The next group to be making their comeback this week is ONEWE. Today, the band dropped their latest single, Rain To Be, which headlines their ever mini-album (Planet Nine: Alter Ego) under the name ONEWE. For those who are unaware, ONEWE was formerly MAS before their re-debuted under RBW with new branding (hence the name ONEWE) in early 2019. Since then, the group have made a number of comebacks which lead to their first studio album, Studio We: Recording, in 2020 which was headlined by Parting. They also made a comeback later in 2020 with the single A Book In Memory.

Within the already niche sub-category of KPOP, Korean bands each bring a different individuality to the industry. While the bands do experiment with their sound between releases, going between moody rock tracks to warm ballads to upbeat rock tracks, there is always a distinct sound for each Korean Band that you would recognise. While ONEWE is a relatively new band, they have too already established a sound for themselves. It is a bit hard to describe, but for ONEWE there tends to be a moody aesthetic and delivery that I associate with their name. And I feel Rain To Be is an excellent reflection of that. And what better to show just that than a ballad (at least that is what I thought at first). The introductory verse of the song featured an instrumental background that slowly built up, starting from soft mellow guitar work and it gears up to something a bit more substantial. In combination with the solid vocal work from mostly Yonghoon in the first verse, I was convinced that Rain To Be had tapped into only the ballad genre. But when the chorus came around, Rain To Be changed up is aesthetic, amping up more of the rock influences. Rain To Be is no intense rock song, but it seems to direct the song more into the rock-ballad genre. I liked the tempo change here and the subtle intensity and dynamic they brought to the song. Despite it going into the rock sound From the second verse onwards, we pretty much get a repeat of the first verse and chorus setup. The second verse slips the song back into a ballad mode, though we get to hear more of the other vocalists in the group (Dongmyeong and Cya). Following the second chorus, Cya further amps up the intensity of the song with a pretty good rap sequence. For the bridge, I am glad they brought in something electrifying. It changes up the song, so that it just doesn’t become a repeat of the repeat we got for the second portion of the song. I am glad they did this, or else the song would have been too boring for my liking. The second portion of the song was already on the way of feeling like this, so a third repeat would have gone overboard. But overall, Rain To Be is another good song from the group that reiterates their ‘associated’ sound, differing ONEWE from other Korean bands.

To also reflect the moody aesthetic of the song, I liked the direction in which the music video headed in. For the entirety of the video, we saw the members perform the song (with their instruments) in a rising pool of water. The pool starts off empty and by the end of the video we see the water levels rise to just below their heads. It is definitely a unique take on the whole idea of rain and water that we see commonly in music video. Usually, rain would be represented in less intense manner, like rain drops running down the side of the window or the occasion scene where we see the characters of the video stand soaking wet in the rain. This video is definitely on a whole different level.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10