The next comeback to occur, and be reviewed, this week was made by P1Harmony. P1Harmony returned on Tuesday (once again, apologies for the delay in the review) with their very first comeback since their debut six months ago in October 2020 with Siren. This latest comeback features the group’s second mini-album, Disharmony: Break Out and the title track Scared.

Right off the bat, Scared really appealed to me with its intense and high level energy. As mentioned in the past, hip-hop isn’t my preferred genre in general, let alone in the Korean music scene. But like all things, there are always exceptions and Scared falls into the latter category for me. I have to admit that I was weirded out by the instrumentation when I first heard the song. The constantly clashing instrumentation, which sounds like a lot of metal falling on top of one another, felt a bit much for me at first. But as I continually replayed the song the next day, it grew considerably on me and it is the element of the song that I look forward to the most when I play the song now. I really liked how that even while the clashing like metal is not explicitly in the foreground of the instrumental, they are still present in the background but in a very muted fashion. It ties everything nicely together, creating a robust backing for this song. As the song delves into the hip-hop genre, the members that flourish the most are the rappers, and their delivery is definitely top notch during the verses. I was definitely head banging my way through the song. I am a little disappointed come to the first and second choruses, as I wished the rappers were more powerful with their delivery in this vital part of the song. They easily could have hit a home run if they were more dynamic. The instrumental in the chorus was definitely energetic, though could have been heightened further in my opinion. This would have helped tie the song together even more tightly. On the other side of the spectrum, the vocals were equally as good. While the rappers did flourish, the vocalists were not shorthanded during their parts of Scared. I mean, Kijung’s vocals during the latter was just on point and quite smooth. Overall, Scared is not song to be scared of. It may overwhelm at first, but it will grow on you.

I am not exactly sure what the story behind the start (and all the relevant scenes throughout the video) were about. My best guess is that each of the people who we see that are non-members were at one point scared of something. But they have joined this cult or following lead by the members of P1Harmony, which tells them not to be scared of anything. Even if the world around you is falling apart. Aside from my botchy storyline, I really like the underground vibes of the music video. It really worked well with the song and really complimented the subtle intensity those additional scenes from the start and throughout the video had.

What a performance! The incorporation of the football into the choreography was a really unique touch. The way the performance goes full circle by bringing back the football at the end, and the whole routine we saw at the end with Theo’s slide and Jungseob’s jumps over the dancers, was amazing. Throw in the choreography we saw throughout the routine, and you have a cool looking dance performance that emphasizes the intensity of the song. If that wasn’t enough, then Soul’s dance break would have been the icing on the cake. And this praise hasn’t factored in the fact they performed the entire performance with live vocals.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.2/10