Comebacks from beloved, established artists are difficult. I wish I could fully embrace them, unencumbered from the legacy of incredible music that forms their foundation. But more often than not, this history gets in the way and I end up wishing for material that matches the potency of their peak artistic era. This situation happened with G-Dragon last month and it definitely colored Infinite’s big 2023 comeback. When you know what an act is capable of, it’s hard to settle for anything less.
This is all to say, I’ve realized it’s not usually an artist I miss, but their sound. I guess this makes sense given the medium of music. Infinite’s vocals have an identifiable sound, but it’s their signature blend of drama and open-hearted melody that truly set them apart. New single Dangerous offers a light funky style and feels more fully realized than 2023’s New Emotions, but it never comes close to recapturing Infinite’s specific charm. It’s clear the guys are in an era of purchasing songs from various producers rather than having material specifically tailored to them.
Dangerous is pleasant in the way that any bright, funky boy group release might be. It bops along buoyant rhythm guitar and roller-rink-ready synth. The group’s inimitable vocals bring character to anything they touch, but the melodies just aren’t here this time. None of the hooks hit particularly hard or give the guys much to work with. Couched within one of K-pop’s most legendary discographies, Dangerous feels like a throwaway. They would have been much better off promoting last year’s Sungkyu and Woohyun duet Beautiful, which went a long way toward recapturing the intensity and excitement only they can deliver.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Nick have you listened to yeji’s air mv teasers, seulgi’s baby not baby mv teaser and le sserafim’s hot highlight medley? everything sounds so promising! i didn’t expect to get yeji in her dance floor diva for her debut, but she looks and sounds absolutely amazing! i also loved le sserafim’s highlight medley, especially hot (seems like we are getting a proper chorus) and ash, but all the bsides sound genuinely good
ps: cant wait for jennie album tomorrow! (the mv teaser for like jennie is coming out soon, what did u think about its snippet? is it brazilian funk? it sounds a bit like it)
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Yeji’s sounds like it’s going to be the best of the three, but all could be good. We’ll see!
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I didn’t know Le Sserafim have something new coming out. I’m pretty excited about this, I’ve kind of slowly become a fan of theirs, and usually enjoy their albums/EPs.
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I feel like if they reunited with Sweetune for the title track, this would have been an entirely different review. Anyway, can’t wait to see your thoughts on the rest of the album!
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The song would have been entirely different, too!
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Do you know if there’s any new Sweetune coming soon? I haven’t heard anything in awhile.
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Sadly, it doesn’t seem like it…
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not their best but it’s fun! really like umbrella from the album, sounds more like them, guess cause blssd worked on it.
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“The era of purchasing songs” has defined many kpop eras. The girl crush. The boy dark theme. The excessive trap era. All those cheerleader chants we suffered through. The current funk and hip hop revivals.
For that current funk revival off the shelf, its OK, okay enough. But hardly peak kpop when kpop sounded like the weird in a good way leftovers from scandinavia that no one else would touch but kpop went there and it made the world a better place.
That said, I will probably buy it anyway.
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fun song, but not as good as the chased and bad
8/10 (8, 8, 8, 8) for me
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It’s surprisingly decent. At times it steered close to H&M generic territory, but I enjoyed the little vocal moments that happened before each chorus (it kinda has a j-pop sound?).
I’m curious why Sweetunes doesn’t collaborate with Infinite again?
Rating’s the same
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From what I can tell, Sweetune never work with a group again after they’ve stopped working with them – whether it’s Kara, Rainbow, Infinite, Boyfriend, Snuper, or Golden Child. I don’t know why that is. I would think that if Kara and Infinite returned with a Sweetune-produced comeback, it’d be greeted ecstatically, rather than under the radar. That’s what I’d like to think, but we’ll probably never know…
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Wowza, I didn’t expect a new Infinite song at all, what a surprise! And secondly, I like this! It’s my favorite new Infinite song since 2023’s b-side Time Difference. More positivity, Nick! An 8’s good for it! 🙂
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I definitely loved all the B sides in this album, with Umbrella being my top favourite. I was surprised and delighted to have songs with >= 3.5 minutes length. And my favourite song Umbrella is whopping 4mins 42secs.
I will have to listen to the title track a few more times to decide whether I like it or not..
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I’ve officially got lower standards than you for this round, Nick, because I’m thoroughly enjoying this. Dangerous is definitely not peak-era Infinite, though I’d say it’s closer to pre-peak-era Infinite (i.e. Wings, Cover Girl, She’s Back) than anything they’ve come out with since the enlistments started. And it has actual song parts! And a groove! And a KEY CHANGE! And the guys seem to be having a lot of fun promoting it. Like, would they have gotten as much as respect as they did back in 2012-14 with material like this? No. If a magic music fairy appeared and asked me if I would trade in about 270 Sungyeol ab shots for a better song, would I take that deal? I would. But it’s got more vibrancy than I ever thought we’d get from them again, and I’m happy with that.
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