Song Review:: 1VERSE: WABIF (Wide Awake before I Fall)

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  • Release date: 2026 January 21

  • Album tracklist: WABIF (Wide Awake before I Fall)

  • Album runtime: 3 minutes

 I am still fully intending to hit the debut and pre-debut tracks because a small group like this at a small company needs all the help and coverage they can get. For the uninitiated, they're a five member group (pronounced like "universe") with two North Koreans in the group, two Americans (including I think K-Pop's first idol from Arkansas), and a Japanese member. They're also hilarious. Their content is great and you usually get subtitles in two or three languages, and they do their own color-coded lyrics. But you know what's the coolest? Kenny and Nathan (the two Americans) were lyricists for this song! Hyuk is still on hiatus, and I hope he's happy and healthy and recovering.

Yeah, I really do need to cover those other songs.

This reminds me of a very specific song from the mid- to late- 00s, something that I heard on the bus maybe or from one of my friends that they were listening to. The problem is that even if it wasn't about twenty years ago, I have no idea who any of those artists were, and song names? I'd have better odds at naming counties in Arkansas. So that's going to bother me uselessly. It's a very consistent instrumental, clearly designed to support the vocals without being either obtrusive or flimsy, which gives a strong base.

The rappers have a very good rhythm. It's bothering me because it sounds so annoyingly familiar. I'm not annoyed that the song is good. I'm annoyed that there's no way for me to figure out what specific song I'm thinking of. It's three minutes of nearly non-stop singing and rapping, and the way the vocals are folded around each other is fascinating. It's a lot milder in melody than I tend to like, but we get a hint of a vibrato and there are still some interesting things happening even though the pacing of the song remains the same throughout. Which is why the rappers are so important to this song. They interrupt that pacing enough that it isn't just a continuous smooth glide.

The vibes and visuals are strong with this one, which makes sense given that this is a visualizer. 



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