Boyfriend‘s latest song, “Janus“,
is named after a Roman god with two faces. This is supposed to reflect
the song’s lyrics, which talk about a “two-faced” man who smiles in
front of his girlfriend during their breakup, but cries when she’s not
looking. However, the metaphor extends further than press releases
would have you believe- Janus is the god of transformation, which is the
perfect word to describe Boyfriend’s comeback.
The almost terrifyingly sweet fluff of the past is gone, making room for a song and video with actual substance, courtesy of Sweetune.
Boyfriend has a couple of pretty good vocalists in their mix, which I
never noticed until now because I was too distracted by mediocre songs
and overwhelming aegyo. Behind that not-so-great concept was some real
talent that is finally getting its chance to shine.
Boyfriend still has quite a road ahead of them if they intend to
stick around. “Janus” is a huge step in the right direction, but it
also kind of sounds like a rejected “BTD“-era INFINITE track,
which prevents it from establishing any kind of identity for Boyfriend.
The instrumental starts off great and seems to be going somewhere, but
the vocals begin with the second half of the chorus- possibly the
dullest part of the song! This kills all the anticipation built up in
the intro and makes the first part of the song feel like it drags on
forever.
“Janus” makes use of the multiple rap breaks that Sweetune
likes to use with INFINITE, but the rapping itself is completely
uninspiring. The video borders on MBLAQ-level
overacting, but while MBLAQ videos have storylines to justify the
drama, “Janus’” storyline is uneventful, so the acting feels silly and
out of place.
Even so, “Janus” is by far the best thing Boyfriend has ever
released, and it’s the first song of theirs I’ve wanted to listen to
more than once. It isn’t the best comeback of the year, but it is one of
the most surprising, which is a good thing for a group that’s been
stuck in one not-very-successful image up to this point. For the first
time, I’m looking forward to seeing what Boyfriend does next.
Reviewer's Rating:
(3.8 / 5)
(3.8 / 5)
(No Ratings Yet)
No comments:
Post a Comment