THROWBACK #10: EXID- EVERY NIGHT

Released: October 2nd, 2012

Girl group EXID went through such a wild roller-coaster ride. Debuting back in 2012, EXID found almost no success until in 2014 a fancam of Hani performing Up & Down became viral, sending the single to the very top of the music charts. EXID soon became a household name and got a ton of love calls and CFs. The group tried to replicate Up & Down's composition with their next comebacks but found little to no success. DDD in 2017 best imitated its style and exceeding my expectations, but by then it was evident the girls were losing popularity. The group disbanded 2 years later. Despite their painful downfall, EXID was certainly remembered as one of the breakthrough groups in the past decade. As great as Up & Down sounds, I want to talk about one of the earlier singles they released that should have deserved just as much recognition. It's not nearly as catchy and infectious as Up & Down at first, but its superb song-writing and talent prevails.

Although Every Night does contain a hook, the song is more reliant on using the standard song structure."Wah"-like and woodwind synths define each of the sections well, but the acoustic guitar shapes the melody throughout the entire song and I love its sound here. We hear LE's rap kick off the first verse instead of your usual vocals which is a cool refreshing change. Like most raps, the fast rhythm here builds up adrenaline early in the track despite the relatively slow-tempo of the song. I was also intrigued by the non-monotonic nature of the rap, as I can't call it singing, but it's also not pure rapping. Nevertheless, it is unique to hear. I also like how the verses were designed to produce this bouncing effect, where there is no break in between the transition in parts between Hani and Junghwa, where Junghwa's part has a faster rhythm than Hani's.

If there's anything I can say about the chorus, it would be that this is where the presence of talent truly distinguishes one's self from everyone else. The chorus was solely built for Solji to shine, and I am digging every second of it. Her vocals are just something else, and those high notes shape up the song's extremely high peak. Give credit to the synth chord progressions and the slight variation with the guitar for lifting the production up as well. The second verse also has variation, where the vocals start first, followed by another different rap from LE. Again, something about the non-monotonic rap sounds so unique and different, but it certainly carries the song's heartbeat forward. The composers clearly recognize Solji's talent and are not afraid to unleash her singing capabilities in the bridge. After LE's surging rap, some of the instruments fade, and Solji's vocals once again delivers, before singing a variation of the standard chorus for the last one. The song properly closes with its main hook.

It still bewilders me how this song did not propel them to any kind of success at that time. It would not be until 2 years later that they release Up & Down, but Every Night is a treasure gem that has talent written all over it. It is not reliant on hooks, or anything related to that, but rather pure talent. Unfortunately EXID decided not to release songs like that anymore, and I can't help but wonder what their trajectory path would have looked like if they had stayed true to their personalities in this song.

RATING: 7.8/10