Today, I will finally get around to reviewing one of the earliest releases of 2023 – Rose Blossom by H1-KEY. For those who might not recognise the group’s name, H1-KEY is a four-member female group (currently consisting of Seoi, Riina, Hwiseo, and Yel) who made their debut in 2022 with ATHELTIC GIRL. I did review their debut song, but did not review their later release of RUN, which dropped in July 2022.

Honestly, I didn’t know if I was ever going to return to review Rose Blossom. It has been five months (nearing six months) since its release and all I can remember was passing on it when I had a chance to review the song. I don’t even remember my first impression of the song. But a few repeat listens recently of the song caught my attention and traction to review Rose Blossom has snowballed from there. There are a few reasons to why Rose Blossom has caught my attention now. Firstly, there is a nostalgic factor to the song. Rose Blossom reminds me of past 2NE1 releases, which is one of the groups that I grew up on. Secondly, the members did a really good job with their vocals and rapping. Rose Blossom really benefited when the members had definition behind their vocals (i.e., during the chorus), which gives off a strong impression. Furthermore, the nasally approach to their vocals felt unique. Thirdly, the chorus has a neat ring to it. Nothing amazing or ground-breaking here, but it added to the appeal of the song. Fourthly (and finally) was how chilled and easy-going the instrumentation ended up being. The synths and trap beats combination in Rose Blossom isn’t the catchiest, powerful or innovative piece ever. But with everything else, it was surprisingly pleasant and complementary to the rest of the elements of Rose Blossom. More could have been done with Rose Blossom. But as it stands, it is a satisfying listen that I recently got into.

I feel like the music video is a literal take on the lyrics. In Rose Blossom’s chorus, there are lines that say “I’m a rose among the concrete, until this bleak city becomes filled with colour, I’ll keep my head up, stand my ground until the very end…”. For the most part, the entire music video can be described as bleak. There isn’t too much colour going on in the video, until the members stumble upon the hallway that is spewing roses onto the outside. The red colour that comes from this scene is quite bold, in comparison to everything else in the video. We did have a tinge of red throughout the video, which probably hinted at the fact the members are red roses waiting to blossom, but it was fairly muted and fitted into the bleakness of the video. Following that red rose hallway, the members returning to the current bleak world, waiting for their time to blossom. I kind of wished there was a heavier red presence, just to represent that realization for aesthetic and completeness purposes.  

I liked their all-smile approach to their performance, which gives this comeback a more uplifting presence. Choreography-wise, it was fairly standard. But it was enjoyable to watch.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.3/10