THROWBACK #15: NINE MUSES- NEWS

Released: January 11th, 2012

Whew it's been a while since I last did a throwback review! Today I want to dive further into the musicality behind Nine Muses, a 9-member group who debuted back in 2010. Although the group consistently released bops after bops, they unfortunately came from Star Empire entertainment, a relatively-unknown agency at that time (and later turned out to become very infamous). But the biggest what-if was that they were constantly being overshadowed by another 9-member group (*cough *cough SNSD). Nine Muses unfortunately never got a live music show win, but stood their ground long enough to last 9 years in the industry, before disbanding in 2019. It's a total shame the girls didn't get the spotlight they deserve, and that's why I want to look deep into their archives and re-visit their songs that should have topped the music charts. My personal favorite from them is News, a high-energy synth-pop single that will surely keep you on your toes.

Gone are the days where the beat would stay consistent from beginning to end, while solely relying on old-school elements to amp up the song production even more. News is a perfect example of that; the track immediately goes to its bread and butter, a techno beat with a cutting-edge melodic synth refrain and a slice of rock guitar riffs, and continues to take off from there. The verses flow very smoothly and the pre-chorus brings back those synths to create more tension, before releasing it all in the climax. The climax is reminiscent of old-school tracks, relying on all of the members' vocals to add depth. I don't understand why this isn't done more in current tracks; none of the members in Nine Muses are terrific vocalists, but when their voices combine together, they sound more coherent and more amplified.

My only complaint with this track is that I simply wished they kept the same verses from the first for the second, as they were also one of the song's strong points. But what impressed me was just how consistent the song's pace was throughout; the energy never faltered at any point and it almost felt like one long pre-chorus to the very end of the track, where we hear a nice modulation of the final chorus. Songs like these rarely exist in the third generation, where innovation and creativity can sometimes be an overkill to these otherwise delicate tracks.

RATING: 7.75/10