Song Review: HEYA – IVE

IVE has had a strong run of title tracks up until their first full album 6 months ago where while the amount of title tracks certainly increased, (1 to 3!) the quality invariably diminished. It is a true shame, honestly. ‘Either Way’, ‘Off the Record’, and ‘Baddie’ are all quite decent, but they simply don’t compare to the likes of their first 3 title tracks. Thankfully, it seems like Starship has learned their lesson this time. ‘HEYA’ is a hit.

Something that particularly impresses me about ‘HEYA’ is how thoroughly the producers have thought about the transitions between the different sections of the song. It took its sweet time, enabling each section, while sounding quite different from each other, to integrate and built upon the last section really smoothly. It is relatively unusual among K-pop songs, I will have to admit. Usually, when a K-pop song has sections that sound wildly different from each other, they would rather embrace the abruptness (NMIXX spearheaded this trend), or does not fully commit to embracing or glueing them together, which diminishes the overall quality. ‘HEYA’ can now be seen as the opposite end of the spectrum among ‘mixpop-esque’ K-pop songs. It is highly effective.

Additionally, the production within the sections themselves is usually dynamic in the sense that it consciously tries to spice things up just when things start to ‘stabilise’. It makes for a very fun and engaging listening experience.

The melodies are comparatively weaker than the stellar production. However, it is slowly growing on me. Parts of the melody, particularly the pre-chorus are standout. While, Wonyoung and Liz notably deliver a stellar vocal performance within this song, it is ultimately Liz’s vocal texture elevates this song to the next level. She is growing into one of my favourite K-pop vocalists.

As always in an IVE title track (bar the last album), by the time the last chorus kicks in, everything is thumping at full bombast, a climax of of epic proportions. The sample feels so satisfyingly insistent, and I love that it commits to it.

On a sidenote, I like this album a lot more than their full album, and their to-be second title track Accendio is also another highly-intriguing piece of music. My faith in IVE is maintained.

Hooks – 9
Production – 10
Vocal Delivery – 10
Overall – 9.5