Last week, LEE JIN HYUK made his solo comeback with his 6th mini-album, New Quest: Jungle, and the lead single Relax. This comeback serves as LEE JIN HYUK’s first solo comeback since leaving UP10TION (officially) and TOP Media over a year ago. He signed with Bill Entertainment, which is the home of other soloists – Yerin and Minseo. His last comeback was Crack, released back in 2022.

The new single Relax is an urban dance-pop anthem that has charm. It has taken me a few listens to the song to get into it, with the instrumentation growing on me considerably. The tinny-sounding chorus registered as interesting at first. But I find it quite appealing now. It is different and it draws your attention in. LEE JIN HYUK’s really gritty and raspy rap-sing vocals in the chorus felt plain at first. But upon reflection and more listens, I find that his deep vocal delivery actually pulls the chorus together to create a overall trance. While LEE JIN HYUK’s rapping and pre-chorus vocals were engaging and well-delivered, it wasn’t enough to make the rest of Relax memorable, unfortunately. The chorus definitely took centre stage and serves as Relax‘s strongest sequence. I do think Relax could have been punchier is all aspects. This potentially could have taken the rest of Relax to the next level and gave the song a stronger presence amongst its competition.

Unsurprisingly, Relax conveys the simple message of taking some time to take a break in our busy world. The video is set in a Korean bathhouse, which is probably an optimal location to take that break to relax. The video begins with a fight inside the bathhouse. But with LEE JIN HYUK’s presence and message, the fight turns into more of a chill party. We also see him get a massage in later parts of the video and hang around the ladies who are looking very comfortable. The dance break part of the music video sees what looked like the bathhouse set break apart, which is probably a symbolic way of reaching that peak relaxation, as if you are floating away. Overall, a neat music video.

The choreography for Relax strikes a fine balance between being energetic and relaxing. There are some moves that represents the relaxing side of it, while the rest of the choreography focuses on some more energetic moves without feeling too intense or complicated. I really liked the bouncy vibe of the choreography and also the footwork in the routine.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.7/10