storage of onf review

[originally this twitter thread—of which these five songs took me over an hour to review because of the ridiculous amount of time i spent on trying to make the damn sentences fit in the thread. i realized halfway through that i seriously should've just done it on dreamwidth in the first place, but alas! it was too late. i figured i would simply transfer what i have of it over and jot on any additional ideas here. i won't be separating what's newly added and what was in the original live review thread; i'm too lazy. i will, however, edit in proper capitalization.]

It's been a while since I've live-tweeted an album listen. Evidently, the chance has arrived, in both the form of motivation and material: SPECIAL ALBUM [STORAGE OF ONF] obviously deserves a special treatment.

DISCLAIMER: Prepare for a… comparatively biased assessment. An unexpected anniversary comeback in the dead midst of full-group enlistment will do that to motherfuckers—particularly, a motherfucker in the category of mentally unstable Fuse.

1. Your Song. The ingredients of this are just so sweetly and ideally concocted. It has a crystalline stroke of sentimentality that holds just the perfect amount of, well, everything we missed from them during this hiatus.

And god, I love Seungjun's part of the chorus. He has a sort of childish lilt to his voice… I'm not quite sure how to describe it… it's feathered around a hardened syrup base. His voice sounds like the embodiment of innocence and nostalgia, which both are core pieces of this song's tenderness. This song just sounds so tailored to his voice, guys; I don't even know where I'm going with this either. I just, I… I, he… I…

On my second or third listen, I noticed the bells (vibraphone?) that was added to accentuate the melody in the latter half, from the "na na na" part through the quieter end of the bridge. It sounded almost Christmas-y; it gave the track yet another tone of uplift. The crashes of synth landed at all the right intervals; the guitar riffs are delicately integrated as to crack open whatever's sparking inside your heart.

This is a majorly treble-focused song, so I think the sonic depth was sacrificed a bit, but it was all for a good cause. It feels light, it feels bright, it feels like everything happy in between, like a carefree childhood adventure. Tying it off with Hyojin's lofty high note, we have The Most Special Song Of The Year (In My Heart).

Hooks: 8.5
Production: 8.5
Longevity: 9
Bias: 8.5
RATING: 8.6

2. Runaway. This was the one i was most looking forward to after the highlight medley! Actually, the chordal rhythm from the start to halfway through the chorus is so common—it almost got me worried that it was going to sound uninspired and, worst of all, boring (and I was fearing for my life during those ten seconds, honestly, because I was previously so sure that this was going to be my favorite)—but when they pulled in the accidentals at "run away, let's run away, let's run away," I could not stop smiling. Then, the deal was sealed.

Of course, that little quirk was not enough! They had to pull one last surprise (is this brilliancy really a surprise, though, when it comes to MonoTree—and Minkyun?) attack when the strings began to slowly fade in. They started as the faintest of tremolos at the tip of the bow, growing from beneath Changyun's voice, before coming forth with a delicious soli, until eventually melding into Hyojin's imminent killer note.

Something else I found interesting was the mandolin-sounding instrument in the second verse. The more I paid attention to it, the more it reminded me of the "slowly walking through fire" part in DRAGON by iKON. This has nothing to do with anything; it is just a note my head made.

Overall, though, I think the apotheosis of this particular song lies in its hooks and vocal melody compartment, rather than the instrumental production itself. To conclude: my intuitions were right to begin with. This is indeed my favorite (new) song on this album.

Hooks: 9
Production: 8
Longevity: 9
Bias: 9.5
RATING: 8.9

3. Traveler. Oh, my sweet little token ballad B-side. I'll admit that I'm not the first person to go to if you want a ballad judged, but I can definitely identify a well-arranged ballad when I hear one. Are you hearing Wyatt? Are you hearing Yuto? (I can geek about my adoration for Yuto's vocals another day, but not today. I will need a lot more free time reserved to do that to my maximal satisfaction.) I'm so obsessed with the fluctuations in their voices and how they blend—how MK's distinct timbre can fit impossibly naturally with mellower songs like this.

The harmonization is remarkable, not even just with each other, but with the chords below. The way they interact with the layers in the initial production makes them sound like just that: their voices sound like instruments. Yeah, I'm about to get real corny. I'm serious, though, when I say that as soon as these guys return, I need them to get on a radio show and sing this—stat.

Hooks: 9
Production: 8
Longevity: 8.5
Bias: 7.5
RATING: 8.25

4. GUCCI. PULL UP WITH THE DUBSTEP SOUND EFFECTS! I can't even think of anything intelligent to comment because this is so down my lane, feeding my brain pure steroids and ramping adrenaline to sky heights. It's like I'm alive and braindead; I'm immobile and uncontrollable; I'm a cyborg and an alien. I'm a rabid hamster in a tiny glass box, bouncing off every surface at a considerable percentage of the speed of light.

Honestly, it sounds like something you would whip up on educational BandLab when you're high on caffeine at ass o'clock in the morning, 40 minutes before the assignment on the hardcore electronic pack is due—but not the lyric-making, though. No, you would've had these verses written weeks in advance from the deadline. "G, U, double C and I'm so GUCCI" is prose that would require days of meditation and brainstorm to chisel into the pristine, ingenious paradigm that it is. And by the way—I mean this entire paragraph in the absolute best way possible.

The high-pitched, synthesized techstep portamentos zipping around during the chorus are a bit obnoxious, not going to lie. We can have good noise music without that glissading sad excuse of a second melody, thank you very much, so there will be some point deductions there. On a brighter side, the wobble bass usage was wonderful—grungy and reverberating.

Hooks: 9
Production: 8.5
Longevity: 8.5
Bias: 9
RATING: 8.75

5. My Song. I can envisage a picturesque painting: sundry flowers blooming in a flurry, a quaint stone path unfurling like a fairytale, a phantasmagoria of wonder and fantasy. "Magical" would be the best way to describe this song. It sounds like the thawing of a long winter into the warmest and most serene of springs.

It presents idyllic tides that wane and wax with the orchestra—a crescendo to the climactic finale that grows in beauty and tenderness. It's straight from the heart. The spell is cast the moment the chorus begins, falling into a comfortable and basic waltz. (And by 'basic', I'm referring to 'familiar'; anyone with a hint of a classical music background must find some cozy sensibility in this three-step rhythm, right? Just me and my vivid memory of practicing Minuet in G on the violin excessively?) The enchantment sets in with the tailing arpeggios propelling Wyatt's rather subdued solo.

My favorite part might simply be the musical break towards the end; the way the stacked harmonies of their voices fade into a glorious violin solo was so lovely to me. Maybe, this is all only me, and I just have a soft spot for a nice symphonic arrangement! (I had this realization this when I already saw an oomf call this song boring.) Whatever the case, I know I'll get attached to this song's feeling the most—even despite my evident love for Runaway.

Hooks: 9
Production: 9
Longevity: 9
Bias: 9
RATING: 9

I had ideas of going through the five remastered tracks and pretending it was my first time listening to them, but the exhaustion of five hours of sleep caught up to my incompetent ass and got the best of me. Instead, I'll just jot little notes of what I noticed in them that were differential from the originals—besides, you know, the glaring lack of Minseok's voice.

That closing "baby you're special / you make me feel complete" is hitting so different now.

Did they change the words at the rewind part in We Must Love, or does it just sound different? Ah, and there's a reverb at the end now!

(A kind oomf had informed me that, as a matter of fact, it was changed: it's now Seungjun saying "I miss you." Now, this is when I admit that my heart combusted on the spot—my fucking world imploded around me that very groggy morning in these Febreeze-smelling Airbnb bedsheets. I MISS YOU TOO, BITCH… THAT WAS SUCH A SINISTER, CLEVER MOVE… FUCK YOU!)

How hard the first choir hits in If We Dream always jolts me awake, but it's so good. That was an artistic choice.

I didn't manage to catch Yuto's VLIVE later the evening of the album release, even though I vowed to voluntarily be aggressively force fed anything he says or does within the next 48 hours of the comeback. He said some things that made me ache, though. What do you mean, "I've been listening to these songs alone for the past eight months, and I've been really, really, really, really waiting for this day so I can play the songs for FUSE. I'm glad I can listen to them with FUSE now." You can't do this to me… I'm serious; the tears welling behind my eyelids are stinging. He also declared My Song as his favorite track, and I must say, he is so real for that.

…I MISS THEM! I MISS THEM, DAMN IT, AND I MISS MINSEOK! :minsupoundingpillowgif: