FIESTAR was one of my absolute favorite debuts from last year. "Sea of Moonlight" (ft. IU) and "VISTA" had me hooked at first listen, and "We Don't Stop" took on a soft version of the genre-mashing thing before it became the trend of 2013. While they've done a couple of unpromoted singles since then- most recently "Whoo!" ft. Eric Benet- it's good to finally see them back on stage with their first Shinsadong Tiger-produced number, "I Don't Know".
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FIESTAR tried their hand at the cute concept before, but "I Don't Know" is the first full-on trip into aegyo-land for our girls. The song even uses the melody of a popular children's song in the chorus.
Vocally and production-wise, the song is solid start to finish, and the concept is a good mix of quirky humor and cuteness without going over the top in either direction. The marching drums in the instrumentation and the toy soldiers in the live performance give it a kind of a Christmassy vibe, which works with the cold weather and winter fast approaching.
"I Don't Know" could be a total winner, but the straightforward childishness is a little off-putting from a group where half the members are '89'ers and older. Women in their mid to late twenties just don't talk like this! The exact same song with sassier or funnier lyrics would have made a bigger impact than the same ol' same ol' I've never felt this way before, I don't understand anything, I'm just an innocent little girllyrics we've all heard a thousand and one times before. We've seen children's stories used previously to make some pretty powerful songs- labelmate Sunny Hill's "The Grasshopper Song" springs to mind.
At the end of the day, I Know that boring lyrics just don't do it for a group as interesting as FIESTAR.
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