ONEUS made their comeback last week with their new mini-album 5x, which features the title track X. This mini-album is their 11th Korean mini-album to date since their debut in 2019. It is also the first release the group has made as four members, following SEOHO’s enlistment in the military earlier this year. It also follows the special album Dear.M that ONEUS released earlier this year, which was led by the single IKUK, and a string of solo releases from each member (including SEOHO).
X is good. ONEUS gets right to business, opening the song directly with the track’s primary hook and delivering a fun centrepiece. The track revisits this hook a couple more times throughout its run, searing it into my mind. As a result, I find myself humming along to X‘s hook without even knowing. However, this hook isn’t the only memorable aspect of X. The bass guitar plays a dominant role in the instrumental, and this is quite refreshing. It gives X an underlying funkiness and grooviness that helps boost up its addictiveness and feels very current with today’s trend. The rest of the song, including vocals and rapping, was nice. I do think X could have done better with a little more grit and texture, just to give it some edge. There was an overwhelming polished feeling that just made everything in X (including ONEUS themselves) glide along too smoothly, and the song needed something to cut right through that. But not in a disruptive or distracting manner that detracts from the fresh and cool groove that X is built on.
I really liked the retro vibes that the start of the music video gave, with the interchanging members, the four-member framing, and the layering of the various shots of the members and choreography scenes. Their black and white outfits over the white background also definitely helped. From there, we see ONEUS in an industrial setting and then on the moon. Unsure of the relevance of these to the song, but it looks good nonetheless.
The choreography for this comeback is okay. Not ONEUS’ most impressive work, but it does the job. I did like the chorus routine, especially when it comes to LEEDO’s part. But again, not exactly amazing from ONEUS, who has had some great choreography in the past.
Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8.1/10










