Seventeen is back again this year! After You Made My Dawn in late January, the 13-membered boy group released
their new album An Ode on Monday,
September 16th 2019 with Fear as
title track. Fear promises a
different image of Seventeen based on its dark teasers. It shows the opposite
of Home, the previous album title
track, which emphasized on melancholy and calm images.
Seventeen’s transformation seems fit since they have reached the
fourth year of their career. They are no longer boys and slowly turning into
gentlemen. Fear also becomes
continuation of Hit because the
pre-release track from An Ode album presents mature version of Seventeen when
promoted a month ago.
So, how does Seventeen embrace Fear?
Do they nail the dark concept? Check out my review of the title track from An
Ode album below……………..
Seventeen approaches dark and mature sound by exploring R&B
genre on Fear. Strong beat and vocal
riffs dominate this song, followed by synthesizer sound to fit the current
trend. The verses have a great dynamic, starting from soft vocal during the
opening, fast rap, to high notes. It serves as an exciting build-up to the song
refrain, which also does not disappoint.
Fear refrain plays on Seventeen’s strength with its easy to remember
pop melody. It has ‘Oooo’ hook like the usual Seventeen title tracks. The
English phrases such as ‘poison’ and ‘the way I love’ also memorable while also
suits Fear lyrics about toxic love. I
like how this song has a satisfying pay-off after an exciting verse.
But unfortunately, the engaging dynamic does not last long since
the transition between refrain and the second verse sounds abrupt. The strong
refrain suddenly stops and Jeonghan’s
soft voice comes to start the second verse. The similar problem continues to
appear between the bridge and last refrain. Because of this, Fear sometimes does not sound like a
complete song, even ends too fast.
The jarring transition also happens in Fear music video. Seventeen works again with Rigned Film, a team behind Hit
music video, and both already set their signature styles for the music
video. The unusual camera angle, fast editing, and contrast color tones continues
to present in Fear and this
combination enhances the song darker theme. Look at the scene when Dino stands in a dark room alongside
smoke and cables. However, the scenes often have different resolution and lighting,
which disrupts its transition such as when Jeonghan has his individual shot.
Seventeen successfully displays dark image through Fear. It’s an R&B inspired track
with exciting verses and catchy refrain, while still emphasizes their signature
style. The music video showcases Fear dark
theme too with its color tone and cinematography. However, Fear still has inconsistency problem due to the abrupt transition on
the song and music video scene. It’s a promising style from Seventeen, but they
still need to work more on it.
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