(G)I-DLE (여자)아이들 - I NEVER DIE Mini Album Thoughts(K-pop)

    

   (G)I-DLE is a group that's been forever changing their style like a chameleon but always seems to bring a female empowered vibe to whatever they do. The women release when they want to and it's such spaces in between releases that I sometimes forget about them. I do still enjoy how some Kpop idol groups go back to the old way of releasing music where they make fans sort of miss them... I NEVER DIE is their newest mini album. 

Album Tracklist

TOMBOY
말리지 마 (Don’t Stop)
VILLAIN DIES
ALREADY
POLAROID
ESCAPE
LIAR
MY BAG

        (G)I-dle has a certain quality about them that gets buried under all the gimmicks that try to keep them in line with whats popular in South Korea at the moment. I wish that these women didn't have to do throw away tracks such as "My Bag". This fake street style that is used for fashion is old now and so is the over used hip hip infused genre. I NEVER DIE slides around wanting to be something fresh to an industry without actually taking the plunge to do so. Villain Dies as well as Tomboy are great examples of good ideas gone wrong for the machine which is Kpop. These tracks feel unfinished to degree that the punch needed to bring the overall sound home, can't find its way home. LIAR should have been the title track with it's dark pop slash "We will rock you" theme. All the women sound great on this track and the style fits them to a tee. Polaroid is another track that's a highlight on the mini album as a pop ballad. The track fits together with Liar perfectly since both tracks give the album that dark pop vibe that the concept photos were going for. Sadly, I NEVER DIE has less going for the whole body of work. Produces had a good sound. They just didn't know how to utilize it the correct way. 

    Vocals and Rap all fall in a mature sounding category for me. These women are one of the few female Kpop groups that actually sounds more like women than girls. I wish they had more opportunities in their music to shows listeners this though. 

    My final ruling is to just buy the individual tracks via download because the album isn't that good as a whole. Unless, you want to pay over thirty dollars for a photobook.... More power to you.