Song Review: WORK – ATEEZ

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that ATEEZ have created some of the best songs in K-pop history early in their career. ‘Answer’, ‘Inception’, ‘Utopia’, ‘Wave’, ‘Say My Name’ among others several others are all excellent songs. In particular, when I think of the phrase, ‘best k-pop song ever’, ‘Answer’ is one of the first titles that come straight to my head. I even wrote an entire post dedicated to analysing what makes it such a perfect song in my blog last year (view link here). As their career developed, they still do come out with some great ones here and there (‘Halazia’ and ‘Take Me Home’ come to mind!), but I have never been so engrossed with a recent ATEEZ song as I was in their early work. I am not sure if the group’s sound as outgrown me or the other way round, but I am of the opinion that the quality of their singles have generally been on a downward trend. I wish that this wasn’t the case, but these are my honest thoughts. Sadly, their latest title track ‘WORK’ continues to solidify this trend.

I generally favour songs that have some form of dynamics, yet ‘Work’, for the most part, maintains a constant level energy. It forgoes traditional general song development with an admittedly catchy rap hook along with decent rap verses that keep the vibe going. While most of the track is rap-based, I find that ATEEZ are usually at their best when they opt for a powerful vocal delivery. There are exceptions (‘BOUNCY’ being one of them), but the difference is that as I emphasised, the song still maintained some sort of dynamism. Generally speaking, there is a trend among the music industry to be heading towards more ‘easy-to-listen-to’ songs, and I think ‘Work’ fits the description. Sadly, ATEEZ, who at the beginning of their career were their own kind of act, releasing dynamic, powerful, emotive music, is now succumbing to this trend.

I have no problems with the way ‘ATEEZ’ have delivered the track. Around 7 or 8 times out of 10, I give ATEEZ a perfect score in both vocal and rap delivery because they so passionately commit to the music they sing about and it really shows. This is one of the reasons why I love them so much, even though I am not as much of a fan of their recent work. They slather their distinct charisma and humour all over it, and it makes for a good listening experience. However, the track itself is really nothing special. It’s not bad at all either. It is just by no means the best thing they could release given their skillset. It is understandable if they want to experiment more now that they are established within the industry, but there are ways to do it without opting for mediocrity. Actually, that word is very fitting of the song as a whole.

On a side note, the lyrics that they sing about have moreorless been sung about (or are on the same tangent, not exactly the same of course) many times within Western pop music with better songs to back them up. Fifth Harmony’s ‘Work From Home’ is a stellar example (which in itself has become an iconic song with its memeworthy meaning evolution via the existence of COVID).

Hooks – 8
Production – 7
Rap Delivery – 10
Overall – 8