I feel like a proud parent right now. After 2 years AOA are finally getting recognition and their single "Like A Cat" is still at high positions on charts despite competition from Kyuhyun, Hi Suhyun and MC Mong. Their first mini album "Short Hair" was pleasant but I was left waiting to see if AOA's future releases would offer even better content, and "Like A Cat" is certainly a step forward.
"AOA" is the introduction track to this mini album. As such it's not anything special and it's really just Hyejeong, Yuna and Choa singing very softly and sweetly with Seolhyun appearing to say "Ace Of Angels" at the end. It's better than "Fantasy" but I preferred "Gonna Get Your Heart" as a intro track.
Moving onto actual songs, next up is the title track "Like A Cat" and WHAT A TITLE TRACK IT IS. I've already written a glowing review of it but it really is fantastic and pretty much equal to their previous two singles (in fact I think I might like "Like A Cat" even more) and that's not a bad thing since all 3 are among the best singles this year. I don't really care what direction they go in after the sexy trilogy, as long as they keep releasing singles of this quality I'll stan them forever.
Next up is "Girl's Heart" which I imagine will be the most popular track in the album after the lead single. The "neo ttaeme mami mami mami mami goerowoyo" part by Choa is very catchy and the drums and electric guitar keep the instrumental interesting. Of note is Chanmi's rap which is distinctly less upbeat than the rest of the song, it's nice to see her actually getting a notable part of the song instead of getting the scraps that weren't given to Jimin. Overall "Girl's Heart" is a very enjoyable track and I wouldn't be surprised if it manages to chart.
"Just The Two Of Us" is a bit more relaxed than the previous two songs. The song's main draw is that it feels effortlessly smooth, silky and even a little sexy. The vocals sound beautiful here and the sparse instrumental really helps the sweet voices shine through.
"Time" slows down the mood a bit and acts as the token ballad that's present in pretty much every K-pop release ever to remind people that the members can actually sing. Unfortunately, "Time" is pretty generic and really doesn't do anything to stand out, and I really can't say anything better than "it's pretty nice" because of this. The instrumental is a bit stodgy and could be a bit more exciting than what it is, perhaps if the ticking sound was placed as a centre at parts of the start instead of just playing right in the back this song might have been better. "Time" is the weak link in this EP but at least it's better than "Soulmate".
Last but nowhere near least is the lovely "Tears Falling" which is without a doubt the standout track in the EP aside from "Like A Cat". Out of AOA's non-singles my favourite is definitely the wonderful "Under the Streetlights" from the "Miniskirt" single, but this one comes pretty damn close. Yes, it's another ballad, but thankfully it's a lot better than "Time". In some points the members do sound upset and the extra emotion is something rarely present in idol ballads so I have to give AOA credit for that at the very least. People who aren't fans of Jimin's voice can rejoice as during her shared raps with Chanmi a lot of the whine in her voice is gone and we're reminded that whilst not all the members of AOA are great they all have very nice voices. "Tears Falling" serves as a fantastic conclusion to the album.
AOA have yet to truly show us what they're capable of, and at the moment there is nothing that particularly stands out about them. For now though, this EP shows a lot of promise, and I'm sure everyone will be looking forward to see how their image and sound develop as they progress higher through the girl group rankings, and they will.
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