could have easily become cloying. But Yena echoes the intensity surrounding her, feeding into the song’s best instincts. I’m not sure how this will age in the long run, but for now it’s a ton of fun and likely to spawn equally addictive live stages.

Grade: B