It has been 18 months since we heard from VICTON. Their last comeback was in May of 2018 with Time Of Sorrow. But since their comebacks prior to their 2018 return were not garnering enough attention for the group, their company decided to send two members (Seung-woo and Byung-chan) to Produce X 101. Byungchan pulled out due to health problems, while Seung-woo finished 3rd and a part of the X1 lineup. And on Monday, VICTON return (with Byungchan and without Seung-woo) with Nostalgic Night, their first single post-Produce X 101. It seems like the survival show is paying off but let’s see how their comeback fare.

It is interesting that the group didn’t return with a new sound. Instead, they seemed to incorporate that sentimental sound that they left us with from Time Of Sorrow with a dance beat. Nostalgic Night ended up being a pleasant combination. It is a little typical sounding but I think it has enough to rival a few major male group releases in the past few weeks. I really liked the instrumental for this track, particularly the dance breaks we get after the chorus. It felt like a dull flute was being played (but in a good way) and this made the song feel appealing. I also liked how the instrumentation didn’t feel heavy-handed, which was one of the reasons why I mentioned the pleasant descriptor. Altogether, the instrumental was subtly dynamic, which I thought was cool. Their vocal work was nice and melodic. The rapping boosted the song and gave some intensity that I felt it needed. Once again, I am not too fond of the abrupt ending and this should have ended with a fade-out. Apart from that, a stronger hook would have made the song more memorable. But it was good, overall.

The music video pairs very well with the song. The song expresses their feelings of missing their former lover and whether they would still be together if they waited a little longer. In the music video, however, the exact same thing is expressed but in terms of their friendship group. It seems like some members regret the events of the night. My guess is that a car crash occurred, resulting in some of the members dying (we see some members unconscious around the car). Some members seemed to have taken a pill during the day and this resulted in them disappearing, which was foreshadowing the events to come. That is my interpretation of the video, though I am a little confused with the white pill (not exactly sure of its significance, as the first guy did drop them). I did like the use of colours and lighting of the video, which made the video more appealing.

The choreography was good. But it wasn’t impressive. When the song went into that more energetic and subtly angst-like instrumental break, I felt like they could have had moves that were more amped up than what they had. Don’t get me wrong though, as I did like what they had. I also like how smooth their performance felt, which worked well with the song.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8.1/10