The next album review on this blog belongs to SEVENTEEN, who made a comeback with their 10th mini-album, FML, back in April of this year. From the start, the mini-album had received over 4.6 million pre-orders and it has since become the top selling album of the year, selling over 6.2 million copies to July 2023. That is a lot of albums indeed! The mini-album boasts a total of 6 tracks – double title tracks Super and F*ck My Life and 4 addition side tracks (3 of which are unit tracks from their hip-hop, performance and vocal teams).

Firstly, congratulations to SEVENTEEN on achieving the amazing feat of over 6 million sales. I believe that no other KPOP album has ever exceeded that amount, so it will be interesting to see whether their upcoming October comeback will break the already high record set by themselves. Secondly, FML is a fair album with some nice tracks on there. I don’t think it is their strongest album release ever, but it was still of a high quality and standard as I expect from SEVENTEEN. Read more on my thoughts on the individual songs below.

1. F*ck My Life (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review for F*ck My Life. (8/10)

2. Super (손오공) (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review for Super. (8.5/10)

3. Fire – The first unit track sees the return of the Hip-hop team. And just like the title suggest, this song is indeed fire. The rapping was very intense and powerful, and I really liked how punchy the ‘Fi Fi Fi Fire’ hook was in the song. Even though many KPOP songs have featured afrobeat in the past, the use of the afrobeat in Fire felt quite unique, as it gives off both a minimalistic and dynamic feel. This allows the members to be the focus of the song, but it also drives the energy forward, at the same time alongside the members. (8/10)

4. I Don’t Understand But I Luv U – The Performance unit takes on R&B in I Don’t Understand But I Luv U. What I really liked about the song is its instrumentation, which features a sultry flow, dramatic beats and moody electric guitar riffs. All of this makes I Don’t Understand But I Luv U so much more impactful and emotionally charged. The quartet brings very interesting vocal melodies to life in the song and conveys the emotions of confusion and love behind the lyrics quite well. (9/10)

5. Dust (먼지) – Following on from the previous song, I was expecting a ballad from the vocal team. But instead, we get a pop rock number in the form of Dust. I like how the pop rock influence was on the light side and that the vocal team members approach Dust in a softer and delicate manner with their vocals. The synths added to the song gave it a retro touch. While the song sounds nice, Dust is my least favourite unit track. This simply because there wasn’t much to remember the song by once it ended and I didn’t find much to pull me back for additional listens. (7/10)

6. April Shower – The final track on this mini-album returns all of the members to the microphone in the one song. April Shower features a very appreciable and easy-going groovy pop instrumentation. The melodies and vocals were all very easy-on-the-ears, with the former having such a beautiful ring. The dynamic rapping featured prior to the bridge infuses some punchiness to the song, while Mingyu and Wonwoo’s deep tones were stunning in the bridge. I really enjoyed how everything melded together in April Shower and how palatable the song is without it ever going over the top or needing to utilise anything hefty to get itself across. A nice and memorable listen at the end of the mini-album. (10/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8.4/10