Attention all HOTTESTS! After a very long wait, I’m happy to say that today I’m reviewing 2PM’s new track, Comeback When You Hear This Song.
Concept
This time around, we see 2PM taking on a more mature concept then they have portrayed before. As a long time HOTTEST, seeing this more grown up approach felt a little strange in comparison to their fun debut, break up songs like Heartbeat, and even their party tracks like Hands Up. Understandably, the members wish to try out different concepts to keep appealing to more potential viewers, but after years of seeing them in reality shows as they joke around and act silly, this sudden maturity was a little jarring. It’s clear that they are growing up and portraying it through their music.
As the song title would suggest, this video is about a guy trying to make up for treating his girlfriend badly as he can recognise where he went wrong, but hopes that this song will help her forgive him. What I found to be an unusual twist of a fairly common ‘I’ve apologised so comeback to me’ concept, is that the video incorporates the Seven Deadly Sins into the plotline; pride, lust, greed, sloth, gluttony, wrath and envy. Each one of the members represents one of the Deadly Sins, and the sin is the reason why the girl left him, while the girl represents ‘pride’, as this is what clearly makes her walk away from their relationship. Each member acts out their sin in a way that would end a relationship; Chansung becomes demanding in bed, Nichkhun ignores her in favour of taking a call from work, Wooyoung has no motivation to work on his music, Junho gets drunk and pushes her away, Minjun flies into a rage, and Taecyeon gets extremely jealous when seeing her talking to someone else. The video ends with the song that’s been written for her being pumped out of speakers, and when she hears the song she smiles, and it seems that all is forgiven. (What about the fact that she has six boyfriends…maybe she should be greed, not pride. Awkward.)
The video is set in various locations, such as a hotel room, a bar, an empty street, and in an apartment. There are no other people in the video besides 2PM and the female lead, and a fairly dark and sober colour palette is used throughout all the settings. This adds to the slightly serious note to the song – they are apologising, and it feels sincere.
Matching the sound of the song and the overall concept, the style worn in this MV is more grown up, mature, and a little subdued; the main two styles are a set of monochrome outfits, and another set of dark-coloured, fairly smart clothing. For 2PM, and Kpop as a whole, this is actually a pretty toned-down style, and it’s pretty similar to what boy bands and male celebrities wear here in the UK. The outfits worn are inkeeping with the feel of the video which should help appeal to potential viewers here in the UK.
UK Potential: 4.5/5
Choreography
On the whole, the dance for Comeback When You Hear This Song is fairly energetic while managing to match well to the tone of the song. But the key dance point seems to be the ‘grabby hands’ they use during the chorus when saying ‘listen to this song and comeback’. This demonstrates well what they’re saying but in a way that’s a little bit too aegyo in comparison to the more mature and sincere tone of the song.
Other notable parts to the dance take place on a set of stairs and even what appears to be a few rows of bleachers of some kind; near the beginning of the song, they are sat on the bleachers and just use their arms for the routine, and towards the end of the song, they dance on a set of stairs which gives a really interesting visual.
On the first time I watched the video, at a few points the choreography almost seems a little messy with constant movement, but after watching the MV a few more times, I realised that it can just seem that way as the dance is quite intricate. The variety of different formations they take (the incorporation of stairs, a part where they are sat down, the times when only one member dances until they reach the chorus, etc) makes the whole routine pretty visually impressive, and very memorable.
UK Potential: 3.5/5
Song
This style of song is something that I tend to have a love-hate relationship with; a slowed-down electro track. It’s a relatively slow song with a heartfelt message in the lyrics, and while I’m not always a fan of piling on synthetic beats over the top of this, I think it works really well for Comeback When You Hear This Song. I think this is because it gives the track a more hopeful feel, like they think this song will do well with getting the forgiveness they’re looking for.
The message behind the song sounds like something that would be popular here in the UK, and it reminded me a little of the popularity awarded to Bruno Mars’ style of music – especially one of his recent songs, When I Was Your Man. This track and Comeback When You Hear This Song are both about the things a couple should have done for each other when they were together, and I think relationship regrets are a very relatable topic so it should appeal to many people.
There is very little English used in this song, which is unusual for a 2PM song, seeing as two members are native speakers, but the English used is mostly found a little phrases, such as ‘give me one more chance’ and ‘baby, stop’. I find the lack of English used to be quite a refreshing change, and I think this song has such a memorable and catchy sound that the lack of English to sing along with shouldn’t put too many people off listening to this song.
UK Potential: 3.5/5
Highlight: I really enjoyed the use of the Seven Deadly Sins – definitely something I don’t think I’ve seen in a music video before!
Overall UK Potential: 12/15
The concept is very relatable and the song is catchy, and I think it could hold quite a widespread appeal for potential listeners here in the UK.
On the otherhand, I think that 2PM can bring such a fun and lively stage presence, that it would be a bit of a shame if they were to release this song in the UK as a debut seeing as it’s not what I’d call ‘typical 2PM’.
