My time machine takes me further into the past, this time going back to September 2023 when FANTASY BOYS made their debut. If you missed it, FANTASY BOYS is an 11-male group formed through the MBC reality competition show of the same name. The final line up consist of Kim Gyu-rae, Hong Seong-min, Oh Hyeon-tae, Lee Han-bin, Ling Qi, Kang Min-seo, Hikari, Soul, Kim Woo-seok, Hikaru & Kaedan. They debuted in September 2023 with the shared title single and mini-album New Tomorrow, and later returned in November with Potential and Get It On (which I will review some day in the future).

Per the title of this post, I will be focusing on New Tomorrow. While I don’t remember much from September/October 2023 when they promoted the track, listening back to New Tomorrow today, I find the track to be a bright and pleasant pop track. For a debut track, this isn’t a bad start for the group and it feels fitting for the period in which was released (outgoing Summer). There are good vocals and rapping from the members, and the melodies are charming. Even the ‘We don’t say goodbye‘ hook they have post-chorus was catchy. My biggest issue with the song, listening back, is the lack of oomph or definition to the choruses. As it stands, New Tomorrow feels very similar throughout the track. The verses, the choruses. It all sounds the same. And this makes New Tomorrow a very safe sounding song. I wished there was more to the chorus, a slight uptick in energy, intensity or definition. This would allow even a hint of differentiation between the different segments of New Tomorrow and so the song doesn’t sound similar all throughout. I am also not a fan of the shouty backing vocals in the bridge between the vocal lines. It felt a little childish. But overall, New Tomorrow is a fair debut.

New Tomorrow is about the excitement associated about finding that new path and a new tomorrow together. And that is what we see in the video. The video opens up with the main female character, who looks to either be having a rough day for one reason or another, rocking up to school. She feels deflated and alone, opting to not enter her classroom. On her way out of the school, she meets one of the members of FANTASY BOYS, who with the rest of the group, introduces her to a different world – one that she feels excited about. This new world sees everyone hanging out at the beach, checking out cute creatures in the forest, planning space travel and flying about. That last one was a little wild. When she wakes back up towards the end of the video, we see a spaceship outside the classroom window, which brings a smile to her face. I think in this moment, she realizes that her experience with FANTASY BOYS was not necessarily a dream and they made her realize there is a lot to look forward to. On a personal level. what I quite enjoyed about the video is the vibrant colours, which works well with both the song and summery period in which the song was released in.

Their youthful energy and all-smile approach to the routine for New Tomorrow definitely makes it a stage worth watching. While nothing specific stands out to me, I did enjoy their chemistry on-stage, which makes this performance even more fun.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 8/10