Track Assessment: Waker – Like That

Boy group Waker impressed me very early in 2024 with their debut Atlantis. Sadly, they haven’t had many extra possibilities to impress, with one follow-up in mid-2024 and never a single title monitor final yr. These of us who’ve been round Ok-pop for lengthy sufficient know the way this story of underfunded rookie teams usually seems. Hopefully a brand new 2026 comeback foretells constructive developments for this promising group.

Arriving precisely two years after their debut, Like That repaints Waker as funk-poppers. The music wastes no time producing power, depositing us proper in the midst of the groove. I respect the directness of this method, however it has the odd impact of blitzing by the monitor’s greatest moments early on. Issues unfold fantastically by the pre-chorus as power continues to construct and it appears like we’re headed towards an exciting centerpiece. Sadly, Like That falls sufferer to the identical challenge most funky Ok-pop tracks have as of late. Fairly than construct and construct and explode, the refrain retreats to a sparse, percussive anti-drop. As soon as upon a time, this method felt considerably novel. At the moment, it’s so predictable you possibly can virtually set your watch to it.

Verse two continues to change issues up. I like the added bits of rhythm right here, however I’m not as bought on the brand new melody. It’d simply take some getting used to. Fortunately, the bounding association barely offers the listener time to be essential. We’ve heard this method lots of of instances earlier than, however there’s a purpose it often works. In our barren early-2026 Ok-pop panorama I’ll take what I can get, and this one’s upbeat sufficient to warrant a couple of performs.

Grade: B