After their successful comeback with Hobglobin, CLC are back with the brand new mini-album, titled as FREE’SM. It seems like Hobglobin was the start of their movement from the typical cutesy image that they fell into prior to the start of the year. Where Are You? seems to go back in that direction, but instead stays mature.

Right off the bat, it is not my cup of tea. Where Are You? is a very slow song that doesn’t build up whatsoever. Instead, it remains in neutral mode throughout the entire song, which drains any energy, if it ever had any, to begin with. The slowness though does go nicely with the retro sound and their overall concept though. The muffled start and the overall sound does bring you back to the early days (aka the 90s) of KPOP. Some aspects I thought were good, but the same aspects (such as the vocals) could have been many times better. The instrumental is uncaptivating and the song is easily forgettable. It felt like a blank canvas, wanting to be drawn or painted on. But it just didn’t have any content. I have listened to it a number of times already, but I have gone to find other songs right after, instead of reflecting or wanting to go back and replaying it. Maybe it will grow on me, but if I am being honest and follow what my mind is telling me, I don’t have much hopes for it.

I spoke about the ‘borders’ of music videos lately in another review. But that border looked amazing, in comparison to the square we got in this video. I just don’t think it is right to film a video and then have it cute down to such a small section of the screen. Like it is already overdone in video that narrow it down width-wise, but column wise is pretty disappointing. We barely see all the girls in one scene. Moving from that very noticeable issue, the video was made to look dreamy and the innocent concept was brought into play. Overall, they did both nicely. But like the song, the video could have been better (i.e. more of the image). Though, I personally think that this video would suit a more creepy song, as I did get some of those horror vibes from the video.

While I am not much of a fan of this comeback, the choreography was splendid. They did a good job at bringing that innocent side to the dance. It might not be the most mind-blowing dance, but it paired nicely with the song, fitting the tempo and rhythm of the song.

Song – 5/10
Music Video – 5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 5.5/10