Release Date: September 16, 2020
Track Listing
- Feel Good (SECRET CODE)
- Weather
- Starry Night
- Somebody to Love
- Mulgogi
Review
After over a year of working as YouTubers, fromis_9 have returned to their day jobs of Korean Pop idols with their third mini-album My Little Society. It features the song Feel Good (SECRET CODE) as its lead single.
Ask fans of fromis_9 about how they have been feeling before the release of this album. The most likely answer you would get is “frustrated.” The main reason is that there hasn’t been any new music from the group since 2019’s FUN FACTORY.
This fact has many Flovers suffering from a prolonged case of blue balls. With fromis_9 finally releasing this new EP, the collective moans and screams of delayed climax across their fandom were heard by all within earshot. That might be a bit of a gross embellishment but let’s face it, Flovers have been waiting a very long time for fromis_9 to release anything new musically.
For a K-pop fan, waiting over a year for new material from your favourite group is similar to waiting for Halley’s Comet to come back to Earth. If you think about fromis_9’s comeback in those terms, you can understand why Flovers are excited about this particular EP.
The lead song Feel Good (SECRET CODE) is an indicator that this is not going to be a typical bubblegum pop journey. The music takes cues from the past. In this case, you get some disco and funk influences. This unexpected turn away from their usual sound does work to their advantage. Their youthful optimism shines through, adding a different type of flavour to the old school sounding instrumental.
The remainder of My Little Society is an interesting lot. Tracks like Weather and Mulgogi continue to follow up on the light retro inspired musical theme with great success. To my ears, there is a bit of the whole popular 80s throwback trend in both songs. Much like with the a-side, these are atypical of what one would expect from fromis_9.
The two middle songs on this EP are slower ones that allow fromis_9 to show off their vocal skills. I found Somebody to Love to be the more engaging of the two as it tends to fit more within the established musical motif that is present on My Little Society.
So was this worth the long wait? Absolutely. This EP shows some concerted effort to create something great that pleases both long-time and casual fans of fromis_9. The very thirsty Flovers out there may complain a lot about fromis_9 never releasing enough material to feed their appetite even after getting this EP. The way I look at it, I believe they have a case for quality over quantity.
I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing if they keep releasing material like My Little Society.
