Well, we’re back in the right country at least, right?

[Video][Website]
[5.22]

Katherine St Asaph: It doesn’t take too much of a tumble down the K-pop rabbit hole to instantly recognize this as 2NE1; even if there weren’t callbacks (“the club’s getting ugly” has to be one, right?), they are a group with a formula as set as Little Mix throwing positivity confetti or Destiny’s Child always giving Michelle the bridge. At the same time, this could easily be Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas with all their pollutants siphoned out and replaced with lake air. It works; this feels like they’re falling in love, if only with the BPM.
[7]

Anthony Easton: The beginning of this is strange in a familiar way, and how they sing “touch, touch, touch” is fantastic in its abrasiveness. It’s as ugly as they identify it. The “falling in love” sections become more romantic and prettier — but they don’t even play with the pretty message and the ugly vocals. That the “touch” sections are abrasive, and the romance sections are florid, suggests a kind of implied moral that might make us a bit uncomfortable.
[6]

Patrick St. Michel: Most of the 2NE1 songs and music videos that have caught attention outside of South Korea have been the bombastic ones, the sort of songs that would sound ideal blasting out of WWE’s TitanTron. Yet they have plenty of more chilled out moments in their discography, and “Falling In Love” isn’t even the quartet’s first time wading into Reggae waters. There are contemporary elements drizzled across it, from the EDM-ish electronic touches to the feeling that a lot of this is just CL’s “The Baddest Female” made more summer-appropriate. And it’s definitely a fit for the season, but it’s also a little too pleasant, especially for a group capable of way more fireworks. 
[5]

Alfred Soto: While the indignant crayoning in the vocals grinds against the emollient cadences of dance hall, the electronic aftertaste never lets up.
[6]

Iain Mew: Dara wearing a bindi: still not OK at all! Difficult not to be soured on the whole thing after that (again), especially with a song as underwhelming as this vaguely reggae pop on first listen, but it eventually just about gets somewhere. The chorus is swooning and the sparing dub wubs are used really well, plus the contrast of being mostly easy-going with CL’s ultra-tight rapping works to even better effect than on “I Love You,” and the effects that sound like ripping sweat-stuck limbs from furniture are a great summer touch.
[6]

Daisy Le Merrer: One half of it is a great K-ragga muffin, the other half is meh swedish reggae. 2NE1 can do agressive, sexy, dramatic… But happy & relaxed is out of their grasp, apparently.
[6]

Josh Langhoff: Pros! Is there a dub version?
[4]

Brad Shoup: Airless reggae punctuated with CL’s raised-hackle flow belying a pretty standard meet-cute. I like the way they handle the title though.
[4]

Andy Hutchins: Why is 2NE1 boring and having a combined Ace of Base/dancehall period now?
[3]