Track Overview: aoen – MXMM

HYBE’s new Japanese boy group aoen has had a fully fantastic debut yr, however up to now none of their music has pointed towards a definite course for the blokes. Each The Blue Solar and Seishun Incredibles felt generic in their very own approach, with extra fascinating materials slotted in as b-sides. Fortuitously, their crew has determined to advertise certainly one of these b-sides with a music video.

MXMM would possibly simply be aoen’s finest music but. It splits the distinction between a number of iterations of their sound, beginning youthful and vivid earlier than transferring into extra jagged textures. That is most evident in the course of the music’s two-part refrain, which neatly contrasts an aggressive digital hook with a way of melodic carry. It may be troublesome to strike this stability in a single music with out sounding Frankensteined collectively, however all of MXMM‘s items make sense. It helps that the instrumental by no means loses its throughline. Even when twisting and turning, there’s a transparent push towards MXMM‘s finale.

Extra importantly, MXMM offers aoen a number of instructions to discover. Anthemic schoolboy melodies make sense for them, however I’m much more intrigued by the edgier (not shouty) drop on the music’s core. There’s an enormous gap available in the market for this sound minus the incessant posturing that often comes together with it.

Grade: B