the bloom of a new era? — a zerobaseone review

the announcement that the debut group of the ever-famous "boys planet" would be the initiation to the 5th generation of K-pop really heightened our expectations — what would they sound like? would they bring a fresh-never-seen-before concept to the table? would they be able to reach, or even exceed our expectations; knowing our anticipation for the start of a new generation?

firstly, hurrah! zerobaseone heard our plight and cries for help about 4th gen debuts being darker and unmemorable (in mentionable cases) — and gave us a sparkly, futuristic summer tune! In Bloom has a very characteristic guided synth playing underneath all the vocal and other instrumental lines, particularly distinct DnB framework shaping the song, reminiscent of the early 90's — a perfectly modernised version indeed. Each of the members having differently defined vocal timbres — well assigned to their respective parts too, I'd have to say — also helped in increasing the memorability of the song, in my opinion. Another thing that groups usually fail to accomplish in their title tracks, which In Bloom managed to do quite well; was transitioning their song sections together. From the pre-chorus to chorus transition to the post-chorus to bridge, the transitions are fluid and smooth.

However, I will not deny I definitely had more to expect from them, based on what they gave off as their initial image, their concept. Already having seen the extraordinaire of the members' talents in the pre-debut survival show Boys Planet, And even though the range of vocals demonstrated in the chorus, for example, were very addictive and impressive, in places like the pre-chorus and the pose-chorus... I definitely expected a bit more. If you've read my other reviews, you'll know that I pay a little more attention to the niche aspects of the song such as I've mentioned above, as I believe that they truly capture the essence of a song; they're placed in periodic intervals throughout the song so as to maintain our undivided attention as we progress through the song — the pre-chorus was a bit simpler than I'd expected it to be and the post-chorus felt like a slight pitfall (the non-thrilling ones) after the climax that was the chorus. The song definitely deserved a prechorus with either a buildup of layers or the drown-out of layers until only the vocal layers remain to add a bit of interesting spice — and it would have been nice if we got something other than just "Woah~"s in the post-chorus. But that's just my two cents on it, nothing more, nothing less.

The MV was most definitely a refresher as I, personally, just LOVE flowery, sunny music videos. I'm convinced they've already established a lore with their concept trailer and everything but I was disappointed that the music video wasn't very apparent with that — this is something CIX does very often with their music videos, hence they're such a pleasure to watch, as I really enjoy underlying plot lines in music videos — so I hope they do bring back that 8-bit futuristic video game aspect that they veeery subtly tried to insert!! I think we'd all enjoy that very much. The motif of the white roses to symbolise ZE_ROSE, their fandom was quite cute though, I won't lie!!

Here's a line I really like:

가장 아름답게 | 세상을 다 물들여도 | 영원한 건 없대 | 결국엔 모두 시들 테니. Even the most beautiful, precious things, That can shine even through the darkness, End up withering, fading away, Nothing lasts forever

To be honest with you, as soon as I heard the album preview, I was more excited for the b-sides than the title track itself. I tried my best to avoid the grave mistake I made last time; which was to replay the album preview over and over again until I fully memorised the songs and their transitioning into each other in the preview... an embarrassing time, if I had to say. Back To Zerobase was the one we heard in the trailer film, perfectly mirroring their sparkly futuristic video-game concept with ecstatic DnB, prolonged synths, electric piano and some absolutely heavenly reverbed vocal lines and adlibs!! And god bless it was a two-minute track and not a 1-minute-something-seconds intro as they couldn't have fit this deliciousness into an intro. Next, New Kidz On The Block was definitely the 90's Love adjacent track we were expecting — The perfection with the bass, 90's "retro" drum kit, and most importantly, the excellence in the structuring of the song. Perfect. It was also most definitely Matthew's song, he really ate up his english pre-chorus parts <3. Next, 우주먼지 (And I), my definite pick from the album medley. And I would be lying if I said that changed after I heard the full song. It's such a pretty song, and SUCH cosmic dust vibes, I couldn't have asked for more. Also, another song with very clean-cut structuring!!! Your girl was satisfied! Our Season, my other pick from the album, and after 3 and half weeks of release, is definitely my favourite, is also an immensely well-structured song! (Damn, why is the structuring a 100/10 in every song except the title haha) Out of all the songs in the album, the award for the catchiest chorus also goes to this one. Struck me like an arrow since the first listen, it really has that gripping ability — something that's harder to see in k-pop songs than you'd expect actually. Lastly, Always. Our lovely P01 Zhang Hao's solo song. With it's sunlight-radiating 808 beats, mixed with Hao's honey-like multi-range voice... I have nothing else to say. Except that it definitely was way too short for me. Atleast a bridge and a last chorus. It's just.. too incomplete and the ending just made me go "Wait, that's it?". But all in all, definitely a lovely, bright conclusion to their debut album, wrapping it up neatly.

(thank you for reading all that <3)

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what was your favourite track from YOUTH IN THE SHADE!

• 0%Back To ZEROBASE
• 0%In Bloom
• 0%New Kidz On The Block
• 0%우주먼지 (And I)

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MY OBJECTIVE TAKE:

Hook: 8/10

Replayability: 8/10

Production: 8.5/10

Structure: 7/10

B-Sides: 10/10

MY SUBJECTIVE TAKE [OVERALL]:

9/10

B-SIDE OF THE DAY: