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Following the disbandment of both wanna one AND nu'est, minhyun decided to bring out a solo EP adorned with all his "hidden sides". Ranging from the poignant ballad to future bass krnb-adjacent to groovy EDM, this ep unearths something for everyone's tastes.
Nu'est were primarily known to nullify the stark boundary between 2/3rd gen and 4th gen boygroup sound, bringing elements of modern kpop-esque EDM to their pre-existing image as a 3rd gen boygroup. With "Hidden Side", I'd say Minhyun successfully carried on his group's original legacy.
Even though the song, as a title track, doesn't even hit the 3-minute mark, Hidden Side is a track that showcases a very danceable, bouncy EDM track with funky syncopated bass lines and vocal lines that match his "duality" concept to a tee. We can always trust Minhyun to deliver some of the best vocals in the entirety of k-pop. The song has a strong prechorus and bridge, where the apparent change in instrumental parts add a lot of dynamic to the song. For a solo debut, this song is all I expected from him and MORE. It isn't out of his league and is SUPER catchy and anthemic! My favourite part of the song in definitely the second verse of the song, which clearly already adds variety from the first verse with the differently spaced notes and variant melody. Minhyun's lower register is definitely something that needs to be appreciated more. For some reason, I would have enjoyed a little more oomph on that last chorus but all was good with that lovely outro!!!!
Onto the MV, clearly HYBE did a good job with the MV as a whole. From his styling to the set, everything seemed to have been done with him in mind and the cohesiveness of it all just sits right with me!! [he looked so good in the mv in that black suit PLEASE SPARE ME] The simplicity of the sets seem to converge the viewers' focus on the song and him a little more, which I really liked. Adhering to the lore of the concept, the interrogation room with the lie detector and his disappearing and reappearing was so pleasing to watch and it was just a memorable visual aid to go with the song!!! I wish Minhyun went all woodz-mode with the MV and added a little more than plain dance scenes during the chorus. It was definitely needed, but I would have appreciated more cutscenes of him interacting with people or literally doing anything other than just dance (for example in Seulgi's '28 reasons'). But other than that, Hidden Side is definitely the highlight of my year so far. I couldn't have asked for anything better than this from him.
The rest of the album was just as good as I thought it would be. One of the grave mistakes I made is to replay the highlight medley for DAYS before the actual release. I was so excited about the comeback and the songs that I listened to the highlight medley over and over again until I memorised every word and every cue for the next song transition and EVERYTHING. Wrong move. HYBE does this thing where they put the choruses of each song in their highlight medleys so replaying them make me OVERPLAY them, especially since they're the choruses, the highlights of the song.. Either way, I enjoyed all the bsides that he put out in the mini album. Honest is your average minhyun-core soft, emotional, heartstring-pulling ballad that nearly made me cry because of his voice; Perfect type is literally perfect in almost every way. It's so title-track material because of its funky melody and instrumental! Minhyun rapping is a genre I didn't think I needed, but I did; Crossword is something I never thought I'd hear from him as long as I lived, to be honest. It's cute and very lighthearted and a super easy listen! It is soft on the ears and is very gripping in terms of it's melody for sure! Smile has to be my favourite one in the album though! The song reminds me of a ballroom dance and definitely makes me feel like I'm in one! The bridge is so elevating and it's nothing like anything I've ever heard before, definitely a favourite bside of mine as a whole!! And lastly, Cube is the perfect cathartic ending to the album with a tensive krnb-adjacent feel and a pitfall future bass chorus to add to the mystical, elevating effect that he was likely to be going for!!
MY OBJECTIVE TAKE:
Hook: 10/10
Replayability: 9/10
Production: 9.8/10
Structure: 8.5/10
B-Sides: 9.8/10
MY SUBJECTIVE TAKE [OVERALL]:
9.8/10
B-SIDE OF THE DAY:
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