Release Date: May 2, 2022
Track Listing
- The World Is My Oyster
- FEARLESS
- Blue Flame
- The Great Mermaid
- Sour Grapes
Review
LE SSERAFIM is a six-member girl group signed to the HYBE sub-label Source Music.
There was much hype surrounding this group because its roster consists of two former IZ*ONE members, Kim Chaewon and Miyawaki Sakura and Produce 48 standout Huh Yunjin.
All the members of LE SSERAFIM were introduced via short video clips that highlighted their charms.
So to say that LE SSERAFIM’s debut had been greatly anticipated would be an understatement, and on May 2nd, their debut EP FEARLESS dropped upon the masses.
The question is, “Was all the buzz worth it?”
Well, that would depend on how high your expectations were for this group. The imagery for this album made it clear they were going for the girl crush concept. And the music on FEARLESS matches that entire idea.
The title track, FEARLESS, is a bass-heavy, mid-tempo Urban Pop song that oozes attitude. The slick groove of the instrumental matches perfectly with the bravado of the lyrics.
Based on this song alone, you can already grasp LE SSERAFIM’s identity, which is usually something that takes a few tries for new groups to establish.
The other song that was promoted with FEARLESS is Blue Flame. This song drops the attitude of the a-side in favour of getting joyous and funky.
The other two tracks on FEARLESS are not as strong as the opening ones but are worth a quick listen. Of these songs, The Great Mermaid fits in with the established vibe created by the intro and the two pieces before it.
On the other hand, Sour Grapes is sugary sweet, and the opposite of everything else. It’s a nice song but feels out of place compared to everything else. I guess that’s why it’s at the end?
After listening to the entire FEARLESS album, I can say my answer to the question posed at the start of this review is yes, this was worth all the hype surrounding it. HYBE did a great job establishing this group’s image and sound immediately.
Their music does fall into the type of stuff I usually listen to, so there is that catch. My favourite member of IZ*ONE is also the group’s leader, so there’s the other asterisk to tack on here.
But even without those biases, I see LE SSERAFIM (outside of Kim Garam’s thuggery controversy and the deal with Sakura’s alleged new face) presented as an already well-polished product. They should only get better with every release going forward.
