[Review] CODE – EVERGLOW

EVERGLOW was last active in 2024, during promotions for the single ZOMBIE. Since then, all 6 members have left YUEHUA Entertainment (now known as YH Entertainment), and only 4 members (E:U, SIHYEON, ONDA, and AISHA) have signed with CHXXTA Company to continue promotions under the EVERGLOW brand. This week, they released their first quartet song, CODE.

Their new song opens by drawing more on current trends than on their retro dance hits. While EVERGLOW’s intention with this new release is to reinvent themselves. But at certain points of CODE (i.e., the chorus), I speculate that there was acknowledgement that the older releases of their hits did work, but in an attempt to better themselves, existing trends were explored instead (probably to speak to today’s listeners). And to that I say, “Why are we reinventing the wheel?”. For CODE‘s chorus, I felt the song got really punchy and impactful in this moment, reminding me of their PIRATE single. I honestly felt a lot of potential behind this centrepiece. The rush of energy was bold and definitely a selling point of CODE. The major problem with CODE is that you have to get through the persistent use of unexciting trap before you can get to its selling point. And its dated feel and CODE‘s lacklustre build-up made it difficult for me to stick around (alas, I did for the purposes of this review). Another strong asset of EVERGLOW that seems to be missing is their usual strong delivery, particularly their appealing character, which gave their past hits an added punch. But in CODE, EVERGLOW felt held back and weighed down from reaching that height.

The transition, where it looks like the coding is breaking down their environment to create a void, was very cool. And there were a few other transitions elsewhere in the video that were smooth and looked really good. Apart from that, the music video has little else. It features an industrial-esque background, and the members look nice.

CODE‘s dance routine was good, but it would have been better with sharper movements and overall delivery. This would have reflected well with the music and made the routine look and feel bolder and more intense. This would have done wonders for the outro and finished the performance on a strong note.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.2/10