As K-Pop has been on the rise with people outside of South Korea, the groups debuting have increased, and they struggle more than ever to create an identity that stands out to possible fans. One such group that debuted under these circumstances was P1Harmony, who have succeeded in gaining a stable fanbase among the cutthroat competition between groups. With P1Harmony achieving their first win on KBS Music Bank with their last album, Killin’ It, released in February of 2024, and reaching the Top 40 of the US Billboard 200, they are finally back with their newest release, the mini album Sad Song.
P1Harmony is a 6-membered group under FNC Entertainment that debuted on October 28, 2020, and marked the start of a new generation of music in the K-Pop industry, with their idols being more online than ever before. P1Harmony was one of the first groups to start debuting people that grew up on TikTok and many of the memes popular online currently, making younger people gravitate towards them. The group consists of Keeho, Jiung, Theo, Intak, Soul, and Jongseob, each one the face of relatability for their fans, P1eces.
The new mini album released on September 20, 2024, consists of 7 songs, “Sad Song”, “It’s Alright”, “Last Call”, “Welcome To”, “All You”, “WASP”, and “SAD SONG (English Version)”. With one English version of their songs, the rest consist of a mix of English and Korean, leaning heavily on the Korean.
This new release is a step away from their previous albums, the rest mostly being trilogies and a clear continuation of genres between them. In Sad Song, the members have more creative freedom when it comes to producing, making choreography, and playing around with different music styles.
Throughout the mini album, P1Harmony go from Latin inspired music, to Reggae, and even to Rock. Their versatility shows their self-assurance with their identity as a group and their place in the K-Pop industry. Beyond the recording of their songs, Keeho taking part in the making of “It’s Alright”, Jiung being one of the producers for “Last Call”, and Intak making choreography for their title track, “Sad Song” have made this album, their touches clear in multiple aspects of this release.
My own personal favorites while listening to the album were definitely “Sad Song”, “It’s Alright” and “All You”. These songs were all so different from each other, ranging from upbeat to reggae to a sweet sounding song. They all fit different moods and could be played at different times of my day.
“Sad Song”: This is the title track of the album and the one behind the name of the mini album. With more Latin inspiration than their previous releases, this song still keeps the upbeat rhythm of all of their past title songs. As soon as the song starts, the piano notes in the beat and Jiung’s voice make me want to dance and raises my mood up. Jongseob’s rap followed by Keeho singing and switching the flow of the song is easily my favorite part of the song. The happy beat is a sharp contrast with the lyrics of the song, loneliness being highlighted with, “No words give me solace, yeah, left alone in the brilliant night,” which makes it sound depressing, but rising again even after being left alone is suggested with the brilliant night. Even if times are tough now, they can still appreciate the beauty around them, they just need time to adjust to their emotions. Overall, this song is easily a 9, maybe even a 10 from me, making this my favorite title track of theirs so far.
“It’s Alright”: With the genre leaning more into Reggae, it has more of a chill, “I don’t care” kind of vibe, with the song immediately starting with, “Keep on talking nonsense.” As they have developed as a group, they have become more secure in their identity, which is what this song highlights. They know a lot of people will not like their music, a normal occurrence in the music industry, but they have gotten past the point of caring what people who do not buy their albums, who do not stream their music, and who do not support them. The first chorus is my favorite by far, Jiung’s soft voice fitting the relaxed mood and Soul’s individual part standing out to me a lot. After seeing the performance of this song on Show Champion, this is easily my favorite song of this mini album, making it a 10/10 for me.
“Last Call”: As soon as this song started, I immediately pictured the inside of a Hollister. It reminds me of popular groups in the 2010s, like One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer, with the song capturing the vibes at the end of summer. This rock song was made with concerts in mind, wanting to hype up the audience. While their voices sounded nice in the song, it is not for me. It definitely captures the concert idea, a simple, upbeat song made to get people excited, but not a fan-favorite that would make the next performance seem lackluster. If this started playing while I was listening to music, I would skip it, so the song is a 6/10.
“Welcome To”: I would listen to this song only if I was forced to. It sounded like it belonged as an opening song for a superhero show, not on this album. Some of the ad-libs sounded out of place, like the, “Vroom Vroom,” in the bridge that just threw me off. Having this song be the 4th song in the mini album made this even worse for me. With how the song is based on welcoming people to their second chapter, referencing how it is their second comeback without a connection to their previous releases, I would have thought it would be the first song as an introduction to the mini album. This song being in the middle of the release, following up two amazing songs, it stuck out like a sore thumb, making it a 4/10.
“All You”: With the beginning of the song, I knew I would love it. The sweet sounding song immediately struck me as a love song even if I didn’t understand the lyrics. I love mid 2010s songs, and this one reminded me of older Kpop songs, like Coffee by BTS or Where are You? by CLC. The theme of love was prominent in this song, with mutual love, feeling happiness from the other person, and thinking about the other person constantly all in the lyrics, with this song being an 8/10.
“WASP”: This song is a Rap song by the group’s rappers, Intak and Jongseob. As the name of the song indicates, the lyrics are filled with word play based on wasps, with them buzzing in the song. While I understand the metaphors and similes in the lyrics, the entire song being filled with them as an indirect to haters makes it sound corny. I am a fan of Rap, but this song was hard to even get through. I would only give this song a 3/10.
This mini album does include a seventh song, which is an English version of the title track, Sad Song. This album ranges from amazing songs that I would want tattooed in my brain, to songs I can’t even force myself to listen to. P1Harmony plays around with a variety of genres, each member taking part in this release. Three of these songs absolutely made it into my playlists, but the other ones I would skip just hearing the first note. Overall, I would give this mini album a 6.5/10, but if “WASP,” “Welcome To,” and “Last Call” were taken out, this would shoot up to a 9/10. Despite my rating of the album as a whole, I am definitely adding both versions of “Sad Song” to my playlist, along with “It’s Alright,” and “All You.” If you like groups like ATEEZ, The Boyz, and 8TURN, I would definitely give this release a listen.
