I like the cute synth riff at the beginning and the sense of build into :16. There’s a great uplifting vibe in the texture, and the piece continues to have a strong sense of direction through the first minute. The claps sounded a little hard-hitting, though. They might be a little over-compressed. The melodies are catchy, but very in-the-chords (as opposed to harmonically dynamic), and sometimes the leads have a bit too much reverb (like at 1:03). The part at 1:19 seems to be a point of climax, yet it has a relatively thin texture, with not a lot of bass or mid-range frequencies. I think you need to map out the points of emotional height and relative calm more carefully here. That said, I liked the breakdown at 2:08. It had a somewhat furtive feel after the powerful melodies played earlier. The texture really comes together at 2:43, but I would’ve liked to hear some more variations on the melodies. By the second refrain, they get a little repetitive, and it doesn’t help that the arrangement of the piece is pretty generic. The second refrain also drags on for a bit too long imo. That said, I think the production quality here is pretty strong overall, and the refreshing sound design somewhat makes up for the generic chord progressions and structure. The only other mixing detail that bothers me is that the percussive sound at the very end (4:02) sounds a bit harsh in my headphones, likely because of an oversaturation of mixing effects. Still, strong work overall, J-XVII! I think you’ve improved since last year. Keep up the good work! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10