**NOTE: This review was originally published as a “buried treasure” but now that the song is being promoted I wanted to bump it back up to the top of the blog and add the music video to the post. The song rating has also been updated!
ENHYPEN’s second full album is a mellow affair and — at only twenty-five minutes — quite a short one as well. The group mainly works within airy, subdued grooves. It’s a decent match for their vocal color, but the music doesn’t do much to inspire me. Because of this, it’s no surprise that my highlight is also the album’s most energetic track.
Brought The Heat Back may be a red herring when compared to the songs around it, but it’s a welcome jolt of disco dance intensity as the album swerves into its second half. Before even hearing it, my eyes were drawn to producer Cirkut — an American pop creator who has dabbled in K-pop with BTS’s Jungkook and ENHYPEN themselves. It’s interesting to hear an idol group tackle a slick, global dance sound.
Brought The Heat Back is relatively simple, hinging on a repeated “yeah yeah yeah” hook that blurs the lines between verse and chorus. I’m most charmed by the instrumental — mainly the cool electronic flourish that follows each chorus. It sounds like something that could have been on the last Weeknd album and would be a very promising approach to hear ENHYPEN tackle further. Title track XO had its own subdued charms, but I’m delighted the group has chosen to promote something more upbeat during the summer months.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
I had a feeling this would rise for you😌
I love this though and the mv is so preppy and quirky
9/10❤️🔥🧑🚒🐈
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The song has an Actual Hook. And some melody too.
Do I like the hook? Not myself, I find it whiny. But if it scratches your itch, go ahead.
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am I the only one confused why the title track had jvke producing it while a bside has cirkut – a Grammy winning producer lmao.
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probably trying for that gen-z tiktok push and jvke just joined weverse so maybe bonus hybe brownie points for that…
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I definitely loved it way more than XO and the hook contributed a lot to it.
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this song is so dumb
Like most kpop actually, so dumb and so self serious
at least DNCE did not take themselves too seriously in cake by the ocean
yea yea yea… lol
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a guy got hit by a singing fish in the mv and your complaint is that kpop is too self serious ..?
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The guys have nails and cat spectacles on with yea fish hitting on face and you think they are being serious lmao watch the video before criticizing.
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the best
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my favourite track of r:u that won because of the easter egg that is the cat’s yowl sound effect at 1:39 in the middle of jungwon’s (resident cat) line! i wonder if this is what inspired the very entertaining mv
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loved the wacky mv
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