Song Review: AND2BLE – Curious

To my memory, we’ve never seen a popular K-pop group split in half and re-debut as two separate groups within a week’s time. Such is the case for the newly-reconfigured ZEROBASEONE and AND2BLE, which takes four former members and adds another. Head-to-head comparisons between to two groups will be inevitable and I wouldn’t be surprised if the agencies actively sought out that competition. But as long as the music’s good, there’s room for both acts to thrive.

AND2BLE’s company has a poor track record of sustaining the quality of their groups’ music, though they can be counted on to deliver a killer track every once and awhile. For AND2BLE, that track is hopefully still coming down the line, but Curious is a solid enough start. It makes some moves that hearken back to K-pop’s much-vaulted second generation, mainly in the dramatic layered vocals and resounding stomp that forge its chorus. It’s a different approach than most modern K-pop, and I appreciate that variety. The guys sound fantastic. They’ve got some very strong vocalists.

As far as the actual song goes, I’m not quite as sold. Despite all its twists and turns, Curious doesn’t really go anywhere. Once you’ve heard its thudding centerpiece, everything else feels like window dressing. I wish the verses and pre-choruses did something completely different, upping the tempo to deliver a shot of excitement. As it stands, almost every moment of the song is underlined by the same plodding stomp. This is thrilling at first, but grows kind of monotonous as Curious goes on.

Grade: B-