One week ago, E’LAST (which is shortened from the term Everlasting) made their debut with their first mini-album, Day Dream, and title track, Swear. But before I proceed further with the review, who is E’LAST? Well, this male group is made of 8 members (Choi In, Rano, Seungyeop, Baekgyeul, Romin, Won Hyuk, Wonjun and Yejun) and is the first group from E Entertainment. Members Won Hyuk and Wonjun have previously participated Produce X 101 and placed in 33rd and 47th on the show. Now that we know a bit more from the group, let’s move onto the review.

My initial listen to the song when the first came out didn’t rule in its favour. And naturally, I passed on the opportunity to review, pushing it behind the pack to focus on other artists of the week. But I ‘rediscovered’ Swear towards the end of week and was drew into its grand and epic nature while it played in the background while I worked. Now, I find the mash of classical orchestra and trap to be quite captivating. That opening medieval sequence really sets the song up. It allowed the group to focus on the more elegant side of classical music, before the song fuses with those trap influences in the second verse (which provided a different form of intensity and tempo). As Swear progressed, we were treated to a build up that hinted towards an epic drop. But once the chorus came around, we are unexpectedly given a slow and paced instrumental sequence. While this does not make sense to me at first, I am enjoying it now because they manage to maintain the intensity and energy in a unique fashion. They could have followed what we thought was coming (i.e. an epic drop), but that could have been seen as typical. I liked that the producers deviated from the formula, which attracts my attention. Similar comments can be made for the delayed climax. You could tell it was coming, but the producers kept on dragging it out, giving it impact once it came around. I was amazed at how amazing the vocals and rapping turned out. At first, I felt like Swear could have been more dynamic, giving the members an opportunity to show off more of their vocal/rapping potential. But we are treated to very powerful vocal moments and memorable hooks, whilst also getting some leeway through the use of trap elements to allow the rappers to fit in and bring their own intensity/some tempo to the song. Overall, an interesting song.

As I spent a fair amount of time on the song part of the review, I will cut to the chase for the music video and performance sections. The set design is really epic and looks amazing. It makes their solo shots a lot more captivating. The members showed off their acting in a satisfying manner, as they looked really hurt after thinking that their partner would stay with them. It gave me the impression that they are only coming to terms of this, which is the journey they take in the lyrics, as well. Big ticks from me for the music video.

We see a bit of elegance at the very start through the opening sequence of the song. As the song progresses, we get more of those epic and grand vibes translated into the choreography. But all is maintained despite the changes in the music. The final section of the bridge and final chorus drew my attention the most in this choreography, as it showed off a lot of potential and intensity from the manners.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.8/10