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I am back tomorrow with new posts for 2024, beginning with the Weekly KPOP Charts for the final weeks of 2023. But before that, I will leave you with the final scheduled post from 2023 – the album review for BOYNEXTDOOR’s first mini-album, WHY…. WHY…. features six songs in total – 3 songs from the group’s first single album (WHO!) which they debuted with (But I Like You, One & Only, Serenade) and 3 newer songs (including the title track But Sometimes and the follow-up single ABCDLOVE). All links to the songs that I have reviewed separately can be found below. I have chosen to review WHY… (and by extension, WHO! more formally) as the album is almost fully reviewed on my blog (just two outstanding songs). An easy post to knock out in the lead up to the holidays, but also an nice deep dive into one of the newer groups of 2023. The mini-album is much more standard and weaker than the ones I usually prioritise. But as I always say – there is always potential for improvements to take it to the next level.
1. But I Like You (돌아버리겠다) – Click here for the full review of But I Like You. (7/10)
2. One & Only – Click here for the full review for One & Only. (7/10)
3. Serenade – Click here for the full review for Serenade. (7.5/10)
4. Crying – The first new track of Why.. is Crying. It is a much more mature sound than compared to the Who! songs. The track take on a jazzy R&B motif and highlights the vocals of the group quite well. The rappers do a nice job in Crying, with their parts maintaining a youthful vibe that the group has already built for themselves in their debut releases. While the song does focus more on melodies and what we get is pretty good, I wished this aspect of Crying was teased out a bit more to really give it an even more memorable element. (7/10)
5. But Sometimes (뭣 갈아) (Title Track) – Click here for the full review for But Sometimes. (8/10)
6. ABCDLOVE – I am fully aware that ABCDLOVE got the music video treatment. But I thought I forgo a full song review for ABCDLOVE, as I found myself to be quite disengaged with this track. This hip-hop track highlights the group’s youthfulness (the chipmunk autotuned vocals at the start and end alludes to this), with what could have been a playful track. I did like the carefree vibe that the members conveyed through the track. But I do not agree with the slow pace of the instrumentation and momentum. It dragged out the song and dulled it down quite a bit. I always felt like ABCDLOVE could have been better had it picked itself up as it went along. (6/10)
KPOPREVIEWED 