It’s been well over a year since we last heard from The Wind. Since then, their agency has partnered with a new management company to shift the group’s sound with an eye on global markets. Yes, The Wind are following the path that 99.9% of bright, melodic boy groups eventually succumb to. They’ve ditched their old creative team for new blood (Block B’s Park Kyung and HYBE mainstay Peridot, to be exact). The thing is, their old sound wasn’t broken. In fact, it was a refreshing oasis in an increasingly generic industry. On the other hand, new single Party Like A Rock Star feels like an ill-fitting t-shirt.

Unsurprisingly given its composer, Party Like A Rock Star bears the hallmarks of a latter-day Block B track. You can hear those guys all over the track and it would have worked better if driven by their expertise in this genre. As much as I’ve loved The Wind’s work in the past, their voices don’t fit this material at all. Rather than act as a polished reinvention of their sound, the song comes across as much more amateur than expected. There’s potential in Rock Star‘s shout-along chorus, but the “edgy” production feels at odds with their natural appeal.

Adding to their uphill battle, the group keeps losing its main vocalists. First, leader Shin Jaewon left and now Kim Hee Soo is on hiatus. You hear this lack of a vocal anchor throughout Party Like A Rock Star, forcing the guys to resort to much more sing-talk than the melodically rich material of years past. It all adds up to an unnecessary reboot that misses every aspect that’s made their discography so wonderful.

Grade: C