Rookies AtHeart returned with a dull pre-release last month, making me hope they’d saved their best material for their album’s title track. Butterfly Doors offers a slightly different taste, but sadly I remain underwhelmed by the music.
This song marries several youthful elements (nursery rhyme melodies in the verses — icy, music box-esque synth) with a darker intensity. Its tempo varies widely, from languid, trap-infused verses to an effusive chorus. The K-Pop historian in me wonders if NMIXX’s recent hit Blue Valentine was on the mood board, as Butterfly Doors feels like an attempt to make an emotional mini-epic in a similar way. In this case, the track struggles to live up to that brief. None of its elements stand out as a real highlight. The brisk chorus comes closest, but even here I’m not getting much tension.
Butterfly Doors opts for familiar (ie: overused) phrasing during its skeletal verses, which drags down much of the song. I’d much prefer a fuller sound and rangier series of melodies. It’s hard to pull catharsis from overly flat songwriting and constrains the track’s attempt at an emotional wallop.
Hooks
8
Production
7
Longevity
8
Bias
7
RATING
7.5
Grade: C
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