With ALLDAY PROJECT’s breakout success, co-ed K-pop groups may be having a moment. What better time for KARD to reheat the nachos they created and show the industry how it’s done? However, it’s been a very long time since those nachos felt fresh, as the group has moved from their refreshing tropical sound to a series of lesser efforts. Unfortunately, Touch continues this slide.
It’s clear that KARD are eager to push K-pop’s rating closer to “R,” and that’s fine. The industry needs all kind of material. However, hot, sweaty party music still needs to be an enjoyable listen. Touch is swaggy and sweltering but isn’t much of a song. Its production borrows from too many influences to work. I would have preferred a simpler, more memorable beat. As is, the track feels busy and formless without any element sticking out as the MVP. I would have leaned heavily into the song’s synth strings, 50 Cent style.
This is further complicated by a series of hooks that hardly hit at all. The rapped verses are effective, but without a memorable centerpiece Touch fizzles before it can get going. Hook-writing has been strangely difficult for K-pop composers this year and it feels like they just gave up here. The members talk in a vaguely rhythmic way before surrendering to a reliably rote “da da da” refrain. Nothing about this inspires confidence, which is too bad because I hear potential in much of this track.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
