Song Review: Move by Treasure (T5)

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. I don’t usually enjoy Treasure’s music. Last year’s excellent ‘Hello’ was huge exception that even ended up breaching my top 10 favourite K-pop songs of 2022, and while I had high hopes for what was to come next, the group was radio silent until recently YG himself came to announce that there would be a Treasure subunit coming. I had no expectations coming into this, but now I have to admit that I am more than impressed.

The last time Treasure attempted a ‘sexy’ concept was back when they did ‘MMM’. That song is easily my least favourite title track from them. Up until they did ‘Hello’, I thought to myself that Treasure had yet to find a sound that suits them. However, with ‘Move’, they proved absolutely capable of pulling off the sexy concept very convincingly. In fact, I believe this is one of the best executions of a K-pop comeback the whole year. The members have truly given their all to deliver and perform the shit out of this song.

I have to give props where it is due. When I did a bit of digging, it turned out that member Junkyu was the sole writer of the song’s lyrics (which many fans found surprising considering his introverted nature) and even co-produced the track. He did an excellent job. This is something he can be proud of for the rest of his life.

‘Move’ feels slick from the get-go, delivering a classy and funky beat that had me immediately entranced. I was not immediately ‘in love’ with it, but as I kept playing the song again and again, I find myself more and more addicted. It refuses to sacrifice even a tinge of its momentum from beginning to end. This impeccable foundation serves as perfect launchpad to deliver something truly great- and they did.

Junkyu’s opening verse is easily the most confident I have ever heard him. I watched YG Treasure Box, and he stood out to me quite a lot for his singing ability back then. Yet over the years, I felt that he wasn’t able to bring his skill out in Treasure songs. Here, being the song’s writer and also having by far the most lines in the song, he owned every single line he sang. Absolutely nailed it. The fact that he sang ‘my sexy my sexy’ with confidence so inflated that I did not even cringe. That is quite an achievement in itself (as I very easily cringe at a lot of moments where idols literally say they are ‘sexy’). His singing sounds streamlined and focused throughout, and it really comes across beautifully.

Junkyu is definitely the MVP of the whole song, but it doesn’t mean the other 4 members of the subunit did not bring their A-game either. Their delivery all felt self-assured and immaculately confident. This bled throughout every single aspect of the song, including the choreography (which by the way is easily one of my favourite idol choreographies of the year). It really felt like the 5 members found themselves. They knew they were the stars and they owned every second of it.

This was the most apparent in the EXO-esque climax note which was as convincing as a K-pop power note should be, and it perfectly suited the classy vibe of the entire song.

‘Move’ is not the kind of song that you sing to yourself nonstop after listening to it, but it does not greatly diminish its overall effectiveness of its hooks. I can’t really see it being done in another way, but it might be a premature thought as this is a pretty early review (I usually review songs many days after their release to settle my opinion but the song was so good I could not wait).

At first, I was not sure of the way the bridge was executed, halving the tempo and bringing some resounding brass to the forefront. However, I quite appreciate it now as it gave the song the much needed variation in production, as it was quite faithful to the original beat and production choices throughout (which to be fair, is already growing to be quite the iconic beat).

‘Move’ slams the house down, promising excellence for Treasure’s upcoming full album that claims to revamp the group sound.

Hooks – 9
Production – 10
Vocal Delivery – 10
Rap/Chant Delivery – 10
Overall – 9.75