Song Review: ETA by NewJeans

When I first reviewed NewJeans’ pre-release ‘Super Shy’, I was slightly concerned about how its one-note and repetitive hook would age, but I quickly found that its melody is deliriously addictive, making it a summer standout, and potentially, a 2023 standout as well. While I can see why many say that ‘ETA’ is the strongest song among their recently released album, it is held back by the a series of compromising flaws that prevent it from reaching its full potential.

‘Super Shy’ was fuelled by a few core ideas within the production and repeated it throughout with minor variation in the last chorus. ‘ETA’ continues this trend, except that there is even less variation in the song’s production. It makes use of this looping distorted bass riff that is quite effective, which actually slightly reminds me of similar sounding bass riffs used in 2NE1’s iconic ‘I AM THE BEST’, although much more toned down and muted to fit into NewJeans’ style of music. This gives the track some lifting that makes it stand out in comparison to ‘Super Shy’. However, what concerns me is the song’s lack of general development, especially considering that the song leans more into dance music. It feels like it could have easily gone on for at least a minute or two to make it truly build up. I know that I have cited IVE’s ‘Kitch’ for still holding back in its final chorus where everything becomes more fleshed out, but I would have actually appreciated the approach used in that song within ‘ETA’ as NewJeans’ style of music is generally more muted and minimalistic anyway- amping everything up just enough to not lose the whole vibe of the song. Additionally, the vocal mixing and compression within the song is quite fuzzy, which can make it hard to catch what the girls are saying at times. This creates a very aloof sort of atmosphere, but at the cost of stripping some of NewJeans unique vocal colours that really helped make many of their other songs (such as a ‘Super Shy’ and ‘Ditto’) such a pleasure to listen to.

What also holds the song back is the Vocal Delivery, which is surprising coming from me as I have always appreciated the girls’ vocal delivery bar some songs like ‘Cookie’. Speaking of which, I believe the two songs have similar problems in this area- the attempt to sound aloof and cold translate into almost lazy-sounding singing. NewJeans aren’t technically strong vocalists either, so it becomes a bit obvious. This also affects the enunciation of certain parts of the song, which is further exacerbated by the problems I outlined earlier with the vocal-mixing of the song. Other parts are quite charming, but I can see why many felt that ‘ETA’ was quite bland at first listen.

The hooks within ‘ETA’, like many NewJeans songs, are surprisingly potent. At this point, I think they own the phrase within my blog, not really striking you at first listen, but hitting harder with every next listen. NewJeans continues to release songs with interesting melodic intervals that make it stand out within the mainstream releases as the sound palette feels fresh almost every time. I’ve mentioned this time and time again, but the contrast of slightly dissonant intervals bleeding into harmonic ones with fun and unexpected twists and turns is always something I embrace wholly. Additionally, the melody in general is the most well-developed within the whole album, not to mention its interesting song structure that makes it sound quite fresh.

All in all, while ‘ETA’ is a solid release, its commitment to its short run-time and minimalist style compromised its final product.

Hooks – 10
Production – 9
Vocal Delivery – 8
Overall – 9