Song Review: Back To Me by The Rose

Technically, ‘The Rose’ is not a K-pop group, but I have already reviewed a song of theirs before, so I figured, why not keep going? Also, the lead singer, Woosung, happens to be one of my favourite singers of all time, which gives me a lot more initiative to do so.

The last time we’ve heard of ‘The Rose’, they released one of the ballads of 2022 in the form of ‘Childhood’, with lyrics of striking emotional depth that invites opportunity for reflection and contemplation of how we’ve lived our lives up to this point- whether we sacrificed too much of our childhood in the process of growing up. It made me quite excited for what they would come up with next. Thankfully, ‘Back To Me’ does not disappoint, for the most part.

The streamline and forward melodic structure of ‘Back To Me’ becomes both its biggest strength and biggest limitation. It reveals its strong sing-along chorus right from the beginning, with effective supporting verses expected of an anthemic rock ballad. These are strong in its own right- but because after the second verse ends, there is nothing left of the song that is unexpected as the melodies simply repeat themselves. What is left to keep the song going is the sheer passion of the band’s delivery- which does not disappoint. In spite of this, I think by the end of the song, the hook has worn itself out, and I needed more variation to make me more enthusiastic to play the song again.

The same can be said about the song’s production. Indeed, it builds up, it feels exciting, emotionally charged- things that I would usually be all supportive of. However, because there is a lack of variation, it really uses the elements that are present as a clutch for the whole song. Now the question lies- is the production by itself strong enough even lacking variation? For the most part, yes. Similar to the hooks, I have a mild yearning for something to change up, especially because it is an emotionally charged ballad, and our emotions, more often than not, are completely linear in how they express themselves. But it is still quite strong on its own right.

However, I cannot deny that every single word that Woosung sang about came from the soul. It was full of passion and yearning so deep that one cannot help but be captivated. This is undoubtedly the song’s biggest strength.

All in all, ‘Back To Me’ is a heartfelt rock ballad that manages to captivate listeners, but the lack of variation may end up hurting its longevity in comparison to similar songs already done by other artists in the past.

Hooks – 8
Production – 8
Vocal Delivery – 10
Overall – 8.5