Seven years after VERIVERY’s debut, a member has finally released a solo album. I’m not surprised it’s Kangmin, given his successful run on last year’s Boys II Planet. If anything, I’m surprised it took Jellyfish Entertainment this long to cobble together some songs for him. And cobble together they did, because Free Falling is undoubtedly the work of outsourcing.

I’m not sure what I’d expect a Kangmin debut to sound like since VERIVERY themselves have switched sounds so often. To its credit, the song isn’t the complete generic fodder it could have been. It has some cool drum and bass moments that give it a unique pulse. However, I wish the production would have taken a more daring, energetic route. Free Falling is perched halfway between ballad and dance track and ends up lacking the strengths of both. Its atmospheric moments are swallowed by the (at times) frenetic pace while its more uptempo moments don’t hit hard enough.

Kangmin is a servicable vessel for this songwriting. He lacks an easily identifiable tone, making Free Falling feel as if it could have been performed by anyone. I certainly couldn’t pick it out of a crowd, and I make it my business to be way more familiar with the K-pop landscape than any person probably should. Like most solo debuts, it feels more like requisite fan service than a true artistic revelation.

Grade: C