Coming back without a bit of teasing or build-up, Romeo have released Treasure as a special single from their repackaged album. I’ve previously lamented the fact that they no longer work with production team Sweetune after their label merged with Stardom Entertainment, and Treasure is no different. Once again, the song has been composed by Deeds and Yunsu, who also worked on their last single, Miro.

Because of this, Treasure sounds almost like a carbon copy of Miro, going for that aggressive, angular dance sound popularized by groups like Shinee. I’m not sure the song is as strong this time around, though Miro did end up growing on me more than I had expected. My main gripe with Treasure is that it’s just incredibly busy — particularly its chorus. There are some well-produced moments buried in the mix, but there’s so much going on that it becomes hard to find them. The verses employ a staccato style that sees the main tune sliced up by melodic diversions that can become a little too intrusive. And the chorus is cut into even more pieces, blitzing the listener with a non-stop barrage of hyper-speed melodic changes. Further listens help to reduce the jarring whiplash created by this approach, but it still feels as if a less frantic structure could greatly improve the general quality of the song.

But like I mentioned earlier, there are so many strong moments buried within this chaos. I love the prominent use of harmonics in the supporting vocals, layering the members’ voices for a big, dense sound. The post-chorus refrain also includes some terrifically throwback vocal processing in the background, giving off a slight disco feel. The beat itself remains propulsive throughout, offering an undeniably energetic appeal. It just needed a bit of finesse (and restraint) to come together completely.