I think after the bridge the song is at its strongest, but I still want even more from the climax.Įternal Sunshine was my pick until I saw the performance video. Mingi especially is performing in a way I haven’t heard from him before, and I think it’s going to add a lot of finesse to their performances in the future. I know they’ve all improved, but I feel like the rappers have really expanded their skill set with this comeback. Rocky is definitely the stand out for me (and is already added to the hype playlist), but there are moments of Deja Vu I’m really enjoying. September so far was lukewarm for me, so this is a solid 9/9.5 🙂

I really liked Deja Vu – it was clean, cool & reminded me of a mixture of Kang Daniel’s Paranoia (the music, choreo & chorus) and Dreamcatcher’s BeCause (the MV & song structure, especially the bridge).Įveryone sounded good and Mingi was back rapping in style & Yeosang had great lines 🙂 I would say I definitely love this more than Fireworks!! Deja Vu wasn’t as intense as Fireworks, but the MV was great, better audio quality (not much auto tune destruction) and very Ateez for me. It’s not that I dislike their brighter sounding stuff – Dreamers, Wave, Answer(it has a few intense moments too) etc etc are good but if I ever have to pick my fave Ateez songs it’s usually the likes of Wonderland, Halla Halla,Say my name, Inception etc.ĭeja Vu, to me, felt the obvious choice because Ateez’s power lies in their stage performances and truthfully I find their intense song stages far more interesting than their lighter ones.

It’s not just that I actually LOVE what is dubbed as “typical fourth gen dark boygroup concepts”, it’s to do with the fact that personally I like Ateez doing darker/intense concepts. I think both Deja Vu and Eternal Sunshine are good songs but as a title track I’ll pick Deja Vu anyday. For a group who felt poised to change the game, it’s maddening to hear them settle – even if the resulting music is objectively decent. The chorus is fine, if a bit sing-song, but the whole effort seems stuck on autopilot. Even its inevitable Jongho power notes seem dulled. These elements are sorely missed from their recent work, and I wish Deja Vu held some structural surprises. Shots of icy synth and rumbles of distortion flesh out the instrumental, but this arrangement feels in keeping with typical boy group fare.Įarly in their career, ATEEZ’s title tracks thrived on two things: wonderfully bombastic pre-choruses and last-minute switch-ups that tore the songs open and sent them out on a high. It’s groovier than most of their title tracks, laying out its plinky plonk percussion early and rarely straying from that beat. With this in mind, Deja Vu feels like a lateral move – neither strengthening nor detracting from their singles run. I’m eager to be won back, but also skeptical of the direction the group is heading.

But apart from excellent b-side Take Me Home, I’ve been ambivalent about their Fever project, and haven’t been smitten by a title track since January 2020’s Answer. I was a day-one supporter, galvanized by the strength of their Treasure series. To be honest, I think ATEEZ and I are at an inflection point in our relationship. For now, let’s turn our attention to the official, fan-voted title track Deja Vu. Thankfully, a music video for Eternal Sunshine is waiting in the wings to be released… eventually. My choice was soundly beaten, proving yet again that Old Man Nick and the general K-pop fandom have diverged in taste.

As they have in the past, ATEEZ held a public vote to decide which of two songs would become their newest title track.

Deja vu song before it was