KPOP has seen its fair share of chart resurgences. RESCENE is one of the lucky groups to experience this phenomenon. Their 2024 single Love Attack climbed back to the top of the Korean charts, followed by their remake of KARA’s Pretty Girl earlier this year, and several of their earlier tracks also enjoyed renewed attention. With this momentum, RESCENE is now back with a fresh release to see whether they have staying power with their fourth mini-album, Pulse, and its lead single, With.
Interestingly, RESCENE goes for a more muted, serious affair in With, rather than their energetic, upbeat Love Attack sound. It is an interesting move, but it is shaping up well for them given their current chart performance with the new single. With focuses on a softer delivery consisting of vocals and rap-speak, and a straightforward pop instrumental that is extremely pleasant yet captivating. I want to expand on the vocals and rap-speak delivery a bit more, as they are extremely nice and deserve more attention. Apart from Love Attack and their remake of Pretty Girl, I am not familiar with their arsenal, and truthfully, I didn’t expect the stunning delivery in With. But RESCENE proved me wrong. My favourite vocal moment is the airy, nasal approach in the pre-chorus, while the rap-speak had such a decadent execution. When the chorus comes in, consistent percussive drumming and beautiful melodies drive the song forward, and those earlier vocals easily whisk you away. With‘s bridge adds bass and hefty thumping, adding suspense and ramping us up to the final chorus. It would have been nice for With to offer something different in its final moment rather than repeat a very similar chorus that we had heard before. For example, the producers could have found a way to infuse that bass and hefty thumps into the final chorus to capitalise on those smart incorporations. But aside from that, With was a great song that went against expectations.
The music video shows us an unexpected friendship between the members and the furry rabbit (?). We see the members and the rabbit clash throughout the first verse and chorus, then their friendship blooms soon from the second verse. In the end, the members and the rabbit commit to one another, as shown when they run toward each other and hug. This ties in nicely with the song, which is about finding companionship and moving forward with them.
The choreography for this comeback was very pretty. This works well with With‘s softer, muted approach. I really liked the flowy parts during the chorus and how they contrasted with the sharper movements in the verses.
Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10
