Release Date: April 29, 2025
Track Listing
- Pookie
- ADONIS
- Work of Art
- Perfect Crime
- Heartbreak
- Midnight Special
In an effort to catch up on my backlog of music reviews, I will revisit some of the more notable releases that I may have missed in my recaps or wanted to explore in more depth, but could not due to other time-consuming obligations. For this article, it’s FIFTY FIFTY’s third Korean EP DAY & NIGHT, released back in April.
Review
Day & Night is the second EP from the revamped lineup of FIFTY FIFTY. It features the pre-release song Perfect Crime and the two promotional tracks Pookie and Midnight Special.
FIFTY FIFTY’s first effort with their new lineup (Love Tune) was pleasing, but didn’t show the group pushing towards reaching their potential. This was understandable since it was not the same FIFTY FIFTY that skyrocketed to popularity with Cupid. Love Tune felt a lot like a gentle reset to get listeners accustomed to the five-member version of the group.
A scant few months after Love Tune, we have the revamped lineup’s follow-up, Day & Night.
The pre-release track Perfect Crime hit streaming services two weeks before the full album. It suggested that the material on Day & Night might be somewhat different from Love Tune. Perfect Crime is a mid-tempo love song that showcases the members’ vocal abilities.
This is very apparent when you watch their unplugged performance of the song, which shows there’s no auto-tune trickery enhancing this group’s vocals. It’s also a nice teaser for the entire album, as most of the mid to uptempo songs share similar DNA with it.
Day & Night’s title track is Pookie. Which, by its name alone, sounds like it might be full of vomit-inducing aegyo. Instead, it’s an incredibly catchy pop song driven by a surprisingly funky instrumental. Yes, it is bubblegum, but it’s also a fun track to listen to if you’re in the mood for some lighter type of listening.
The other promotional song on Day & Night is its closer, Midnight Special. Depending on how one interprets the lyrics, this could be FIFTY FIFTY’s booty call song, or it could be something rooted in the pure innocence of love and infatuation. Regardless, it’s the opposite of the cutesy Pookie, going for a more mature pop sound to match the feeling of wanting in the lyrics.
With three great, yet varied songs making their presence known, it would be okay if the B-sides were serviceable supporting tracks meant to fill out the rest of the album. That is not the case on Day & Night, as the remaining three songs are easily single-worthy on their own.
My favourite from this batch of songs is Heartbreak. This stripped-down, mostly acoustic track relies heavily on the members to convey the song’s emotion through their vocals, and they do a fantastic job of getting the point across.
After listening to Day & Night multiple times for this review, I believe it’s safe to say this is the true coming-out party for the 2.0 version of FIFTY FIFTY. This is a great listen from beginning to end.
