Album Review: ROMANCE: UNTOLD – ENHYPEN

In my last post, I promised an album review after a week, but I’ve been feeling more motivated to write than I expected, so here I present to you my review of ENHYPEN’s ROMANCE: UNTOLD! (Warning: Long!)

ROMANCE: UNTOLD marks ENHYPEN’s first full album since DIMENSION: DILEMMA, which is quite widely regarded as ENHYPEN’s best album to date- for good reason too. Any album containing songs such as ‘Go Big or Big Home’ and ‘Attention Please!’, both of which stand among ENHYPEN’s crowning jewels in their discography would likely be regarded as such. It is quite literally the definition of a ‘no-skip album’ in my most humble opinion. This sets expectations sky-high for its follow-up. These expectations have manifested in physical form, with the album clocking in a whopping 2.2 million preorders, an astonishing accomplishment, especially in the age where K-pop album sales have been on a downward trend all around. (and yes, this is also their personal best!) This presents the question: was it worth the hype?

Upon reflection, I realised that when I reviewed DARK BLOOD, I came into it strongly keeping in mind how the songs compared to their previous albums without appreciating enough the distinct identity of the new songs in their own right. DARK BLOOD marked noticeable shift in sound, but my attitude did not match ENHYPEN’s embrace of this darker soundscape. This henceforth affected the way I criticised it. For example, ‘Chaccone’ which I gave a 9 in my initial review, would have been an easy 10/9.75 if it was in a more familiar soundscape to previous ENHYPEN albums. The original score of DARK BLOOD (8.3) doesn’t reflect my current thoughts of the album and would be in the high 8s or low 9s. (see full review here)

More than a year later, a similar situation has befallen. This time, ROMANCE: UNTOLD marks another notable shift in sound, this time, from dark to light. Not to mention, by pure coincidence, I have been getting more into Lana Del Ray’s music recently, which has made my brain quite accustomed to darker sounds akin to her Ultraviolence album. This meant that I really needed to recalibrate my brain to truly assess this album as fairly as I can. Keeping all these thoughts in mind, by the time I listened to the album a second time (since XO’s review), my thoughts have dramatically improved. Let’s dive right in!

Moonstruck

Even at my first listen where I was not particularly enamoured with the album, ‘Moonstruck’ stood out as the album’s crowning jewel- a dreamy, sensual alt-RnB banger.

In a way, it feels like the manifestation of nearly 4 years of waiting and hoping that the the first song of ENHYPEN albums would be a full song, and not just an intro with an extremely compelling production, and perhaps if we’re lucky, some catchy melody that is never built upon. ‘Moonstruck’ marks the first time this cycle has been broken.

This song is immaculately produced. Rarely have the members ever sounded so good. There is just the right amount of reverb and clarity, yet a slight touch of haziness to deliver the song’s dreamy, magical vibe that precisely captures the song’s message- being moonstruck because of love. The members have delivered every single vocal part to perfection. The instrumentals are mixed perfectly with the vocals, and concoct the atmosphere to absolute perfection. (A highlight is the harp that comes in at the song’s pre chorus, for example)

The melody, particularly of the pre-chorus and the chorus, is very strong. The chorus feels almost transcendental- which is exactly how I imagine being in love must be.

If anything, I wish it was slightly longer, just for the sake of hearing more (it only clocks at two and a half minutes to my dismay!), but not necessarily because the song needed to be longer. It didn’t lack the development to make the song sound complete.

Overall, ‘Moonstruck’ is easily one of the best album openers I’ve heard in K-pop, joining the ranks of ENHYPEN’s best b-sides in their already strong discography. The song knew what it wanted to accomplish and it did just that.

Hooks – 9
Production – 9
Vocal Delivery – 10
Overall – 9.25 (has room for growth)

For my detailed thoughts on the title track, read my review here!

Your Eyes Only

‘Yours Eyes Only’ feels like the flirty, playful, sweet embrace of young love manifested in a song. Despite running for only a whopping two minutes and twenty seconds, the track wastes absolutely no time in captivating you in.

This is made possible by littering the song with hooks every couple of seconds. ‘Sugar talk’ is a killer hook, and the playful vocal delivery and rhythm in the verses keeps you on your toe. There is a fantastic switch-up in the second half of the second verse, with Jungwon coming in via a bouncy and rather addictive vocal delivery that will surely win over pretty much anyone. His distinct timbre really synergises within this killing part, making it extremely memorable. A quick scroll down the YouTube comments reveals how many fans mention coming back to this song exactly because of this section. I can fully understand, especially after taking the time to really immerse myself into the charms of the song.

However, I still believe that the song ended a tad too abruptly. I think one more repetition of the chorus in the finale would have tied up the song perfectly.

The production feels like a classic mid-tempo (leaning a bit more on the upbeat side) synth pop which you can groove along to. It feels rather safe, yet consistent and undoubtedly effective. By no means does it break boundaries, but it did what it needed to do.

The sweetness of this track seems to really capture the full extent of ENHYPEN’s sonic shift in sound for this album, and it makes me glad that that they went in this direction.

Hooks – 9
Production – 8
Vocal Delivery – 9
Overall – 8.5

Hundred Broken Hearts

From its melody, chord progression, the beat, or even the way the pre-chorus transitions to the chorus with a drum riff, ‘Hundred Broken Hearts’ seems like an old-school RnB song that just happens to be created/released in 2024. It is to the point I can easily imagine that this would be a song that would be sung in karaoke events when my generation grows up down the line.

As with these old-school RnB songs, the song structure and instrumentals remain rather simple and consistent. It relies on the sheer power of melody and the upbeat nature of the instrumental to carry the song.

In the case of ‘Hundred Broken Hearts’, it works very well. There is no moment in the song which I feel felt incomplete, and all the melodies are extremely catchy. In a concert, this would be a song in which the fans would be singing along to for its sheer catchiness.

At the same time, one of the reasons why I like K-pop so much is how innovative and unexpected it can be. In the K-pop context, a song like ‘Hundred Broken Hearts’ is quite ‘boring’. Listening to this kind of music in the K-pop scene is quite a unique experience, and I’m not sure if the fact that this nostalgia inducing sound rarely appears in the K-pop scene acts as a merit or demerit for the song. Nevertheless, it would be ridiculous to deny that it was quite well done for what style it is in. In spite of this, these considerations make it a bit difficult for me to criticise this type of song.

At the end of the day, I like the song a lot and thinking too much is probably unproductive. Older K-pop fans who grew up listening to old-school classics on the radio would have a soft spot for this track.

Hooks – 9
Production – 8
Vocal Delivery – 9
Overall – 8.5

Brought The Heat Back

I have expressed numerous times in the past of my reservations with ENHYPEN singing very high-pitched songs that go well beyond their comfortable range. ‘Brought The Heat Back’ is one such song. Hence, under normal circumstances, I should dislike this song, but there a few things that prevent me from doing so.

First, the production is so immaculate that it softens any indication of strain in the vocal performance. The proof is in the pudding- Jay’s ascending scale leading up the high note that acts as both the song’s climax and finale (repeated) sounded incredible. Of course, it also helps that Jay sings with a very head-dominant mix which allows him more ease and masks more strain when singing high notes compared to his fellow members, but it still would not have sounded as good if the mixing and smoothening of their vocals was not well done.

Second, viewers of my blog will know that I am biased to more dynamic instrumentals and production. ‘Brought The Heat Back’ is by far the most dynamic song in the album, with no competition. It just moves in ebbs and flows, playing with tension and release in the way the best of songs do. It sports funk and energy that classic dance-pop bangers have which that has given dance-pop its seemingly timeless quality.

Objectively, this may be the best song on the album, but I enjoy my listening experience of ‘Moonstruck’ more. Pick your favourite!

Hooks – 8
Production – 10
Vocal Delivery – 9
Overall – 9.25

Paranormal

‘Paranormal’ feels like an obvious outlier within the album, being the only drum and bass track present. Being a fan of ZEROBASEONE, a group which has often employed drum and bass in their promoted tracks (like their stand out debut, ‘In Bloom’ and follow up, ‘Crush’), I have grown to be rather fond of the genre. While some may say that this disparity in genres is a weakens the album, I think it was a nice switch of pace and a good follow up to ‘Brought The Heat Back’. With the exception of the latter, ‘Paranormal’ is the most upbeat song of the album, and the skittering drum and bass plays a fundamental role in building this momentum and energy.

This is because unlike ‘Brought The Heat Back’ which lurches from in big steps to create momentum, ‘Paranormal’ takes gradual but consistent steps instead, which provide a really nice contrast to the former. The production itself was well-done and more atypical and interesting compared to the synth pop/rnb instrumentals utilised in the album. In particular, the combination of guitar with the drum and bass at the song’s intro was a really fun choice. The members sing this quite well too. Again, Heeseung plays a key role in this song.

However, I do find that the hooks lack some flavour and memorability compared to the likes of ‘Hundred Broken Hearts’. Nevertheless, it doesn’t detract too much from the song, though the song would have been strengthened by additional run time for further development and capitalise on the ability of drum and bass to make some truly splendid gradual build-ups.

Hooks – 7
Production – 9
Vocal Delivery – 9
Overall – 8

Royalty

Right off the bat, this song was the my least favourite upon first listen. The main hook is very antithetical to the rest of the album. While its surrounding tracks from the likes of ‘XO’, ‘Hundred Broken Hearts’, ‘Moonstruck’ or ‘Your Eyes Only’ have had stellar hooks, Royalty’s ‘Baby, you’re so preciou-ciou-ciou-cious‘ is simply obnoxious. It even makes main vocalist Heeseung’s voice sound unpleasant. It is just a big mouthful to say.

It is just a big shame because I like a lot of the aspects of the production, particularly the use of guitar in the opening verses, and the overall feel of the track. However, this really a case where the main hook just ruins the song for me. I really don’t have much else to say. I think that the terrible impression that this song left me also made me remember the album as much worse than it is as I stated in my review of ‘XO’.

Hooks – 5
Production – 8
Vocal Delivery – 7
Overall – 6.75

Highway 1009

Produced exclusively by Heeseung, ‘Highway 1009’ acts as a love letter to Engenes, so it feels somewhat counterintuitive to review it in a critical manner. However, this was one of my immediate favourites on my first listen, from a musical perspective. The melodies are rather simple but effective. The vocal delivery matches the song perfectly. The guitar that runs through the song feels like a warm hug. It’s just a very a well done fan song, and absolutely soothing. You can’t really fault a song like this!

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

Overall Thoughts

ROMANCE: UNTOLD is quite a cohesive body of work that remains an engaging listen throughout. However, there are weak points, particularly towards the end, especially with the throwaway track, ‘Royalty’, which feels like it has yet to graduate from basic songwriting 101. The first half of the album feels noticeably stronger than the second half, which detracts from the final thoughts after you complete the album. Nevertheless, I still think that it stands as a strong album that successfully explores the what it feels like to be in love- a theme that has remained classic and timeless for good reason. Additionally, its release is timely with the season and global trends. You could play this album alongside hits like Sabrina Carpeter’s ‘Espresso’ and ‘Please! Please!’ and it would fit right in. ENHYPEN as a group is approaching their peak as of this moment, and I think that ROMANCE: UNTOLD has been well-equipped to support them in this important time for them.

Overall Rating: 8.46