In Ok-pop’s summer season of long-awaited second-gen returns, one group stands above all of them for me. Infinite are my final idol group — the act I’ve written most about on this weblog and the one I hardly let myself imagine would really make a full-group comeback after such a protracted hiatus. However after founding their very own Infinite Firm, the fellows have returned with their first album in over 5 years (not counting particular digital single Clock, in fact).

I’ve spent the final week or so tempering my expectations and realizing I must be completely happy to have the group again in any type, with any music. However with a discography as stable as theirs, that’s a fruitless effort. My thoughts can’t assist however revert to their many highlights. And this is the reason New Feelings is such a thorny, blended bag for me.

I am very completely happy to have the fellows again, and much more so underneath their very own firm the place they’ll proceed to advertise sooner or later. And, New Feelings is stable sufficient. There’s nothing unhealthy in regards to the observe. It lays down its groove and retains your head nodding. Nevertheless it’s additionally extremely slight (each in influence and operating time) and fairly generic. There’s not a lot of Infinite — in any of their musical guises — to be discovered right here. As a substitute, I hear the most recent in a protracted line of glossy, horny bass-driven tracks centered round an anti-drop construction. New Feelings lacks the panache I equate with Infinite. Their vocals are constrained by the construction, robbing listeners of the thrilling energy notes which have turn into a staple of their work. And at simply over two-and-a-half minutes, the music has no climax.

I’m not an enormous fan of the looped vocal hook that underlines many of the verses, and I want the refrain had some melodic heft as a substitute of its flat, sing-talk strategy. The music’s greatest moments happen when the instrumental fleshes out throughout the pre and publish choruses. We hear hints of Infinite’s unbelievable vocal mix — in any other case absent from New Feelings.

I blame this on the Ok-pop business’s present pick-and-mix strategy to music manufacturing. This observe is the work of some acquainted behind-the-scenes names, one in all which has composed a whole bunch of tracks with dozens of various artists. We’re not getting the distinctive imaginative and prescient of a Sweetune or an Rphabet, nor are we getting a music aimed instantly at Infinite’s strengths. New Feelings a good observe, purchased wholesale. It simply occurs to be recorded by Infinite, however anybody may have carried out this. My hope is that, as they proceed to really feel out this new period of music, the group are capable of dig into their very own musical perspective and discover materials that compliments that.

Grade: B