Review

Song Review: ONEWE – End Of Spring

I’ve spent pretty much all of ONEWE’s debut year complaining about their music’s lack of energy. I’d followed the group since before their re-branding, and it always seemed like they were playing fun, upbeat pop-rock at their busking shows. Yet, 2019-20 gave us the subdued trilogy of Reminisce About All, Regulus and Q. Two of those three songs were quite good, but none really showcased the band as a… well… band.

End Of Spring (나의 계절 봄은 끝났다) isn’t a full-on rock track either, but it finally injects some energy into ONEWE’s sound. The track fuses their style with a generic instrumental-drop-as-chorus EDM banger. The result isn’t nearly as uninspired as that description sounds, and much of that has to do with the performance. Every time I write about ONEWE, I mention that frontman Yonghoon has one of my favorite new-gen K-pop voices. End Of Spring finally gives him a bit more to do, though I would have loved to hear him tackle a more engaging chorus.

Spring opens with its central synth-rock loop, and I feel like I’ve heard this particular riff a million times before. It’s like ONEUS’ BingBing meets iKON’s Dive meets any vaguely rootsy Avicii track. Still, in a world of gloomy trap music, It’s nice to hear something that aims for more of a widescreen appeal. So much of the song is driven by this central riff, including the entire chorus. But, my favorite moment occurs just before that big beat drop, when Yonghoon is given some space to stretch. His tone and performance is far more engaging than the track itself, which makes me long for a more vocal-driven comeback with this same energy. For now, I guess we’ll just have to settle for generic fun. I guess it’s better than no fun at all?

 Hooks 8
 Production 8
 Longevity 9
 Bias 8
 RATING 8.25

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9 thoughts on “Song Review: ONEWE – End Of Spring

  1. Once again the MV is here to remind you that they play instruments. After going trap, the band is going Avicii, I guess we will never have a rock song but as you said, at least it’s not boring and Yonghoon can finally shine. After OnlyOneOf and Park Jihoon, this is the third male comeback where I can feel summer vibes… I like this dynamic !

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  2. I’ve had very high hopes for ONEWE since before they even debuted, but I’ve always worried they might suffer a similar fate to HONEYST — a brother band to a significantly more popular idol group that led to them never really getting promoted or generating buzz. They’re already faring better, I believe, so I hope that this song continues the trend of growth.

    As for the song itself, you can’t give me a band and a genuinely happy song in the 2020 K-Pop landscape and expect me NOT to fall in love with it. I’ll take this over just about anything else we’ve heard this year, easy.

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  3. This ain’t bad. It has a danceable energy, which is appreciated in 2020. The track has a very Avicii (2013’s Wake me up) vibe,especially the build and the chorus drop, replicated with instruments. The drums sound great and complement the buildup to the drop well.
    Not something I’ll actively listen to after a week. If it comes up in a playlist, it certainly won’t be a skip.

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  4. It will grow on me.
    I rated Regulus an 8 listening for the first time but it has become evergreen for me, especially the end.

    After Q , I will gladly accept this
    Rating is the same as yours.

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  5. If I was their agency, I would sharp for them a mashup concept between Day6 and Oneus, which would ignite their generic teenmovie-party-attitude at both a rock and an electronic level.
    Their popularity is increasingly raising up, but mostly due to their unconventional covers rather than their own conventional title tracks. And End Of Spring makes me wanna listen to… their unconventional cover of End Of Spring.

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    • DAY6-meets-ONEUS would be great! More than this, I just really want them to merge ONEUS and ONEWE into a super rock/dance group. There’s so much potential for innovation there…

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  6. Out of all of ONEWE’s comebacks, I have to say this is my favorite title track. I do wish that Yonghoon had more vocals in the chorus especially during that long expanse where it’s mostly synth but man his voice around 2:45 just the piano and guitar was so refreshing. Interestingly enough, in their album they have a rock version of the song. I guess the company thought a rock version wouldn’t be as popular with the general public which might be true but personally I prefer it and its definitely worth checking out.

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  7. The rock version is a lot better. Once again their agency socked them with a promoted version that shows nothing about their abilities as a band. In the promoted version MV, the music does not match what they are playing. Drives me nuts.

    The song itself, its alright. If this guy has a great voice, they really do nothing to show it off at all. N.Flying does a far better job in that respect.

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