#20170312

Kim Himchan, a.k.a “If looks could kill” 

The first thing I hear when discussing Romeo’s new album with people is either “I liked each and every song” or “Romeo has finally found its sound” (usually both though). I won’t rush with conclusions, let’s see where this review leads me.

When the highlight medley came out, I got particularly interested in 3 songs, ‘Without U’, ‘Focus On Me’ and ‘Nice Car, Nice House’. Actually, all the songs sounded so impressive that I did my best to not let high expectations flood my mind and end up disappointing me.

The new idea implemented in the album is a more aggressive sound filled with a lot of rapping. In the articles they refer to this being the first time they tried masculinity, which is debatable. Romeo tried masculinity with ‘MIRO’ and succeeded in that respect. Wasn’t the MV masculine? Pretty much. Wasn’t the song and the pitch masculine? Absolutely. However, in my humble opinion, it wasn’t that natural to Romeo and led them in kind of a wrong direction, farther from their natural sound. Therefore, the milestone of reaching masculinity has already been passed, that’s not what makes the new album stand out.

All in all, the agency and the producers opted for a more hip-hoppish, powerful style, thus having to resort to several measures. First, they had to place Seunghwan as one of the leading figures in the album. Unlike all the other members who are far from hip-hop and look a bit awkward when trying to copy those gestures, it comes natural to Seunghwan. I mentioned earlier that his pitch seemed to me quite high for a rapper, still, his rapping made me tremble. Now his skills, paired with absolutely astonishing dancing talent (I’ll look into it in ‘Without U’ MV review later), has taken the new album to another level and helped implement the original concept in full.

Second, the producers had to cut down Yunsung’s high-pitched parties. His voice is incredible, but this concept required a lower, ‘cold’ voice… which is Kyle’s. Together with Hyunkyung’s velvet voice, Kyle’s vocals make a perfect match, so yes, this decision was gold.

That’s what I was going to say about the concept of the new album. Now a few words on each track. I won’t spread much on ‘Without U’, but I must mention that New Jack Swing framed with scratchy mash ups, disco sound and rapping parts make a unique fusion and, more importantly, give the song that catchy vibe Romeo needed so badly this comeback.

Let’s move on now to ‘Like I Do’. In the highlight medley it seemed a bit weak to me, but when I heard the enchanting verses and Minsung’s and Milo’s pre-choruses I got hooked. The melody didn’t seem plain anymore, it’s absolutely beautiful, and the repetitive English phrases granted this song a solid place in my playlist for sure.

‘Nice Car, Nice House’ wasn’t what I expected at all, neither in the music aspect, nor in the lyrics. From the highlight medley I got an expectation for a peaceful sensitive track (that’s what happens when you don’t know the language), not a make-money-money-money harsh rapping track with Seunghwan as a merciless rapgod. I can hear it required a lot of effort as he’s not used to such a style, but my respect again and again to people who turned a rapping track into a decent listening material for us who aren’t into rap. Although the lyrics were written by other people, they seem really close to Seunghwan?

‘Focus On Me’ has become a revelation for me, from the ‘R.O.M.E.O baby’ line to the astonishing chorus. The track is like a wave, first quiet and innocent, then growing and growing during the verses and then hitting you in the chorus, completely knocking you off your feet. What I also like is that the delicate music lets Romeo’s pure voices show their natural beauty, and you can distinguish them easily which adds to your excitement. No more words, just A++ to this track.

How can Romeo live without heart breaking sad songs, right? ‘BLUE’ is a perfect example, tearing our fans’ souls with its lyrics again, making us wonder: “How can you guys sing so well about the things which can’t have happened in your life?” Like, who would leave these wonderful creatures and rip their hearts, right? You try to convince yourself that none of it could have happened, it’s just these guys who are very sympathetic and sensitive. When you finally get over this struggle, you hear that the song is actually full of a light, heartwarming sadness. A moving, pure, tingling melody that leaves a good feeling, that’s what ‘BLUE’ is. In no time you spot yourself smiling to this beautiful song.

What can I say in conclusion? I side with people who say this album is exceptionally good, and I see that Romeo have grown not in the terms of masculinity or something, but in terms of professionalism in the first place. I can see clearly how much effort it took them to fit into that powerful gangster-like style, but… it’s so relevant, and they seem much closer to finding the answer who they actually are. I can’t say the new album comes that natural to them after so many cute concepts, but it’s so addictive, so catchy, so full of emotions that I hope Romeo will take it as their distinctive sound and shine with all their colours.