I skip forward to yesterday, when SF9 made their latest comeback with the title track SCREAM and the mini-album The Wave OF9. This is their first comeback since the release of TRAUMA at the end of last year. You might notice that the group is currently promoting as a six member group, as members Inseong and Youngbin are sitting out as they are currently carrying out military enlistment, and Rowoon could not participate due to his drama filming schedules.

Another comeback in which the artist steps outside of their comfort zone. For SF9, SCREAM moves away from the usual darker, sensual edgier tone that their recent and past comebacks have featured (see the likes of Tear Drop and TRAUMA, but also previous comebacks such as RPM, Good Guy etc.) and steps into a relatively more vibrant and upbeat dance territory. I will be honest, this newer sound style is quite foreign and unfamiliar for a group like SF9. I am not 100% sold on this changeup, but I am not against in in any way. SCREAM has a neat instrumental that feels robust, with some nice layering to give the song some interesting and great textures. I do think there was opportunity, especially during the chorus, for the instrumental to be more bolstered, just so there is some more oomph to the song. As for the members, they showcase solid vocals and rapping throughout SCREAM. While skills also contributes to this, I do think the hooks and melodies that come as part of SCREAM plays a big part of shining the spotlight on their vocals and raps. The first time around, I did feel these hooks and melodies were a little lacking. But they have grown on me considerably over the last day. Overall, SCREAM seems to be a solid comeback for the group, although I think I do prefer their usual style over this particular Summer comeback.

As pre-empted in the line above, this is a Summer comeback. And so, the concept for this comeback follows through quite logically. It is a bit disappointing that the music video was shot in only a studio setting, while there was definitely justification for the group to potentially shoot the video pool or even beach-side. But the studio does have some perks, allowing the group to shoot their choreography shots in a more controlled manner. Seeing smiles that are not sensual from the members did feel a bit weird at first to me, but not so much anymore. I did (and do still) think the second verse scenes to be quite cheesy, and I wished they left that out.

Yoo Taeyang gets his time to shine in this comeback with a solo dance sequence at the end of the performance. I liked that energy and power he channeled through his solo moment, going for a fierce look. I also like the use of the X-formation with the dancers and members to complete the performance, as it tied everything together neatly. The rest of the performance looks cool and touch base with the group’s sensual and edgy style in a fitting manner for this comeback.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.8/10