My first impressions of DASH were not quite positive. I have issues with its short song length because the rather repetitive nature of the chorus did not immediately sit well with me despite the excellent verses and bridge.
Following NMIXX’s concept, their ‘change-up’ section has always been the most controversial and highly contested critique of the quality of their music. Here in ‘DASH’, they cleverly placed it in the bridge, a section which is intended to a change of feel/pace in a song to begin with, only amplifying the change a little more than a typical bridge. In fact, this level of disparity is quite typical of SM bridges (see NCT DREAM’s rather recent ‘INTJ’). Indeed, before NMIXX has come to existence, SM entertainment has been doing something quite similar. This parallelism has only become more apparent when NMIXX has toned down the disparity between their other sections and their ‘change-up’ section in ‘DASH’, which in a way, reduces their novelty, which was otherwise more apparent in their earlier works like ‘O.O’ and ‘DICE’ which carried abrupt transitions and throws the average listener into confusion and disarray. Because of this, I can understand NMIXX stans who say that while ‘DASH’ is great a lot more palatable, it feels like their loosing their identity.
Regardless of my position in this debate, putting all my personal feelings aside of NMIXX’s sound, I still think that DASH is well-produced and expertly executed song. NMIXX has done a splendid job in singing and talk/singing, branding their song with their unique quirks that only they, in the whole K-pop industry, can churn out. I have previously mentioned in my blog that I was not quite fond of the members’ vocal tones, but be it via Stockholm syndrome or another reason, I would like to take it back. I think that some of their previous releases like ‘DICE’ did not create an environment or context that would encourage the average listener to see the best of their vocal tones, but here in ‘DASH’, I think that pretty much every one will be able to appreciate their singing/talk-singing voices. The song was crafted to bring out the best in their abilities.
Additionally, the foundations of the song are simply excellent. The excellent bassline that runs through most of the track, as well as the slight change in pace of the guitar in the second verse which kept the track incredibly dynamic make for very pleasant listening. The chorus has very much grown on me, mostly thanks to the great production along with little things sprinkled like the slow-down effect on Jiwoo’s vocals in the beginning of the second chorus that keep things from being too repetitive. I’m still divided on the song’s abrupt ending, and I think that an additional outro section would have benefitted the song further.
Ultimately, I think that ‘DASH’ is one of the best releases of NMIXX’s career, regardless of its limitations and implications on their group identity.
Hooks – 8
Production – 9
Vocal Delivery – 10
Overall – 9
K-pop Evaluated 
Leave a comment