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As mentioned in my review for Bubble Gum last month, NewJeans will be making their Korean comeback with two songs. Bubble Gum was the first, followed by How Sweet (which dropped yesterday). The group is also due to release two full Japanese songs next month – Supernatural and Right Now. I will hopefully be reviewing them after their release. But keep in mind I am very behind on songs in other languages. 
In my books, How Sweet falls into the pleasant category. There is no doubt that it sounds good. But How Sweet isn’t compelling enough for it to be a memorable form of ‘pleasant’. The hip-hop based instrumental has a touch of Miami bass to it. This created a backing piece that good rhythm and drive to it. And while that does evoke some interest out of me, I do find that the instrumental for How Sweet also feels ‘held back’ for being too consistent throughout the length of the track. The vocals do sound nice and airy, which is NewJeans signature. But in the context of How Sweet, it is too light to hold my attention. It doesn’t help that How Sweet‘s melodies felt linear and flat, as well. And the hooks felt virtually absent, with the producers seemingly putting all their eggs into the melodies to pull the audience in. To me, that is a risk gamble and it didn’t pay off. The only element that gives off a little something different to How Sweet is the rapping that serves as a transitional piece between the first verse and chorus, and at the end of the song. This potentially really could have changed up the song and made How Sweet more engaging to me. But they had to keep it to the rest of How Sweet, which dampens my hopefulness. While I do get that pleasantness out of How Sweet, I feel the final line of the song portion of Bubble Gum‘s review sums up my thoughts on NewJeans’ new song quite well (with a slightly editorial) – “I am not sure how long I will be replaying Bubble Gum How Sweet [following this review]”.
The music video is okay. NewJeans essentially have a broken down car on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere, and they have a little fun whilst making their way to a mechanic to have their car towed. A bit of a standard story nowadays. I wished their concept for this comeback was a little more engaging, like their past video. However, I did like the little comedic moment where the members attempt to hitchhike into town as a vehicle passes them. At the back of the vehicle are cows, and all the cows can see as they are driven past are the members posing like models. That scene got a chuckle out of me. The video also serves as a little commercial for Coco Cola. It isn’t the first time one of their music videos was used to promote a product, but I guess it might become a regular thing now.
The members showcase some great choreography that works extremely well with that pleasant side of the song and the beat/rhythm of How Sweet. I liked how just like the song’s drive, the members just kept going and never really stopped throughout the performance. I also like how the members looked like they were genuinely having fun on stage throughout the performance. Also, the rapping sounds so much more impactful throughout the live performance. Pity it doesn’t come off that way in the studio version.
Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10
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