OnlyOneOf has been busy for the latter half of 2022 and early 2023. They completed their undergrOund idOl series, where each member released a solo song (i.e. Yoojung’s begin, KB’s be free, Junji’s be mine, Rie’s because, Mill’s beat and Nine’s beyOnd). The group also made their Japanese comeback with Cunning Woman in 2022 and chrOme arts earlier this year. They are also been on tour lately. But today’s focus is on the group’s return as a full group to the Korean stage in March of this year, with their fifth mini-album titled seOul cOllectiOn and the title track seOul drift.

Following on from the undergrOund idOl series, I had high hopes for this comeback. But seOul drift leans towards the more typical “noisy” sound (as some might call it) that many male groups have released (and will release) in this era. There are some good aspects of seOul drift, which I want to start off with. seOul drift is aligned with their past tracks, which have also been synth heavy singles. I appreciate that seOul drift is grungier than ever, which does give off a slightly different vibe to their competition. I also liked the idea of the high-octane energy that the members put into the song with their shoutier approach to the choruses. The drifting car sounds that are built into the instrumentation also makes the track unique. But compared with other releases, seOul drift does not have anything that I would consider unique to OnlyOneOf. I also found it hard to get into the track (part of the reason to why it has taken me a while to sit down and review the song), simply because the instrumentation for seOul drift was just overwhelming and overpowering at times. This masks the rapping and hides the vocals of seOul drift, in my opinion. The song also lacks the charm of a memorable melody or hook that would have helped it stay in my mind after the song finishes up. However, what seOul drift does create for a great performance piece (more on this in the final section of the review).

While it appears like this is a separate video from their undergrOund idOl series, there are nods towards the series in this video. The two that screams the loudest is probably the presence of telephone box (which was a recurring object in their solo series) and the fact the members are paired off in the same manner. The music video does feature less of the LGBTQIA+ themes that have previously attracted attention. But there some subtle nods towards those as well, such as the chemistry between the members and Rie holding a rainbow shopping bag. The lighting, dynamic nature of the camera work and the background of the Seoul lights (which the description of the video points out) were also positive aspects of the video, as well.

As mentioned earlier, the high-octane energy from the song lends well towards the performance element of the comeback. And this very true for seOul drift. The performance is one powerful and intense piece, and a relentless routine in which the members kept on moving without any breaks.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10