W24 is nominated for Best Band in the 2021 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support W24 by clicking here to vote today!
As mentioned in my previous review, I will be using today and tomorrow to focus on the nominees of the Best Band category, who I have not reviewed yet this year. This review focuses on W24, a four-member band (consisting of Kim Yun-soo, Kim Jong-gil, Cheong Ho-won and Park Aaron) under JARMY Entertainment that debuted back in 2018 and has been active promoting since. 2021 saw the band release two songs, Breath and Once Upon a Time and most recently My Universe. But I won’t be reviewing those. Instead, I will reviewing Fine, a single released by the band back in September of this year.
The reason why I am reviewing Fine over their main releases from this year is the dramatic drums that not just open up the song, but has a presence throughout the song. It was bold and they stole my attention from the get-go, and I have been listening to the song ever since. Unfortunately, it was one of the reviews that I had intended to write around the time of its release, but I ended up shelving it so that I could review other releases. But I now have a proper excuse to sit down and revisit this ballad. For the most part, Fine was pretty typical. Removing the dramatic drums, the ballad starts off like any other. Soft and delicate. Maybe dry and plain, as well, as you don’t really see much of a change of momentum. As the song progresses, Fine develops more into a rock ballad. Still typical-sounding if I was being honest, but the rock influences make Fine more satisfying to listen to. When you factor in the dramatic drums again, the rock ballad becomes a lot more heavier and even more fulfilling. Not only did they add boldness to the ballad, but they added the momentum that took the song from ‘dry and plain’ to ‘captivating and stilling’. I found the ending to be interesting. The ending of Fine switches out the electric guitar which has been there since the start for an acoustic guitar, leaving us with the delicate and fragile side of the song. As for the vocals, I thought they were really good and captured the emotions of the ballad. They followed the trajectory of the music, unloading during the song’s more heavier moments and highlighting the delicateness during the song’s softer moments. That high note that we get from the main vocalist was on point and definitely was another highlight to Fine. Overall, Fine was ‘a fine song’. It reeled me and it got me to stay. It has even gotten me to pick up some other W24 as well, so I am interested to hear more from the group in the future.
There was no music video for Fine was released. Instead, we got a live clip of the band performing, which was perfectly fine. The band performed with some sort of flower festival or garden behind them, and while there was visitors walking behind them. The latter was mildly distracting, but the field of flowers worked well with the song. Flowers are delicate and so was the song. I wished they wore something a bit more appropriate for the song though. That is my issue with shorts. They have their merits in other situations, but they look informal here and I felt this went against the song.
Song – 9/10
Music Video – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10
KPOPREVIEWED 