Release Date: January 2, 2023
Track Listing
- OMG
- Ditto
Review
HYBE/ADOR’s NewJeans made quite a first impression with their debut EP, with every track from the album being A-side-worthy. When the announcement of their January comeback was made late in 2022, the level of anticipation was incredibly high. But could they even come close to matching their early success and meeting the lofty expectations of their growing fanbase?
When Ditto dropped in December 2022, listeners got their answer: “Yes.” But, unlike the songs on their debut, Ditto took the NewJeans sound into the worlds of Baltimore House and Breakbeats.
This detour into the modern sounds of club music showed that NewJeans are more than capable of performing with music that is not a nostalgic recall to bygone eras of R&B and Pop.
What is impressive about Ditto is how such a sparse production could be so damn catchy. But, of course, much of that can be attributed to the infectious sing-along hook.
OMG, on the other hand, sends NewJeans right back into their groovy throwback style. This time emulating the late 90s to early 2000s Urban Pop for the track. Folks who remember this style of music will be happy to hear it reproduced so faithfully.
The song starts deceptively slow, making you think you’ll hear something mid-tempo or even slower. However, that changes once the pre-chorus kicks in and the energy increases significantly.
Compared to the low-key vibe of Ditto, OMG is a party track. Of the two songs on this single, it is the more earworm friendly if that is the impact you want from NewJeans.
What is most interesting about these two songs is their related music videos. They all have connecting pieces that tie the songs together. Ditto has the more intricate story between its two videos, while OMG is more loosely intertwined in the overall arc of the three.
But it would be best if you watched all three to understand the full scope of the stories in the videos and how they relate to each other.
While the videos for Ditto leave a longer-lasting impression, I lean more toward the silliness of OMG’s video as I believe it fits the song perfectly. In addition, I found the after-credits scene especially funny because that’s probably what many people are complaining about after seeing these story-driven videos.
In the end, OMG, more than lives up to the hype NewJeans has built from their music so far. It will be interesting to see what ADOR has in store for them now that they have a fresh new year to push out new content.
