The Singles Jukebox

A brisk walk will suffice…

[Video]
[6.00]

Alfred Soto: Refusing to stand still, “RUN2U” boasts coos and entreaties, synth bass blurts and (I think) a sampled accordion. Because sexual attraction sounds like a sampled accordion.
[6]

Jessica Doyle: I appreciate the efficiency of combining the evergreen theme of I Love You No Matter What with the evergreen theme of I’m Cooler and More Authentic than the Other Girls (which, contrary to rumor, predates Itzy). I also appreciate the chorus having more energy and melody than seems to be the norm these days, and making the words “over and over” a self-fulfilling prophecy of a hook. But all this appreciation doesn’t make me want to seek out the song. I’m not sure whether its tricks — the synth opening, the pre-chorus slowdown, the fuzzed aside about “style” — are getting a little bit, little bit old, or I am.
[5]

Tim de Reuse: A bizarrely aggressive hard-trance riser opens up an entire tasting platter of grooves and tones, tagging out over an antiseptically clean squelch of a bassline. The sparse pre-chorus smashes into a janky, triplet-heavy main hook which smashes into a straightforward four-on-the-floor postlude. Engaging, ambitious, but not terribly structurally cohesive.
[6]

Ady Thapliyal: The very womanizer womanizer oh-you’re-a-womanizer synth loop does a quick-change in the drumless pre-chorus and emerges as a reedy trop-pop hook! Listen, you’ve fucked up a Ruveal when your second look is a downgrade from your first. 
[3]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: The platonic ideal of being a #GirlBoss. 
[8]

Ian Mathers: The combo of some quality bosh and strong vocal performances with what at least sounds like a little accordion sample is satisfying enough that I really wish they’d kept the latter going in the background for more of the song. But maybe if they had I’d be saying I wished they left me wanting more. Best to just appreciate the squeezebox (faux or not) that we do have!
[7]

Rose Stuart: “RUN2U” feels like a song that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. That’s a laughable thing to say in the wake of so many recent K-Pop releases that are multiple discordant songs jammed together, but there’s something in “RUN2U” that keeps it from agreeing with itself. It’s a bright and catchy love song that’s structurally sound and performed with youthful energy. The chorus mimics the distorted brass riff of Taeyeon’s “I Got Love”, but does so wisely, blending well with the synths in the instrumental. It all combines into a gorgeous but stagnant song. For a track titled “RUN2U”, it’s almost alarming how little motion it has. There’s only “2U”, no “RUN”; the type of song you listen to standing on the platform with your lover rather than when you’re chasing them. It would be less noticeable if the opening notes weren’t all motion, synthpop text painting that makes the rest of the song feel even slower in comparison. You spend that time waiting for the vibrancy to come back, but it never does. You wait for the song to come alive again, but it remains stuck. No matter how good it is, a song called “RUN2U” shouldn’t feel like you’ve come to a standstill and are waiting for it to move again. 
[7]