BTOB's 'Hour Moment' shows the veteran K-pop boy band in their element [Music Review]
The Korean pop band just released their second mini-album and it’s a great follow-up to June's 'This is us'
Korean pop boy band BTOB are back with their second mini-album, Hour Moment, this year and it’s a great listen.
In a record that is full of moving piano chord progressions, opener Friend is a real arm-swayer of a ballad. Even with clumsy rap lines such as “You’re my brother from another mother/My sister from another mister,” the song manages to be saved by the sweet melodies around it.
Like It has a slightly more jazzy J-pop feel in its delivery, and even shows some bluesy guitar licks in the background. The acoustic-tinged Butterfly offers a warm, but chilled vibe, which is a nice dynamic shift, that still shows off some of the best musicianship from any K-pop record all year.
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Climax proves to be the, well, climax of Hour Moment, with beautiful string orchestrations marrying perfectly with the unconventional piano chords, leading to the biggest chorus so far, where the vocal deliveries reaches almost spine-tingling levels.
Closer Beautiful Pain may be the only track that doesn’t quite hit the mark. Where individual performances really stand up in the preceding songs, the boys all sing in unison on this one, making it the least exciting moment on the album.
BTOB might be considered veterans of the scene now, but Hour Moment truly shows them in their element.