Song Review:: I.O.I: I.O.I : LOOP- Goodbye With A Smile (Recorded in 2016) {Pre-Release}

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  • Release date: 2026 May 19
  • Album tracklist: IOI (Where My Girls At); Suddenly; SPF 100+ (Summer Pop Fantasy); IF I; Then, Now and Forever; Goodbye With A Smile (Recorded in 2016) (Prod.Jinyoung)
  • Album runtime: 20 minutes

 Did I think I was going to ever be writing a review for one of their songs that hadn't been suggested by someone via The Form (because you can do that; if you don't want a full GH or BBS post for a song and would rather know what I think about a song or just want someone to talk about the song briefly, you can ask me to do a regular, normal review about any song, title track, pre-release, b-side, it doesn't matter)? I did not, but here we are, and I'm excited about this. For everyone who already is a fan, I'm so excited for you to have this. For the people who are about to become fans, I hope you enjoy the journey.

Four minutes of song. Four minutes of piano and strings and a guitar. This is so pretty. It's also powerful and fairy-like, which is a bit of a fascinating combination. The strings and the chimes give the song a very specific lightness to help with the cinematic nature of this instrumental, which actually has an introduction and an ending in the instrumental more than what we've got for the climax. A song like this feels ludicrously luxurious in this day and age.

You know what this kind of reminds me of? The ending song for a Disney princess movie. We've got big voices and vibrato, which brings me so much joy, and a range in textures. The rapping fits well with the general tone of the song, and we've got multiple spots where you can clearly hear multiple members singing. So we've got two checks on my little checklist that I mentally keep. We've also got a decent display of vocal power, so if this truly was recorded back in 2016, I'd love to hear what they could do now that they've had an extra ten years to mature and train.

No music video. Sadness.

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