NAYEON and Alok's 'Bye Bye Inhibitions' Belongs to K-Pop Fans So Far, Not to Alok's Brazil

“Bye Bye Inhibitions” came out at midnight on 2 October, a dance single credited to Alok, the Brazilian DJ, and NAYEON of TWICE, released by Insomniac Music Group under licence to Liquid State. Its official audio on YouTube, posted the day before, had 17,544 views, 2,378 likes and 197 comments by 05:36 UTC on release day.

Who those listeners are shows in the comments. Of the 40 that YouTube ranks highest, 23 name NAYEON and three name Alok. Two point to her rap on the track. Three say the release took them by surprise, and those three hold 209 likes between them. Thirty-six are in English or are just her name, three are in Korean, one in Spanish, and none in Portuguese, the language of Alok's home crowd.

That matters because, right now, Brazil is not where Alok's numbers are either. On 2 October no song of his was in Spotify's daily top 200 in Brazil, and the highest on Shazam's Brazil chart was “Hear Me Now”, from 2016, at No. 188. NAYEON and TWICE had nothing in Spotify's daily top 200 in South Korea, the United States or worldwide that day. Neither side brings a current chart hit into this song.

Built for a field

The record itself is made for a festival. We measured about 123 beats per minute, house tempo, and it is short at 2 minutes 27 seconds. It dips a third of the way in and saves its loudest stretch for the second half, the build-and-release of a DJ set. Alok tested it the way DJs do: he first played it at Rock in Rio in September, where NAYEON's voice on it reached a crowd before it reached streaming services.

It is written by Alok (as Alok Petrillo), Tim Nelson, Kyle Michael Shearer and Tove Lo, the Swedish songwriter, and produced by Alok, TimFromTheHouse and Shearer, with OHYES as co-producer. The lyric is in English and has one idea: the night starts once self-consciousness leaves. The hook waves inhibitions goodbye three times, NAYEON's verse aims it at one person, and a chant fills the drops.

What it is missing

A video, for a start: on release day there is only the audio with the single's artwork, a jewelled pink hand. And a run-up. TWICE's account posted the date two days before release, and the surprised comments near the top say plenty of fans found the song before they found the announcement.

Our call

A fan single, not yet a hit. Our bet: by 16 October “Bye Bye Inhibitions” has not entered Spotify's daily top 200 in Brazil or in South Korea. What would prove us wrong is the festival route Alok took to preview it: if his sets turn it into a crowd song, Brazil's Shazam chart will show it before any streaming chart does.