[Single Review] INFINITE 'Destiny'
INFINITE hasn't really budged when it comes to their musical sound, at least not since their smash single "Be Mine". It defined what INFINITE was all about- seven pretty boys perfectly synchronized to 80's funk love songs. But it's been nearly two years since then and INFINITE's up for a new challenge. They've been working tightly with hit producer, Sweetune, since their early debut, so it seemed logical that a new set of songwriters plus shooting a music video in the United States would switch up their sound for the better. Well, not this time. Everything sounds pretty much the same.
"Destiny" is constructed like INFINITE's previous songs except everything is a lot louder. Written and produced byRphabet, a duo responsible mostly forM.I.B's music, it takes inspiration from a lot of the complex-electro house music made popular a couple years ago. But unlike the music it spawned from, "Destiny" is filled with shuffle-generated preset noises that are just barely held together by orchestral stabs. There's a lack of musicality in their placement of sounds when they should be in sync with the vocals or percussion. But the percussion here is your standard uniform 4/4 dance beat and there's hardly a distinctive rhythm to latch on to. In the end, it sounds a bit like a disoriented remix of a possibly good INFINITE song.
At least INFINITE's vocals don't falter. INFINITE still conveys their message, "Cause you're my destiny!", powerfully without being drowned by the harsh electronic noise beneath them. The issue here is that because of all the noise, they're constantly competing with it so there's no real dynamic. The verses are sung powerfully, but so is the chorus. The lyrics stay true to INFINITE's honest, love, romantic theme heard throughout their collection of title songs, but the music itself doesn't really help convey that.
Still, "Destiny", as a whole, isn't a terrible song. It still allows INFINITE to show off their jaw-dropping dancing skills and their heart-melting vocals. But just like how their music video that was unnecessarily shot inUniversal Studios(let's be real here... there are plenty of nice sets in Korea and the video wasn't as cool as we hoped with all the hype), the sound here is just another gimmick to conceal the fact there's nothing new here to be excited about. Personally, I would get INFINITE back in the studios withSweetuneand probably get someone likeBeenzinoorZion Ton deck for lyrics, or even label-band-matesNell. That would be cool and refreshing.