While I’ve found 82MAJOR’s output to be a mixed bag so far, I’m always interested to hear what they come up with. Of all the younger boy groups pursuing hip-hop as their guiding force, these guys seem to have the most fun with it. Recently, their music has taken a more EDM shift but new single Sign moves them closer to laidback funk.

Sign also boasts more singing than many of their recent tracks. In fact, I’m not sure I would call this hip-hop at all. Instead, we have a stripped back R&B song driven by minimalist percussion. In this way, it makes a nice compliment to Close Your Eyes’ Pose from last week. But unlike that song, Sign‘s hooks aren’t capturing me immediately. It’s sleek and slinky until we reach a dynamic bridge that finally sees the beat grow more aggressive. I would have loved full Michael Jackson style bombast in the production here. Contrast between subdued vocals and all-out craziness in the instrumental could have worked wonders. Instead, the vast majority of Sign passes by like a whisper.

Like many K-pop tracks of this tone, Sign is an absolutely pleasant listen. It doesn’t do anything wrong and sets its ambitions pretty low. But if I imagine 82MAJOR performing this at a music show surrounded by artists with bigger and bolder material, Sign may easily get lost in the shuffle. That’s not a description I often associate with this group.

Grade: C