Contemporary off their pre-release ballad Saturn final week, MADEIN are again with their newest title monitor Love, Afraid (사랑, 두려움). That title would possibly as properly stand for the dueling feelings listeners have felt earlier than and after sexual abuse allegations have been leveled on the group’s CEO. It’s a messy, uncertain time to be a MADEIN fan, however that doesn’t imply the music can’t nonetheless be nice, proper?

I’m assured Love, Afraid is a good tune in some type, however it could require a rearrangement to totally seize its potential. At its greatest, the monitor recaptures the magical, melodic heft of Okay-pop’s third technology. I’ve been ready for a contemporary woman group to deal with this sound, singing with their full chest as dynamic melodies again them up. I’d hesitantly put Love, Afraid‘s refrain on this class, which exhibits nice potential for MADEIN going ahead.

Nonetheless, the tune frustrates as a lot because it thrills. Up till the second verse, we’re coasting properly alongside. My head is bopping and it looks like we’re able to crest into an more and more ornate association. As an alternative, the underside drops out and we should slog by way of a very busy — but oddly reserved — second verse that stalls momentum. The extra I hearken to this the much less of a difficulty it turns into, but it surely’s nonetheless a sonic leftover from Okay-pop’s fourth gen that I might do with out. On the entire, there’s way more “good” than “dangerous” right here, and that’s sufficient to drag the monitor throughout the end line. I simply want I might rave about it with none qualifiers.

Grade: B-