Song Review: ILLIT – Do The Dance

If NewJeans first popularized the subdued style of girl group pop/R&B that currently has a stranglehold on K-pop, ILLIT took that baton and added a chirpy, ‘beep beep boop’ type of chorus that has now become just as ubiquitous. Taken together, these trends have delivered a lethal blow to my own personal taste. To put it mildly, I’m not a fan of either and this causes me to begrudge hits like Magnetic just as much as I love them.

To its credit, Do The Dance (빌려온 고양이) takes a small step toward something different. Right from the start, its energetic French House beat offers a refreshed backdrop. If K-pop has been stuck in the laidback UK garage sound of 2000-2001, this song pushes us forward into… 2002? That’s not much movement, but if we must commit to retracing the steps of pop history I’ll take anything I can get at this point. And though Do The Dance shoehorns the requisite “beep beep boops” into its structure, the bulk of the song has a bit more heft.

One of my goals for K-pop songwriting is that both the instrumentals and performances hit harder. Do The Dance gets the former right, offering a robust beat accented by a fun strings sample that feels as if it was lifted from the same mood board as Britney Spears’ Toxic. However, the melodies and vocal performance remain frustratingly aloof. Apart from a Party In The USA style vocal flourish during the chorus, the hooks are largely muted and the song fizzles to an end without attempting any sort of climax or development. It’s a case of one step forward, two steps back, but if I’m grading on a curve Do The Dance‘s engaging production places it a notch above most songs in this sonic realm.

Grade: B