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Over the last few months now, I have been promising to write multiple reviews for many songs that I have been holding onto for quite some time. One of the notable songs on the list that I keep on pushing back for some reason is ONEWE’s Parting, which was released back in September of this year. However, I am now pushing out the review out alongside ONEWE’s latest song release A Book In Memory in a double song review format. A Book In Memory is also ONEWE’s fourth comeback of the year, following the release of Q, End of Spring and Parting.

Let’s start off with the older song. Parting is a moody but straightforward rock ballad track. I will be honest that I do still find the start of the song to be quite slow and sluggish. But the rest of the song (i.e. from when the energy starts trinkling in as the first verse moved along and then the rush of energy we get in the first verse) was definitely worthwhile listening to. Everything sounded better as Parting progressed along, peaking at the instrumental break where we got rock angst incorporated into the mix, which definitely was what I had hoped for when I first heard the song (I made notes for a few of the song I have been holding back reviews for). ONEWE’s vocal work throughout the song was pretty good, but the scene stealing member had to be Cya with his dynamic rap sequence. It gave Parting a bit of edge and transformed a typical rock ballad track into something a little more unconventional.

A Book In Memories continues the rock ballad style from their previous song. I do find that the song is more balanced between the two styles of music, with the verses being more balladry and the choruses honing into that rock influence. The ‘glue’ that binds the two two sides of the song was quite well done. The rock influences were slowly introduced via the use of drums and then electric guitars. That being said, there was still a moment of a sudden change. But it wasn’t as sudden as you expected, with the slow introduction and ease into the rock influences paying off. And I liked that once we got to that point in the song where the rock was the prevalent style of music, they didn’t hold back. Vocally, the ONEWE members do another really good job. But the group’s main vocalist, Younghoon, definitely shined the most with his husky tone and that stunning long note at the end of the song.

The music video for Parting definitely complimented the song. The darkness that surrounded them definitely gave off moody vibes. The image in the background of their band performance scenes were quite aesthetic and cool looking. I particularly enjoyed the projection during the instrumental break, where different rectangles and squares in the projection came flying out.

For A Book In Memories, the music video also felt fitting and quite clever. They used the same set, outfits and set up between the ‘halves’ of the video to showcase the two different styles of the song. It sounds odd at first, but the only difference was the colour and lighting of the set. And this difference had a strong impact that separates the two halves neatly. The more balladry sections of the song had this Fall vibe to it, while the song’s more intense moments courtesy of the rock had this dark blue tinge to it. I also liked how they weren’t afraid to mix the two ‘halves’ up and this really helped bind the video together, rather than having it look like two different videos. I just wished their close ups were a little more interesting.

Parting
Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.6/10

A Book In Memories
Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10