It’s been a while since I’ve written about Stray Kids, but I have to admit that I don’t have a particularly positive impression of their most recent releases. To this day, I maintain my stance that early Stray Kids released the best music. ‘Miroh’ and ‘Side Effects’ among others are absolute bangers.
However, in ‘Lose My Breath’, they decided to collaborate with Charlie Puth, which automatically veers the musical direction of this song compared to the rest of Stray Kids’ discography. Credit needs to be given where it is due. Charlie Puth has released some of the most quintessential Western pop songs of the 2010s. Remember the iconic baseline of ‘Attention’? ‘Dangerously’ has also received a resurgence especially in the K-pop sphere thanks to the BABYMONSTER’s Ahyeon who delivered a stunning cover in her pre-debut era. How does ‘Lose My Breath’ fare, then?
There is one core issue with this song that is deeply unsettling- it’s ridiculously high key. It is almost unnervingly high-pitched, especially for Stray Kids who are not technical vocalists to begin with, and also don’t have the ease up there as other vocalists in a similar level. Even for male K-pop idols who have a relatively developed technique within the current generation of K-pop, there are only a few names which I can think of the top of my head that would be able sing songs within this key at a level that can be considered ‘good’. Most of the members, especially who are singing the chorus, simply sound squeezed and stuck in their nose. It is not ‘pleasant’. There are a few exceptions, such as Seungmin, who wasn’t given the absurdly high part, but his execution of his part was just perfect. On the whole, unfortunately, this high key paired with the subpar vocal delivery brings down the song significantly.
It is truly a shame, especially considering how catchy the melodies are. As one can expect from Charlie Puth, even though it feels a little formulaic, it simply works. It runs around in repeat throughout my day. Whatever reservations I have about him, he knows how to write a good melody.
All in all, I strongly believe if the song was pitched perhaps 4 semitones lower, my score would definitely increase significantly. What is with pop’s obsession with high-pitched music?
Hooks – 9
Production – 6
Vocal Delivery – 7
Rap Delivery – 9
Overall – 7.75
K-pop Evaluated 
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