1AM: Bedtime or peak hour? Discuss.

[Video]
[5.50]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: At the start of this decade, Taeyang eased into his role of being Omarion for the Korean Market (having taken over from Rain). He was a strong singer, a graceful dancer and he was being handed well-written powderpuff R&B: add abdominal exercises and you have a full package. Last year’s comeback single “Ringa Linga” split the difference between G-Dragon’s electro-rap burr and Jason Derulo’s populist, mutant Guetta&B. Taeyang’s new album Rise is an album-length slide into full Derulo territory, which means there’s no room for powderpuff R&B anymore. “1AM” is the closest Rise gets to his old material, with its chipmunk soul sample, but we’re dealing with a different artist entirely, one unaware that he is denying his strongest suits as a performer. The upside: the Korean Omarion post is vacant and accepting applications.
[5]

Madeleine Lee: Some people miss the old “Only Look At Me” Taeyang and his eternal faux-hawk; personally, I prefer the new “Ringa Linga” Taeyang, even with the gross white braids. Much like the greased-out, half-dyed pile on his head towards the end of the video, “1AM” gives us the worst of both, a staid ballad with an artless sing-rap chorus.
[4]

Patrick St. Michel: A twinkling thumper centered around heartbreak, but even with all the nice sonic touches running through this, it ultimately just sort of plods along. 
[5]

Megan Harrington: Taeyang is clever; “1 AM” spins from intense melancholy to carefree joyrides and back. It’s majority break-up song, but I find myself bouncing around, identifying only with the “hands in the air!” portions and relieved of the burden of ghostly ex-lovers. 
[7]

Will Adams: That sinkhole of a chorus — unmoving melody, lack of explosions — jars with what is otherwise a big-eyed and sparkly ballad. No doubt Taeyang’s studies under YG and his involvement in Big Bang have made him a charismatic vocalist, so why not give him a better canvas to show that?
[5]

Brad Shoup: The piano-and-twinkle intro got me set for some sellout-Springsteen-level bombast, but things level out for Taeyang’s obsessive, thoroughly bummed reading. He’s sad but not creepy, dazed but not totally out. A perfect match for one grand weep of a production job.
[7]