Song Review:: RESCENE: lip bomb- Heart Drop {Pre-Release}

• Release date: 2025 November 25

• Album tracklist: Heart Drop, Bloom, Love Echo, Hello XO, MVP

• Album runtime: 15 minutes

 I know, I know. The album has already come out and that's probably what you were expecting me to do, but I apparently didn't get to this one, but both songs are on Underage Protocol because the maknae is far too young. It's really unfortunate.

I feel like we've moved from the light and milquetoast to roughly the same instrumental that would simply be the milquetoast of old if we removed the percussion from it. On the one hand, it's no longer a single note scent, which I deeply appreciate, but on the other, it still feels a little too safe. But it's nice. Even if it doesn't completely catch my attention, I'm not bored, which sounds like a backhanded compliment, but I promise that it's a good thing in my head. Instead, we've still got some layers to the song, which is good, and it sticks a little, which is also good. 

They have such pretty voices, and this is a group that I wish could have gotten three more years. We even got some big vocal bursts going on, which instantly brings me joy. Even if the instrumental isn't strong enough to make a statement, the vocals are. The statement is cut off, but there is a statement here, which I still appreciate. And if you're wondering why this is so short, it's because almost immediately after I paused the song, because Underage Protocol, my brain instead started playing Love Me Right by EXO. Does this song remind me of Love Me Right? It's possible, and if so, that's a huge compliment to this group.

This is a vibes and visuals music video, with some interesting found-footage horror flavoring to it. I like that. It's unexpected. Some of the camera angles were also unexpected, which also caught my attention, because they were kind of CCTV angles, and some of the shot compositions definitely had me raising my eyebrows.