EXID
Eclipse - EP
Album · K-Pop · 2017
The typically in-your-face EXID take a more laidback approach on Eclipse (likely because vocalist Solji was forced to miss recording due to thyroid issues), and the results are entrancing. The EP opens with "Boy", the kind of minimal electro-R&B that helped Marian Hill break out—but with a K-pop spin. Meanwhile, the jazz-tinged "Night Rather Than Day" is their smoothest single since 2012's "Every Night", with an understated chorus on which rapper/producer LE even takes lead. Instead of trying to compensate for a missing voice, EXID prove the power in taking a new direction for an atypical situation.