Song Reviews:: ifeye: As If- Hazy (Daisy)

• Release date: 2026 April 15

• Album tracklist: I'll Be There, Hazy (Daisy), Padam Padam, Touch, Forever Us, 

• Album runtime: 14 minutes

 The maknae was fifteen at debut, so unfortunately they are on Underage Protocol. If you're new here (welcome! I love to see new faces! Glad to meet you!), Underage Protocol is part of my refusal to support the companies debuting anyone under the age of sixteen or if the group debuts with more than fifty percent of the members under the age of eighteen. The reason for this is, the members of groups often do not have their parents to step in and protect them from predatory adults and being exposed to everything at a young age can mess up the artists (multiple of the ones who debuted at fourteen, for instance, have said that they wished they'd debuted when they were older). I'd love to say I trust the companies to protect them, but that requires a level of faith in companies to be human and not exploitative in a way that I simply cannot trust businesses to be. Which is also why I want at least half of the group to be at least at or over the age of eighteen, because then they're better able to protect the younger members. There is a little bit of leeway I allow groups. Like, for instance, if we have a five member group and three of them are seventeen or younger, if at least one of those three turns eighteen before the end of the year or within six months (whichever happens first) and the maknae was at least sixteen (preferably turning seventeen by the end of the year or within three months, whichever is later), then I may listen to them depending on company history and if I hear any horror stories. If a group is on Underage Protocol, like ifeye, what does that mean? Well, it means that I personally refuse to listen to the group until they're all eighteen on my own free time (I have a playlist for songs I like by those artists that I'll move the songs out of that playlist once everyone is eighteen and into other applicable ones so I can start listening to it). And practically, for this blog, it means that I minimize the amount of impact I give while writing these reviews. I'll listen to it once for the instrumental, once for the vocals, and then up to two watches for the music video. And I may occasionally get a bit ranty if the maknae is too young, or if all but one of them are minors.

Do I expect all of you to do this as well? Nope. You can listen to whoever you want to. It's none of my business. But that's where I draw my line about what I perceive to be the exploitation of minors to protect, in some small way, their physical and mental well-being.

We've got the underwater effect going on with the instrumental on top of the skittering beat. I'm hearing a lot of it lately, and I don't know how I feel about it, but it's not a constant in this song, which is good, and we've got several spots where the song softens a lot and creates an excellent contrast. We never go big at any point, which is fine if disappointing for me, but the contrast down in energy is there and it is a strong contrast. 

There isn't a single member who isn't breathy in this song. I thought for a moment that we had one of them who was going to strengthen up her vocals, but she didn't. Normally, I'd be a bit frustrated with that, but the song is called "Hazy" so it's thematically appropriate. It's a very cute song vocally, which I think is a bit of a disconnect from the instrumental. I'm trying to decide where it would go in a concert. It's not strong enough for an opener, but it's also not high energy enough for an encore, unless they use the encore to settle the crowd before sending them on their way. This would be pretty easy to sing along with though. So I don't know. 

Storyline! It's actually got a lot going on with it, even though everything is pastel and there's no vibrancy in the colors. Though, again, the song is called "Hazy" so it's still thematically appropriate, but it's just a little disappointing. I do like that we have a storyline though.