Two weeks ago, KARD made their comeback with GUNSHOT, the title track from their first ever single album. It is a short release, with just three songs (including the title track). As I am a little tight for time today for the album review segment, I thought I would tick off this short release rather than delay the segment further for a slightly longer mini-album release (I have also decided to tackle another three albums this week and would like to stick to this agenda). You might not consider this an album due to its relative shortness, but I have considered/reviewed single albums in the past (the most recent being Infinite’s Destiny earlier in the year. But enough talk about single albums! We are hear for a deeper listen to KARD’s Way With Words release.

1. AH EE YAH (ㅏㅣㅑ) – The single album opens with this upbeat reggae-inspired Summer track. It is probably KARD’s ‘most pop’ release, given how light and different this sound is (relative their previous heavier tracks that KARD has released). There isn’t anything wrong with it though, as I still liked it. AH EE YAH is quite vocally melodic, with each of the members singing in some capacity. This is quite nice as it strays away from the traditional KARD that we know of. The male members do bring some of their rapping to the song, but I don’t ping them to be as memorable as the vocal sections. I did wish they lost some of the autotune, as the filter felt too heavy for my liking. But overall, still quite enjoyable to listen to. (8/10)

2. GUNSHOT (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review for GUNSHOT. (8.5/10)

3. HOLD ON – The final song on this single album is HOLD ON. It is nice and quite pleasant to listen to. Once again, it strays away from the usual intense sound that KARD is known for, opting for a more melodic and flowy R&B. The melody is pretty decent, especially when it comes to the Jiwoo singing the title of the song. But other than that, nothing really stands out on its own. The vocals and rapping are good, but it doesn’t really have much uniqueness. I do appreciate the reduced autotune, which was more palatable. One thing that HOLD ON manages to do well is that it comes together to be quite cohesive and the R&B vibes from this song works with their skillset. Maybe they should explore this side of music more in future releases, just with a song more memorable in some aspect. (7/10)

Overall Album Review – 7.8/10