ONEUS Gifts Their Fans With Special Album ‘Dear.M’
Design by Carolina DF
The title track for this album is an official version of the song they performed on Mnet’s Road to Kingdom : Ace of Ace, “IKUK.” An upbeat dance track mixed with a snappy chorus and incredible vocals, “IKUK” is filled with everything ONEUS is known for and everything their fans love, making it the perfect title song for this album. The chorus immediately gets stuck in your head, the groovy instrumental and siren-like vocals enhancing the catchy vibe of the lyrics; “You make me feel so / La, la-la, la, la-la, la / It feels like a perfect night / Ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-night.” The music video is a larger, more flushed out version of the performance they did on Road to Kingdom : Ace of Ace, allowing their performance and stage presence to really shine. The video focuses primarily on showcasing the choreography and their dance skills, while still following a fun and intriguing vampire-esque concept.
As the name of the song suggests, “We Are Young” is a happy, nostalgic filled track. The melody sounds like exactly what one would expect youth to sound like: dreamy and upbeat but emotional and reflective. Being “forever young” is a concept that many artists across many genres explore and talk about, but it never fails to resonate with audiences. ONEUS’s take on this concept creates a very clear image of a concert encore song. It’s easy to hear the chanting chorus “We are young! Forever young!” and the bridge “We are, are, are dreaming / We are, are, are rising / We are, are, are, are / Forever and ever and always love” echoing throughout arenas already. While not directly called a fan song, members Leedo and Hwanwoong participated in writing lyrics for this song, giving the words more of a personal touch.
Straying away from the upbeat vibe, “DEVILISH LOVE” brings a more orchestral sounding instrumental to this album. A sultry, more mature style track, “DEVILISH LOVE” feels like a companion piece to the vampire-like concept shown in the music video for “IKUK.” The string melody in the background sounds like something that one would waltz to in a big extravagant ballroom, with the vocals swirling around in your headphones to complete the illusion. The lyrics talk about falling into love without full control, alluding to the temptation that a “devilish love” would entail.
The first of two ballads, “W” comes as the last brand new track on this album. A soft acoustic guitar style song, this ballad is similar in vibe to “Rupert’s drop,” filled with gentle and emotional lyrics expressing the love from the members to their fans. “Who you are, 함께라서 고마워 / Where you are, 그 자리에 있을게 / Whatever you want, 말해봐 들어줄게 / 온통 내 세상은 너로 가득해 / When you believe” (translation: “Who you are, thank you for being together / Where you are, I'll be there / Whatever you want, tell me I'll listen to you / My whole world is full of you / When you believe”). With the group celebrating six years since their debut just recently, this track is perfect for a reflective look back on how far they’ve come and how many people they have given joy to.
This album also features another release of their single “Rupert’s drop” which we wrote about here, as well as twelve re-recorded versions of some of their past title tracks—re-released in order to reflect their five member line up after a member’s departure in 2022. In their album release interview, member Keonhee said, “Regarding the re-recording of past titles, we wanted to show our fans who and what we are now. While there was an issue of a member leaving, these songs were great, but our fans felt uncomfortable or had a hard time loving them completely, so we thought it would be meaningful to listen to them in their current versions. We included them on this album as a gift to our fans.”
Despite only having three brand new tracks, the balance of upbeat and emotional sounding songs makes Dear.M the perfect gift from ONEUS to open this new year with. The Seoul finale of their La Dolce Vita tour is scheduled for February 1 and 2, and the rest of the year is open and waiting for them to take by storm.