The boys from ENHYPEN are back with their second mini-album ‘BORDER: CARNIVAL’. Let’s dive right in, because my expectations are high.
BORDER: CARNIVAL
We open with ‘Intro: The Invitation’. With the psychedelic instrumentation we really get the feeling of entering into a new world. I’m loving the Daft Punk vibes. I recommend listening to this track right after the outro of the first mini-album. It feels like a continuous story.
Next up is the title track ‘DRUNK DAZED’. With the symbolism of the boys entering stardom and being overwhelmed by all the glitter and glam this is a very interesting title track. The song is a solid bop and I really enjoyed the intoxicating chorus. That is hella catchy and is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the week.
I just have to say that the English must have been very confused with the invitation to the ‘bloody’ birthday party. It was more literal than I expected.
‘FEVER’ follows that up with R&B and a very smooth bass. The vocals in this are lovely and I loved the switch between the higher pitch and the rap section with the deeper vocal timbres. This is such an easy, smooth listen.
Next up
We’re on track four with ‘Not For Sale’. This song is adorable. It’s very pop and also very radio-friendly. The translated lyrics are on Genius and I recommend reading them. It’s about meeting someone who expects nothing in return. It’s rather wholesome.
‘Mixed Up’ follows that with some rock vibes and I dig it. I kind of wish they had gone a bit further in with the rock guitars, but I can live with this version too. The chorus is super smooth and I liked the acceleration in the bridge. Though I still think that if they had gone harder on the guitars and maybe added more drums, it’d be even better.
We close off with the ‘Outro: The Wormhole’. We’re getting ambient noises with nature sounds so we might get the next album with a beach theme. Because according to the album description this will connect the next mini-album.
‘BORDER: CARNIVAL’ by ENHYPEN is a very solid mini-album that gives us a taste of almost every genre. You can listen to the mini-album on Spotify here.
