Despite being in the military enlistment era, SEVENTEEN has remained active and busy with unit promotions. This week, the group launched its 7th subunit, JEONGHAN x JOSHUA. The pair released their first mini-album, DREAMSCAPE, featuring the title track 12 O’Clock. ICYMI: JEONGHAN is also part of another SEVENTEEN subunit, JxW (with WONWOO), and they previously released the single Last Night in 2024.
While both JEONGHAN and JOSHUA are in SEVENTEEN’s vocal unit, I actually had no idea what direction they would take as a subunit. We have also heard a range of genres from each unit so far, so the curiosity deepens. 12 O’Clock turned out to be a funky dance-rock track. The instrumental is quite light, which makes the track feel pleasant and appreciable. Despite being under 2 and a half minutes, the track also feels spacious and manages to incorporate a brief guitar solo and a substantial instrumental break. As for JEONGHAN and JOSHUA’s vocals, they take a similar light approach to match the instrumentals, which can be hit or miss. Again, since they complement the instrumental, pleasant descriptors come to mind; 12 O’Clock‘s melodies speak to this. But it doesn’t lend itself well to a strong hook. You can see how they relied on a more textured (and in terms of JOSHUA’s execution, striking) “I’m so in love” sing-speak refrain as the hook for 12 O’Clock. Overall, it is a pleasant song through and through.
The music video shows JEONGHAN and JOSHUA searching for one another in a dream between 12 o’clock noon and 12 o’clock midnight, which matches the lyrics. However, the lyrics do speak about a lover, rather than about each other. Why do I think they are searching for one another in the video? Well, a few early scenes show them enjoying each other’s company amid the search, and they end up finding each other at the end of the video. But I could be misreading it. The post-production, which melded everything together, was really well done.
The performance for this comeback was neat and pleasant. The body waves and their chemistry with the camera were on another level, making the whole thing even more enticing to watch. Though JOSHUA’s solo dance break was awkward.
Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8/10
