Song Review: ZEROBASEONE – Existence

While it goes without saying that we all miss the full 9-member ZEROBASEONE, I actually think they work insanely well as a five piece. Much of this is down to intention. It feels like — to a certain extent — they’ve gone from a (very good) MNET survival group to a longterm K-pop act with a specific sound and vision. Their excellent 2026 mini album and standout KCON performance are testament to this newfound focus. With this sense of intention in mind, new Japanese single Existence (イグジステンス) feels like a bit of a side quest. However, it’s a pleasant one. The song is light and sentimental and driven very much by melody. We’ve largely bypassed R&B here in favor of something closer to city pop. The songwriting has a lyrical appeal (as much of J-pop does) and this approach works better in some places than others. I love the descending melodies that form the verses, but the chorus is less memorable and more repetitive. One aspect that remains front and center is ZEROBASEONE’s engaging set of vocal tones. In this sense, they’re one of the this K-pop generation’s strongest acts and this ease of performance tends to buoy even weaker material. Such is the case with Existence, which sound...