Tag: 14U

Making their comeback today was 14U with N.E.W.S. If you are new to 14U, they are a 14-member boy group who made their debut last year with VVV and made their first 2018 comeback with Don’t Be Pretty (which I had reviewed). N.E.W.S is featured on the group’s third single album, which also features an instrumental to the song and an unplugged version.

N.E.W.S jumps on board the Latin train with the presence of the guitar throughout the entire instrumental. And while the Latin influence trend is nice for the ‘broadening of the horizons’, the trend is officially getting boring for me. What does save the song, based on my preferences, were the vocals and raps. Vocally, the song had some drive, especially towards the end when high notes started becoming involved. The rapping also gave the song some momentum and energy, which saved it from being too monotone or ‘linear’ as I always call it. I did also like the melody of the chorus, which also gave the song some more energy and contrast to the bland verses. I feel like the hooks were a little in the weak side. They did have some appeal but it wasn’t as grand as I hoped. Overall, it is an okay song. I just don’t expect myself to be replaying it all the time.

One of the members find this magical compass washed up along the beach and decides to use it, which leads a magical (or creepy) ghostly female figure to them, all dressed in red. It scares some of the members while also intrigues some others, who go looking for her. Besides that, I don’t really know what’s going on. Especially with the guy who had a ship’s wheel appear on his neck as a tattoo, that left me more confused than anything else. Besides the mild confusion, I thought it was a nice video. I liked the way it was shot and didn’t really utilise any crazy effects.

With 14 members, it is going to be easy to make the stage feel a bit too crowded. So I thought them taking some members out of the first two choruses was actually quite smart. I thought the rap section had really cool choreography, especially with the members lying down and doing that drum-like action. Overall, I liked the looks of the performance and how it matched with the song.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10

 

14U made their debut last year in July and I somehow missed out on their debut. On top of that, I somehow missed out on their comeback, VVV, as well. But their second comeback, Don’t Be Pretty, will not be missed. Just some more background information regarding 14U. They are a 14 member boy group currently under BG Entertainment. From the profiles I am looking at, the group is also split into two units 14U-X and 14U-L.

Don’t Be Pretty is another standard KPOP song with its bright and pop feel. While its sound has been done before, for some reason, it manages to stick in my mind. I won’t say it is exactly catchy but it has a decent beat and the instrumental feels refreshing. The vocal work here is quite nice, pairing well with the instrumental. They aren’t the best sounding group out there but there were many great moments in which I thought their vocals were perfect for the setting the instrumental had created (such as the chorus). You don’t need power vocals to stand out and this seems to be a great example of that. However, while I do praise the song, there was a moment which felt extremely awkward. The way the raps were integrated into the song, particularly the first time around in the song, was quite bad. It just didn’t fit right and didn’t feel like it was mixed into the song well enough. But besides that, good song.

The music video has this cringe-worthy feel to it, which I cannot deny. The guys seem to be participating in this game show, which is a decent concept. The way they act in it just seems over-the-top and overly exaggerated. And then the ending, where she somehow gets trapped inside a burning building and one of the members rushes in to save her. Where is the world did that scene come from? They did a good job at showing that vibrant and bright atmosphere but the video was scrambled and confusing.

It seems like any group with a large number of members, who manage to stay in sync throughout their performance is going to get big ticks from me. And 14U is another group who falls under that umbrella. Their moves don’t seem impressive but due to the fact that they managed to stay in sync with each other is quite impressive. It is also great at showing off that bright atmosphere.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 4/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6.6/10