In comparison with different HYBE teams, I’ve had a tougher time entering into the groove of ENHYPEN’s discography. Every time they launch a music that I like, they’ll observe it with two or three that go away me chilly. That monitor file doesn’t precisely construct confidence in new materials, however I acknowledge how widespread the group has grow to be. They have to be doing one thing proper, even when that one thing isn’t typically for me. New single Dangerous Want (With Or With out You) looks like one step ahead and two steps again, which is a irritating place to be.

Inside this music we discover just a few of HYBE’s worst instincts: a veritable military of composers and an ultra-short runtime that leaves no room for musical growth. Vocal results are used to not easy out imperfections however so as to add deliberate texture. This alternative will seemingly be polarizing. I really feel the manufacturing overplays its hand by smothering the overwhelming majority of the monitor with these vocal results. On this case, somewhat would have gone a good distance. Rather a lot makes the group sound dangerously near AI’s uncanny valley. ENHYPEN have by no means staked their declare on a ton of vocal taste anyway (they’re extra notable for his or her dancing and picture), however the effects-heavy manufacturing right here turns them into robots.

On the identical time, Dangerous Want boasts among the group’s most participating melodies in awhile. The refrain unveils a pleasant flourish of drama that has potential to develop towards higher heights. It’s a pity that these melodies are dragged down by leaden manufacturing that squanders all the fervour we all know Ok-pop can deliver. I benefit from the Timbaland-style beats within the verses, however the association of the refrain must do one thing completely different to vault the music to a different degree. It merely sits there, spinning its wheels. Since Ok-pop is at present so obsessive about 2000’s nostalgia, somebody wants to return and take heed to songs just like the Timbaland-produced Cry Me A River that successfully infuse their stuttering midtempo with true dynamism and scope.

Grade: C+