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LE SSERAFIM's 'EASY' album once again receives criticism for 'heavy referencing'

AKP STAFF
Posted by Susan-Han Thursday, February 22, 2024

Pop music review magazine IZM, South Korea's representative music review platform with reviews posted regularly by prominent music critics, once again criticized LE SSERAFIM's comeback album 'EASY' for "heavy referencing". 

This time, music critic Lee Seung Won shared a review of LE SSERAFIM's 'EASY' soon after its release on February 19. 

Lee Seung Won began, "LE SSERAFIM's music thus far has left a strong impression. Artfully choosing the most successful sounds from the pop music scene and integrating them skillfully into their own sound and identity, LE SSERAFIM has earned a place for themselves as a leader of the 4th generation." 

The music critic continued, "However, the references used for this album, 'EASY', are painfully obvious. The song 'Smart', which boasts a common Afrobeat sound, resembles Doja Cat's 'Woman' both in style and in the melody line. The rock intro 'Good bones' immediately reminds the listener of 'Date with the night' by Yeah Yeah Yeahs." 

Also commenting on the resemblance between "Swan Song" and "Kill Bill" by SZA, Lee Seung Won wrote, "The lazy modification of familiar sounds without much creative effort evokes a sense of deja vu, inevitably losing any semblance of freshness." 

Previously, LE SSERAFIM received criticism for noticeably referencing Rosalía in the title track "ANTIFRAGILE" from their 2nd mini album of the same name.  

The IZM review has spurred on an active discussion on various online communities, as other K-netizens weighed in on whether the songs mentioned above reminded them of songs like "Woman" by Doja Cat and "Kill Bill" by SZA. 

What's your reaction to the IZM review? 

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eager_beaver
eager_beaver6,676 pts Thursday, February 22, 2024 7
Thursday, February 22, 2024

"Immediately reminds the listener?"


The thing is, people can easily be reminded of all kinds of things. That's how the human brain is: it's naturally pattern-seeking. For example, that reference to "Date with the Night" is a bit far fetched. I can tell that it and "Good Bones" are stylistically similar, but many rock songs sound like DWTN. I wouldn't say that "Good Bones" and DWTN are so similar that the former references the latter. It's certainly not "painfully obvious". I wonder how many people truly were immediately reminded of DWTN when they heard "Good Bones" the first time.

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milk_tea_too
milk_tea_too1,216 pts Thursday, February 22, 2024 0
Thursday, February 22, 2024

It's like copying someone's essay or paper and rephrasing it enough for it not to be detected by the teacher or a plagiarism checker lol

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