HIGHLIGHT returned earlier in the week with their special mini-album, Outro. This special mini-album serves as the group’s final mini-album before the member’s impending enlistment into the military. Doojoon, the leader of the group, has already enlisted, with Yoseob following in January of next year. Despite that, Doojoon does feature on the mini-album. The group also paired up, treating us with two duets (Yosoeb & Dongwoon and Junhyung & Gikwang).

1..Loved (사랑했나봐) (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review of Loved. (9/10)

2. Wind (바람) (Yoseob & Dongwoon) – Wind is an R&B ballad that combines the vocals of both Yoseob (who is known for his solo work in R&B and ballads) and Dongwoon (who I believe has released a few ballads in the past). It is a nice and warm track that I think would be ideal on a cold day. Vocal work is nice. But there really isn’t much else to the song. I didn’t really get into it because it quite slow for my liking and the melody wasn’t that appealing to my personal taste. The instrumental didn’t offer much but I did like the fading out, which complements the slow nature of the song and genre. (6/10)

3. Leave Me Alone (내버려 둬) (Junhyung & Gikwang) – The way Leave Me Alone starts off felt like a G-Dragon song. It isn’t until Junhyung starts rapping and Gikwang starts singing does it feel like a Highlight song. It was upbeat and something up my alley. It felt dynamic and I like the way they autotuned some of their vocals to give a different effect. Both members shined in this song, so there wasn’t a really dominant member, which shows a successful collaboration. I liked the wholesome feel of the ending, minus the actual sharp stop to the song. (8/10)

4. Nightmare (오늘같은 밤이면) (Doojoon Solo) – Doojoon managed to record Nightmare prior to his enlistment. And I wanted to hear his vocals on the album, as it wouldn’t feel like a proper HIGHLIGHT release without him. And to make things even better, Doojoon’s participation on the album is through a solo single. Nightmare sounds like something very dark. But for this song, it is rather bright and light, quite like a sunny day. I like the pop feel from his song and the melody, which felt refreshing. I think I would have liked something a little heavier sounding, but Nightmare was still quite nice. (7/10)

6. Take Care (잘 지내줘) – Coming right after the instrumental track for Loved is Take Care. It is another ballad, but it serves as their ‘outro’ song for the next two years. I like this ballad more than the previous ballad, with the piano making the song sound so beautiful. Their vocals and raps were amazing in this song. I particularly like Junhyung’s rap sequence in the song, which was done so well for the slow song. For once, it is the music rather than their vocals that convey emotions. And it is this emotion that makes it memorable for me. (9/10)

Overall Album Rating – 7.8/10