Today’s comeback is courtesy of VERIVERY, who returns after seven months with a brand new single album, SERIES ‘O’ [ROUND 0 : WHO]. Leading this single album is the title track, O. This comeback comes after the group’s August 2021 release TRIGGER and Series ‘O’ Round 2: Hole. Since then, the group been fairly busy embarking on their U.S. tour at the end of last year. Like other comebacks, VERIVERY’s comeback has also been affected by COVID, with members testing positive in the lead up to today.

O delves into the R&B side of music, subsequently adding a bit of diversity to VERIVERY’s portfolio of title tracks, which have been more electronic/synth base. It is a bit of a shakeup from what I know of VERIVERY (which is mainly their title tracks), but I quite enjoyed O. The main reason is that O is simply a solid track from start to end. The instrumental was straightforward, with no distracting synths or anything overwhelming coming from the background. It is just R&B, with subtle sensual vibes when it came to the chorus. The melodies gives off this swaying effect that just suits the genre and I think the members did a grand job at delivering this effect. Elsewhere, the vocal work was solid, as well. I did wish the vocals were more emotive, given the misery and sadness that is depicted in the lyrics. This would have made the O more captivating and effective. The rapping was form fitting for the R&B genre and I quite liked it. I kind of wished there was a bit more rapping in the song, just to give O a bit more variety. The hook was probably the most subtle element in this song. I kind of get why O did this (i.e. the genre), but it lacks memorability and hence I don’t really remember O for its hooks, but rather the execution of the R&B genre.

Based on the official description of the music video and comeback, O is the prequel of the events of SERIES ‘O’ series. But aside from that, I am not entirely sure how this video is necessary connected to the events of the other music videos (Get Away and TRIGGER). I guess that will require a proper sit-down and a close re-watch of the music videos. Standalone, however, this music video was pretty good. I really liked the cinematography in this one. It made the video extremely captivating to watch. The lighting to the focus on the action (rather than the members) in some shots, everything just looked top-notch. The members’ acting throughout was also another positive aspect. They did a really good job and showcased the emotions that are depicted in the lyrics really well. You could feel their struggles and hurt just by watching the video. Overall, a music video that was worthwhile to watch.

The choreography looks fitting for the R&B song. Unfortunately the shots were extremely brief in the music video, but I did see a few body waves (which is a no brainer when it comes to R&B genre). So I might return to make some more observations/thoughts once we get a comeback stage.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.3/10