Song Review: XO (Only If You Say Yes) – ENHYPEN

Long time lurkers in my blog will know well that ENHYPEN are my gateway into K-Pop, the first group I’ve stanned, and probably will for as long as I remain a K-pop fan. Their last album I reviewed, ‘DARK BLOOD’, initially failed to impress me, yet it has grown into my favourite album by them (along with DIMENSION: DILEMMA). The sense of cohesiveness that I attributed as a weakness in my initial review grew into its greatest strength. Even the song which I named as my biggest K-pop disappointment, ‘Bite Me’, ended up proving me wrong over time, despite a shadow of my misgivings still somewhat linger. I didn’t have a change to cover their follow-up album, ‘ORANGE BLOOD’, in this blog because I was on a hiatus. Nevertheless, I have a positive impression of it, with my only major misgiving really being the title track’s (Sweet Venom) extremely short run time. Today marks the day of their awaited comeback, with their full album, ‘ROMANCE: UNTOLD’. XO (Only If You Say Yes) is the title track. 

Right of the bat, XO sounds like the kind of song that would achieve huge commercial success in the west. It utilises an age-old trick of building a song around a stupidly catchy hook that is introduced the moment the boys start singing. I can see its main hook being potentially divisive due to the stuttering vocal, but given the sheer success of ILLIT’s ‘Magnetic’, the last mainstream K-pop song that also made use of a this vocal flourish, I think it would attract more than repel. 

What is so great about XO is that despite the strength of its main hook, the verses don’t sound lazily written solely to support the chorus. The verses themselves act like potent hooks, playing with the rhythm in an indelible groove that is bound to be a satisfying listen. The members sound great throughout the song. Each part which they were assigned with felt distinctly ‘theirs’, and the unique qualities of their vocal timbre and singing style enhanced the effectiveness twofold. In particularly, Niki’s voice on the main hook adds a lot of character, and the result of improving his singing over the years is paying off, with the richness of his tone really shining through in this track. Sunoo’s voice was also used really well in the first verse. There has been a long track record of producers not knowing what to do with Sunoo’s voice in songs which has led him to have rather limited lines. The situation has been gradually improving over the years (for example, giving him the chorus of ‘Still Monster’) and he finally feels like he’s found his place within ENHYPEN songs. His part in the first verse is easily one of the most memorable parts of the song.

The song attempts to avoid being overly generic and formulaic through the use of interesting synths in the intro, outro, and post-chorus of the track, a signature of the producer JVKE’s own music (Golden Hour). A lot of K-pop fans are not huge fans of Western K-pop collabs, but I think ENHYPEN collaborating with JVKE is definitely among the best. The song is good, and it sounds unique in the K-pop sphere. However, I do wish that a more orchestral instrumental would have been incorporated into XO, for JVKE is one of the few artists of today to bring in classical music elements into modern pop. 

On another note, I fear for XO’s longevity. The future of this track depends on how long can its repeated chorus hook endure repeated plays. The hook actually repeats twice, with slight variations in the vocal style and the instrumental, but will it be enough to sustain itself over time? I really don’t know. But I will be more optimistic this time, at least more optimistic than I was when ‘Bite Me’ first dropped. 

All in all, ‘XO (If You Only Say So)’ is a success. I just don’t know how it will sound down the line. 

On another note, I have given its accompanying album a listen, and while there are standouts like ‘Moonstruck’ and ‘Highway 1009’, I don’t think it is among my favourite ENHYPEN albums. I should perhaps give it a week of listening to it before making a review. (For comparison, I liked ‘DARK BLOOD’ more on first listen, and I was quite disappointed then)

Edit: Read the full album review here (upon further listens, it is better than I initially thought)

Hooks – 9
Production – 8
Vocal Delivery – 9
Overall – 8.75