Say My Name debuted last year as the first idol group on Kim Jaejoong’s agency iNKODE. That debut didn’t do anything for me, but their follow-up ShaLala showed promise. Now, it’s time for them to take on a summer concept with new single iLy, which ambitiously interpolations Frankie Valli’s iconic 1967 classic Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.
In fact, the song launches with a full-on cover of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You before judiciously using that melody for its chorus. Chopped stabs of brass are also sampled as part of the instrumental. Taken together, the approach is heavy-handed and makes iLy sound more like a bad remix than its own thing. I don’t know if anyone was clamoring for a sixties classic to be redone in an ultra-trendy, NewJeans redux version #7,642 way, but here we are. iLy would have been much more successful had it only borrowed the sampled brass for its production and cast an entirely different melody over the top.
Instead, we have a herky-jerky delivery that cuts and refashions Can’t Take My Eyes Off You‘s post chorus without adding much of its own to the equation. It’s catchy because it’s familiar, but that doesn’t mean it’s any good. Perhaps with a more energetic backbone and less copy/paste from the original song, iLy could have been an odd little triumph. As it stands, I find it more of a WTF moment that doesn’t work nearly as well as it thinks it does.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
