Understandably, aespa had to release another major release towards the end of 2023 to give some of those K-Pop lovers a pre-Christmas treat. This has been one of the quad girl group’s better-received releases critically, troubling the charts and giving further hope for their future. This is the best of K-Pop today in a sense, albeit not exactly a form of music many outside of the music scene or Korea would take seriously. Let’s see if this short release can break stereotypes out there for this release, and we shall hear if it is any good.

Drama sounds very warped from the beginning. It has some dark electronic sounds and launches into a great piece of musical and joyous energy. The vocal parts are very catchy, but this is not the best of aespa so far. In fact, it points to a decline in the quality of the music here compared to earlier hits such as Next Level and Black Mamba. This is not exactly what one had hoped for. Still, it’s painfully listenable but other artists in similar musical styles have done better than this. A real drag musically, this is pure electronic garbage, especially for K-Pop overall. On the other hand, one can clearly hear the improvement in the girls’s singing voices, even if autotune is heavily applied here. It is a really disappointing tune to listen to, do not listen to this unless you are a real fan of K-Pop. Quite frankly, it is a waste of time and sounds awful.

Trick or Trick begins with a nursery rhyme take on stating, “Now you see me, now you don’t!” before launching into a piece that is, ironically and surprisingly, better than before. It is a more consistent tune that is typical K-Pop music from a lady’s perspective. Great, “So, catch me if you can, boy” is repeated in the main chorus here. Even so, this is not the best delivery from those record executives at SM Entertainment. An interesting song, but not a very good tune overall. It sounds very messed up and weird because it is. Unfortunately, there have been better releases in 2023 than this. Rather pathetic to listen to.

Don’t Blink begins with some good guitar parts, launching into a Blackpink-styled tune with Trap beats and a strange melodic section to boot. Again, it is an improvement on the previous track, which is very odd, if you think about it. Still, the music and production here is state of the art…for 2023 and not the future. Even so, this is routine and trashy music that does not need to be heard. Yes, Ariana Grande is better than this nonsense. It just lacks musicality and appeal throughout. This is how bad the music of the 21st century seemingly has become, it lacks interest, musicality and appeal throughout. Lame.

Hot Air Balloon begins with a looped melody and enters into a very, very weird tune. It sounds strange and weird musically because it is. Still, this is a vast improvement over every other track so far. It certainly makes one wonder why this EP was recorded, except for dollar signs in the executive’s eyes. That is not the purpose of good music, and this is not aespa’s fault, but the fault of the record executives at hand. These girls need better music to sing to, to be fair. Even so, this does have a cheeky sense of humour about it which is different. Still, this sounds like the audio equivalent of Korean-styled McDonald’s, here today and gone tomorrow. One hopes that the music improves on the next release, this song is okay though. At least it has some originality and slightly different production which makes it somewhat rewarding. A good change from a mediocre EP.

YOLO begins with some better EDM-styled textures and launches into a strange tune about the same old ethos, here today and gone tomorrow. A huge lack of musical originality is here. Honestly, Korean music has been done much better by past acts such as Girls Generation and BTS, not this nonsense. The music here does not do a great deal of justice to what the world of music really can do, this is almost as bad as fingernails down a blackboard. Still, it has its moments in a progression sense, but nobody will remember this in 10 years time. Pretty ordinary as a result.

You begins with chirping birds and a melodramatic electric keyboard piano. It quickly launches into a better (for its mediocrity) tune that is obviously filler, but good filler at that. This is clearly a love song, but why is it shafted in a bad place on the release? Goodness knows. In any case, this is okay and the piano is a nice touch, but this isn’t the most inspiring K-Pop to come out of Korea. Despite that, this is okay to listen to, but definitely not perfection, let alone good. This is Pop music trash that you won’t want to be hearing in the near future. Unless you really need to hear this, complete with an awful key change, hurl this straight into the bin. It is definitely not worth it. The harmonies at the end are okay, though.

Better Things is surprisingly the hit of the EP. Upon listening, you can kind of hear why. It is the hidden gem of this EP and lifts it up to a more valuable piece of mediocrity, rather than just being totally forgettable. This song has piano, catchy singing, handclaps and other breezy summer textures that sound great. A really good tune to listen to, this is the only song worth hearing from this EP. The rest are junk. Seriously. It is obvious that whoever produced this EP had that agenda directly in mind. Now that’s done, can we have that proper K-Pop afterparty full of gratuitous sex, drugs galore and rock and roll? A good song, anyway.

This is not an impressive release by any means. In fact, it is clearly a big disappointment musically that is a painful, one-sided and unoriginal listening experience. aespa has definitely done better than this EP release beforehand, and they are now on a downward spiral in quality control. Should you hear this EP? Definitely not, aespa does not retain the music or excitement that they used to.

Very, very disappointing.

4/10