The Singles Jukebox

They’re Misters Lonelys…

[Video][Website]
[6.00]

Jessica Doyle: To set the scene: B1A4 has been around since 2011; they hadn’t been performing regularly since May, which is centuries in K-pop time; two of the five members had been well-received in dramas and a third in solo performances; they needed to be able to capitalize on this momentum and make Who Am I? a success, or risk a long-term reputation as second-tier. Thus “Lonely” is playing it safe. “Safe,” in B1A4 Land, does not guarantee “straightforward”: this is the group that brought you the happiest song ever about being cheated on, after all. What looks like a plain old breakup song ends up, upon closer examination, revealing itself as a just-post-breakup song: that moment where genuine grief has blurred into self-pity and self-pity is fighting off the knowledge that it’s time to pack up and move on. The repeated “Hey” functions as a reminder that the narrator may call himself lonely but doesn’t have the luxury of denying all company. It appears that Jung Jinyoung has pulled off the difficult trick of creating a popular hit (Who Am I? has sold so well that rival groups’ fans have accused B1A4’s management of artificially inflating album sales) without blanding himself down. From a long-term perspective, a triumph — in the immediate act of listening to the song, it takes too long to get started; and Baro’s rap feels even more superfluous than usual; and Sandeul’s hook is even more fleeting than usual. There is room for improvement, Jinyoung. I grade harshly out of love.
[6]

Madeleine Lee: I’m picturing some Project Runway-esque challenge where Jinyoung had to make a single in two days using only an 80s karaoke instrumental, some outtakes from the group’s last few singles, and his own G-Dragon impression. The result isn’t bad, but it sounds awkward compared to the other (better) tracks he wrote for the album. You get the sense he could have used a few more days to hammer out those melodic transitions. Could be worse, I guess; he could have called it “Something.”
[6]

Alfred Soto: A sucker for block chords on synths, the well-arranged vocals made for adequate harmonic fills. Does the lead singer say “hunky dory” over and over? I hope so.
[7]

Edward Okulicz: It doesn’t come together until the last minute, when the various bits of melody stop dancing around each other and link metaphorical arms and sway and glide through the speakers. Before that, if you ignore the super-smooth beat, it makes me think it could have been written for, I don’t know, Atomic Kitten or something.
[6]

Megan Harrington: B1A4 are a throwback to boy bands of yore in all the best ways: matching outfits, that dance move where co-ordinating arms and legs are extended in a leading bow (I think this dates back to Victorian-era boy bands?), and, most importantly, singing sad candy pop. You don’t need a translation to recognize the juxtaposition of mineshaft teenage heartbreak with the over-saturated hues of pop at its purest. To be a bit grim, I don’t think most people experience ecstasy, but the world is full of despair. Maybe “Lonely” isn’t going to see you through the tunnel of decay, but it makes feeling awful a celebration. If you’re young enough that you’ve never experienced the death of romance, “Lonely” subtly suggests the perverse pleasures of pain. If you’re old enough to feel jaded about love, “Lonely” is winking conspiratorially while it drags you around the roller rink. 
[9]

Anthony Easton: This repeats and crosses signals enough to be called manic, until the whole thing collapses into a slow-down. The collapse has a laconic, skilled charm, suggesting a set of skilled aesthetic choices, and I wonder if the noise was a counterpoint to the claims of isolation?
[6]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: Those damned “yeah” triggers are back, a Greek chorus of sorts carried over from the bouncy nonsense of “What’s Happening?”. They show B1A4’s gift, which is also their crippling flaw: every emotional state is treated as thought it’s a sunburst bro-down.
[4]

Patrick St. Michel: Has enough of a pop going for it to avoid being a tedious ballad, but still a little too close for comfort.
[5]

Brad Shoup: “There is no need for you to leave the house. Stay at your table and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’t even wait, be completely quiet and alone.” So said Franz Kafka, and dude was a man who could appreciate the complexities of a large scale work. Our men ignore Frankie at their peril. Someone might possibly escape their singing, but from their repetition, certainly never. When B1A4 have once accepted and absorbed The-Dream and Bone Thugs, they no longer demand to be indulged. Jesus, that fucking key change.
[5]