B2ST - 'GOOD LUCK'

Track List:
01. We Up
02. Good Luck
03. Dance With U
04. No More
05. History
06. This Night, I'll Be At Your Side
07. Sad Movie (Korean Ver.)

The boys of B2ST are back after nearly a year with their comeback mini-album 'Good Luck.' Busy with a Japanese tour and other individual projects, they've come together once more with an album that straddles the line between high-energy and danceable to slow ballads that show off their vocal abilities. Word has it that member Junhyung helped compose five of the tracks.

The EP opens strong with the danceable "We Up." While the lyrics are nothing amazing, the vocals are strong and direct, and they apparently heeded SNL's parody calling for more cowbell. Combined with the synth beats and the slower parts that show off their vocal range, they make this song pop.

The title track, "Good Luck," has a somewhat different dynamic from the first tune. We first are treated to an acoustic piano and Yoseob's vocal stylings and then, the song launches into frenetic dance beats. The six members work it here, and the impassioned and expressive singing set the tone nicely. Like 2NE1's "Happy," it's wishing an ex-lover well, but the lyrics tell you that the wishes are sadly made:

Good luck baby, good luck to you
Whoever you meet
You have to be as happy as the pain you caused me

"Dance With U" is, as you'd expect, an uptempo number, but the beat belies the lyrics about pain and loss. They want one more dance with their lover. Junhyung's rap sounds particularly vulnerable:

If I get better you
Find out I'm feeling better and
You pick the part that hurts the most and
Poke at it, and I can't breathe.

Suddenly, they slow it down for the next three tracks. "No More" is a ballad in which Dongwoon, Hyunseung, Kikwang, and Yoseob belt out their parts and contribute to a moving performance. Even the rap lines are slow and emotional.  

"History" starts out slow and simple, and while it maintains the beat well, it also builds to a more sensual and dramatic chorus. It's a bedroom song with playful and sexy lyrics:

We share scents
Your breath that leaves me flustered

Kikwang and Hyunseung do a fantastic job here.

The only mid-tempo tune on the album, "This Night, I'll Be At Your Side" is okay. It's not bad, but it stands out in a bad way. It doesn't really fit with the rest of the EP. It's pleasant, but it feels more like filler than anything else and it's the only track that Junhyung didn't lend his pen to.  

The final track on the album, "Sad Movie" is a great exit song. It ties the disparate threads of ballad and dance song together artfully and seems to fit well with the placement on the album. "This is where we end" and "It's time to say goodbye," not only serve as outro but also highlight the themes of love and loss.  

The sextet delivers a pretty solid album here, and there are sounds I haven't heard from them before: nods to EDM, pop rock, and classical, in addition to everything we're used to. The abrupt transition mid-album could have been more skillfully handled, maybe a short intro rap or something to ease us into the ballads, but that really is a minor complaint. This album is a great listen from beginning to end.

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