Go to any reside present of SEVENTEEN’s, and also you’ll instantly see why they’ve managed to solidify themselves as one of many top-selling Okay-pop acts of all time. With 13 multi-hyphenate members and prismatic sound, each one in every of their live shows is its personal mini-festival. Channelling these celebratory moments on stage, their ecstatic eleventh mini-album ‘Seventeeth Heaven’ scales up their sound to match their newest run of stadium excursions (and Coachella hopes) throughout its brief stretch.
SEVENTEEN stored this undertaking near their chest, with writer-producer Woozi, collaborator Bumzu and some different members that includes most prominently within the credit, but one exception comes early: rock-adjacent opener ‘SOS’ enlists Marshmello for a cavernous, trippy bass manufacturing that propels vocalist DK’s succesful decrease vary into the stratosphere. That its clunky lyrics are all in English works to its detriment, however ‘SOS’ chugs together with such gusto it’s exhausting to care.
To point out how far they’ve come, the band additionally revisit their indelible traditional ‘Shining Diamond’ on ‘Diamond Days’, a rave-ready, EDM redux of its precursor, whereby they boasted of the uncooked expertise that might ship them from humble means. That’s why, as pompous because the title of ‘God of Music’ could sound, the precise single – using excessive on euphoric brass and funk – is something however. “If there’s a God of Music / I need to offer you a hug of gratitude,” croons Joshua on the outset. They’re simply thrilled to be right here, doing what they love most.
The competition vibes preserve rolling with the crisp and snappy electropop synths of the efficiency unit’s ‘Again 2 Again’. There’s a particular exhausting edge to the verses, for higher or worse, with shouted deliveries and busied-up industrial zaps. Stitched into its tough seams, although, are traces of subtle songwriting like “I’m the one who ran to you / If I’m breathless / It means my coronary heart is full” and “In twilight, the solar and moon meet again to again”.
Each setlist has its energetic lows, and in beautiful piano ballad ‘Yawn’, contemplations of fleeting relationships are etched with grief. Consolation is the resident vocalists’ M.O., however right here musings tackle a somber mien. “You could have been struggling alone,” sings Seungkwan, who mentioned he cried listening to the demo whereas recuperating earlier this 12 months. Sole lyricist Woozi picks it up from there: “There’s no means I wouldn’t know / Since you are my breath.” The bridge is a gradual exhale, all leisurely sighs and instrumental swells that tug the heartstrings.
In the meantime, the snickering, nocturnal prowl of trap-laden ‘Monster’ – an apparent Vernon co-creation – pulls up and screeches off in beneath three minutes, like a sport of ding dong ditch at the hours of darkness. A haunted home of shrieks and wolf whistles, it swerves between brag rap and gimmick: “Stadium door to stadium door / Hit the jackpot, this a trick or deal with tour.” However whilst they namecheck Dracula and Frankenstein, the rappers’ hotshot bravado and its sneering refrain make for a completely head-bopping hear.
Rounding issues off is ‘Headliner’, which leaves us with the crackling anticipation of standing on music competition inexperienced when the solar begins to set. Full with anthemic chants and rumbling drums, its stadium rock nostalgia units up a captivating, albeit tacky, function reversal. Right here, the band swaps footwear with their steadfast followers: “Even when one other wet day comes / I’ll be first in line for you”. It’s the kind of tune tailored for an encore’s cathartic cry: a memento you may tuck away in your pocket and maintain shut ceaselessly.
On the floor, ‘Seventeenth Heaven’ has all of the making of yet one more SEVENTEEN murals – and a few songs do attain that stage of greatness the boyband have set for themselves. However on nearer hear, the heavy dose vocal processing right here usually flattens their distinctive and recognisable voices into an indistinguishable combine, save for powerhouses equivalent to DK or Seungkwan. It’s unlucky for this group of adept vocalists, and units a agency ceiling for the mini-album’s greatness.
‘Seventeenth Heaven’ admittedly could not sit on the very high of the band’s personal pantheon. Nor does it attain the identical Icarian heights of 2022’s ‘Face the Solar’, during which SEVENTEEN took a sure-footed step into an grownup chapter, with out deserting their endearing earnestness and grit. Though this launch doesn’t completely play to the boyband’s strengths, it continues to flex their consistency and creativity as a collective – and if there may be certainly a god of music, could they grace the group with a swift and rounded return to kind.
Particulars
- Launch date: October 23, 2023
- Document label: Pledis Leisure
