Le Sserafim released a five-track EP, EASY, on Feb. 19. The EP aimed to comment on the group’s not-so-confident moments in their career. Following their albums Fearless and Antifragile, which have painted a picture of strength and confidence, the group took a turn to talk about the worries that are not as apparent behind their confidence facade. The message was really powerful and was effortlessly told through the lyrics, but in terms of the sound and vocals, something was lacking.
First, let’s talk about the good things. The EP features five songs: “Easy,” “Good Bones,” “Swan Song,” “Smart,” and “We got so much.” Their title track, “Easy,” was still very high in energy like their previous titles, but it takes on a different genre of R&B and trap. I will say the choreography is very satisfying, with complicated yet clean footwork rooted in old-school hip-hop. Ironically, the group says that this choreography has been the hardest to do, despite how simple it may seem. “Easy” also received five first-place awards on a variety of South Korean music programs and peaked number one on the charts in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
And now for the not-so-great. Since their debut album, Le Sserafim has always had an opening track that acts as a trailer for the whole album. The track is usually three minutes long, featuring the members speaking Korean, Japanese, and English accompanied by instrumentals that match the sound of the title track. I do think it sounds quite powerful, but it gets repetitive very quickly, especially since it is on the longer side for a song. I always find myself expecting all of the tracks to be full songs, but I am always disappointed with the number of actual songs.
As for their title track, it just sounds like something is missing. The instrumentals are especially repetitive, and at times, the heavy filters over their vocals get to be too much. After their hit song “Perfect Night,” I was disappointed with how empty and flat the song sounded. Overall, there wasn’t a song that really amazed me (although it has been a while since a song has given me the chills).
