Despite loving most of KISS OF LIFE’s solo releases, I haven’t been able to get into the rest of their discography, particularly their group singles. To this day, I regularly return to Natty’s ‘Sugarcoat’ and Julie’s ‘Kitty Cat’. On the other hand, my impression of their debut single, ‘Shhh’, has slightly improved since debut since seeing many live performances of the song, but it still felt far and away from the potential these talented girls could achieve. Their last title track, ‘Nobody Knows’, had a frankly incredible pre-chorus that is still stuck in my head since listening to it for the first time from one of their dance-challenge videos a few months ago. Yet, there was literally nothing else that I could remember from it. Thankfully, ‘Midas Touch’ seems to be the beginning of an upward trend- a song that feels strong from beginning to the end.
The song’s introductory instrumental teases a nostalgic sound that reminds me of early 2000s pop giants like Britney Spears. I’m glad that they went with this sound palette throughout the whole song, for it is a sound that is fresh and relatively unexplored in the current K-pop sphere. The girls are able to sell the concept and sound extremely well, both thanks to their charisma and strong vocal delivery. The latter is something they have never lacked from the beginning, and I’m glad to hear it being used in an equally strong song to match.
The melodies, especially in the verses and the pre-chorus, are quite solid. It has been a good 2-ish months since this song’s release, and I still remember them very well. When I think of K-pop, certain songs that I subconsciously feel that represent a particular time period play in my head. In this short span of time, ‘Midas Touch’ has already become one of the defining K-pop songs of the year.
Admittedly, I believe that the chorus lacked slightly compared to the rest of the song at first listen. This is both due to the melody and the production. My gripe with the production in this section is that it felt like a dip in energy from the previous sections and is overall generally less interesting. Fortunately, it has only grown more addictive with time. I’ll see if it continues to grow as the months pass, but at its given trajectory, it has a good chance of making it to the top 30ish in my K-pop countdown this year.
The bridge is a nice call back to their solo releases, and given my massive bias to their solos in comparison to their group title tracks (with Midas Touch as now the sole exception), the song immediately gets some bonus points.
Despite the song’s short run time, I believe that it feels like a complete song- something that I cannot honestly say about many songs of a similar length. With the benefit of hindsight, I believe that given my slight animosity with the song’s chorus, especially at the beginning, if I had to hear the chorus one more time within the song’s run time, I perhaps would have had a weaker impression overall. Perhaps this was an intentional move by the song writers so it could really highlight the song’s best parts.
All in all, ‘Midas Touch’ is unquestionably KISS OF LIFE’s best group title track. I would love to hear the pursue this early 2000s pop-princess sound in their following comebacks. They have already done a great job in setting themselves aside from the rest of the pack through their branding, skillset, and charisma. Now, the last step is strengthening their discography and consolidating their signature sound. I know they can do it. And ‘Midas Touch’ is a significant step towards that.
Hooks – 9
Production – 9
Vocal Delivery – 10
Rap Delivery – 10
Overall – 9.5
K-pop Evaluated 
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