I’ve listened to Illit’s newest EP, Mamihlapinatapai, quite a bit over the past few weeks, and I think I’ve heard the songs enough at this point to form some solidified opinions on them. I was also wondering if any of this would resonate with others.
Sonically speaking, outside of their title track It’s Me, there’s definitely consistency throughout the EP. When you hear the songs, you instantly think, “Yup, that sounds like Illit.”
The EP starts off with GRWM (2:48), and it’s a very soft-spoken, cutesy song both vocally and lyrically. The instrumental of this song is very good. The topline and the chorus? Not so much. The constant repetition of “Whatchu say” grows pretty tiring, and with every listen, I kept thinking they could’ve done better with the chorus both lyrically and melodically. There just wasn’t much creativity put into the lyrical or vocal production of this track. My favorite part of the song, and I feel like some would agree, is the outro where there are no vocals. It really highlights the charms of the instrumental, and when the song ends, it makes me wonder about the missed potential of the song.
The next song on the list is It’s Me (2:18), the title track. A lot of people have already given varying opinions on this rather polarizing song, so I’ll try to keep it short. When you’re listening to the EP in order, it does kind of catch you off guard right after GRWM. Vibe-wise, it’s completely different from the rest of the songs on the album. It just sticks out.
The song was definitely a grower for me. I find it a lot more fun now than I did on first listen. It’s one of those repetitive hook songs that really gets stuck in your head, kind of like Ring Ding Dong by Shinee. From a business perspective, I can understand why the song is so short (2 minutes and 18 seconds), but personally, I would’ve preferred if they lengthened it just a little more.
Paw, Paw! (2:29) is probably sonically the most unique song on the EP. My favorite part of the song is during the chorus where every time they say “paw,” the sound bounces between your ears. It matches the flow of the verses really well. The slowdown section during the latter half of the song also adds some much-needed dynamics to what is otherwise a fairly repetitive track.
What I didn’t like, though, is how autotuned all of the members sound. You genuinely can’t distinguish who’s singing what unless you’re already familiar with the line distribution. I know this b-side seems to be the fan favorite from the EP, some even claiming it should’ve been the title track instead. I disagree and I also don’t feel like this is a song that can naturally be sung in a live setting.
Mamihlapinatapai (3:01) is another song that had potential. While I didn’t really like the way the verses were delivered, it almost felt like they were just talking rather than singing, the melody of the chorus is actually pretty fun. What ruined it for me, however, is again, how robotic and autotuned they made the girls sound throughout the song.
Love, Older You (2:38) is the acoustic ballad in Illit’s style. Again, very soft-spoken overall, and lyrically the most substantial track on the EP. It feels like the members are giving a heartfelt message to themselves, and as a listener, you actually want to pay attention to what they’re saying. I can’t quite say the same for the rest of the EP, where a lot of the lyrics feel random and not particularly deep or meaningful. It’s an okay track overall. Not really the type of song that has a lot of replay value, and it would probably only hit differently if you’re in a very specific mood.
So my overall verdict on this EP after many listens is that it leaves a lot to be desired. It is very Illit-coded, and their cute, whimsical nature is still very much ingrained in their music. Style-wise, it’s also very consistent with what they’ve always done in previous EPs, leaning heavily into repetitive hooks throughout their discography.
But what makes this specific EP weaker than their previous works is that the repetitiveness here felt more half-baked, whether that’s in the lyrics or the vocal production. And this has honestly been one of my biggest gripes with pretty much all of Illit’s production so far throughout their career. There’s just way too much vocal tuning and autotune on their vocals. Using more harmonies, counter melodies, or other types of vocal layering on top of a less “refined” version of their actual voices would really make their music elevate to another level. The color of their voices are already all very similar to one another, only differing in varying degrees. Overly smoothing out their voices only makes them even less distinctive as vocalists.
I’d love to hear your guys’ thoughts on this EP, what you thought worked, and what you think could’ve been improved.
edit: I’d recommend actually reading my post first and leaving a comment if you disagree rather than instantly downvoting
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