Pentagon’s ‘IN:VITE U’ EP is Suave, Classy, but also Hip and Experimental — The Pop Blog
If I compare Pentagon’s ‘IN:VITE U’ album to a gentleman, he would be someone confident, bold, suave, creative, and unpredictable. He is not without surprises, so he’s definitely someone that would sweep me off my feet. IN:VITE U screams class, variety, and excitement.
Like most of the k-pop boy group’s past albums, Pentagon’s ‘IN:VITE U’ is a prime release, interlacing each member’s strengths to each song. Pentagon’s main vocalist Jinho comes back and offers his strong but sweet vocal caliber after being away for two years because of military training. Despite their leader and all-around member Hui’s non-participation (it’s now his time for the mandatory training), the album would even be better once he puts his powerful and melodic vocals in the mix.
Pentagon has always been an underrated boy band. In fact, I have only recently been a fan. I’ve known them for a while now, ever since their debut in 2016, but I had never checked their music and members out, except in 2016, when two of their members Hui and former member E’Dawn (now called Dawn), joined Hyuna to form the Cube Entertainment unit, Triple H, which I was a fan. But I didn’t check out Pentagon that much, not until in January of this year, in their fantastic performance of Feelin’ Like. Speaking of the song, let’s now review the six tracks of Pentagon’s ‘IN:VITE U’ mini album.
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Feelin’ Like encapsulates the whole sophisticated, soulful, dancy pop feel of Pentagon’s ‘IN:VITE U.’ The creative team behind the song and all its concept did a great job in bringing it to life via its unique and eye-catching dance steps, and the members’ luxurious, gentlemanly outfits in the music video and their promotions for IN:VITE U. Yuto and Wooseok’s rapping that is infixed into the verses have worked well with the remaining members doing the vocals.
There’s another delightful element to the song, and that its risqué aura, that worked well with Jinho’s high-pitched and smooth vocals. Despite having the strong and cool rap counterparts of the rappers, Jinho, Hongseok, and Kino’s vocals resonated with the whole song’s sexy impression.
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The second track, One Shot, is eclectic, with the producers mixing pop, soul, and rock elements in it. Wooseok starts it, singing, “Are you ready, one,…” His smooth and sexy vocals surprised me, as it’s not his usual style. The second one to sing that intro is Yuto, who adds more into the racy and sexy rock feels of the song. The transitions between the chorus, intro, and verses complement one another. The song also reminds me of 90s alternative and pop tracks.
The Game is another diverse surprise. While it may seem a typical k-pop song in the intro, it progresses into a mix of EDM, r&b, rock, pop, and especially its operatic facets, making the track stand out. Overall, it’s an ingenious production.
At first listen, one would think that Call My Name is a 90s song based on its electronic drumkit-driven intro. It then becomes a mix of k-pop and dance elements with a surprising chorus of triple-tracks. The dancy and funky song segues into another song, which is Blackstreet’s No Diggity, which fits perfectly, condensing its general 90s feel.
Sparkling Nightstarts romantic and melodic, which speaks about the whole intention of the song. It’s one of the more Korean pop-ish songs among the experimental tracks that we first reviewed in Pentagon’s IN:VITE U. Nevertheless, it’s the one that made us breathe from all the fusion of the first five tracks because brings us back to the k-pop sensibilities of Pentagon. Plus, it’s an intro to the last track, which is very much Pentagon.
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Finally, the final track of Pentagon’s IN:VITE you entitled BAD is like Pentagon fans’ redemption, especially for those who miss their cute and whimsy concep, in terms of the music. The song reminds me of the concept of their LOVE or TAKE album and even their Positive EP, which are more feel-good, with aegyo visual styles. However, irony is embedded into the track ‘coz its lyrics define a guy admitting that he’s the bad one in the relationship.
Overall, Pentagon’s ‘IN:VITE U’ is mature and highly creative, if not innovative. But despite that, they’ve left something for usual bubblegum pop fans to embrace. They balanced it well, so I believe it’s one of the best EPs of 2022, even though we’re still in the first quarter of this year.
Order Pentagon’s ‘IN:VITE U’ physical album on Korean Cravings.
Originally published at https://thepopblogph.com on March 16, 2022.