- HO Company’s BIGFLO burst back on the scene with Upside Down on the 18th August. With an intro led by Euijin, who you might remember from The Unit and its winning group UNB, this is a strong comeback from a group with a distinct sound.
The intro takes the bare bones of the single’s structure and strips it back. There is a start difference between this section and the main body of the song, but the undercurrent of familiarity runs clear through it.
Upside Down is exceptionally produced by Brave Brothers. It’s clean and energetic, and still has a lightness to it despite the heavy, thick bass-led instrumental that threatens to overpower the vocal melody.
Since there isn’t much to the vocal arrangement, the instrumental backdrop is the most interesting aspect of this comeback. It’s distinctive, and it very similar to early formulations of the kpop sound. The closest sound to it in recent years has to be BoA’s Camouflage, and for that reason alone – Upside Down feels very experimental.
The music video prioritises wide, open shots with most of the emphasis on camera work. There is lots of interplay between speed and angle, but the impact of it is rather dulled by the uninspired locations.
It cycles through scenes we’ve all seen before in kpop: rooftops, empty car parks, wide-roomed buildings. But there’s nothing there, in the editing or the furnishing, that makes this music video distinctive.
BIGFLO’s Upside Down is a solid track with a stellar performance from a boy-group full of potential and we’re excited to see how this type of sound develops in their future discography.
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Awesome7
