Half a year since their last single album, and more than two years since their first LP, Korean boy band iKON breathed some new energy into their career today (Jan. 25) with their Return album.
Fronted by the playful hip-pop single “Love Scenario,” their second studio LP Return features 12 tracks that were all co-written or feature lyrics by members B.I and/or Bobby. YG Entertainment lablemates, including Psy, BIGBANG’s Taeyang, and Epik High‘s Tablo, also had a role in songwriting tracks alongside some frequent collaborators, including Choice37 and Teddy Park.
Featuring an off-season, summery vibe, “Love Scenario” is guided by a gentle cowbell-style beat and swaying vocals. The song relays a mellow, yet relatively upbeat, reaction to breaking up, with a circuitous melody that guides the rhythmic dance track. It’s more emotional than their boisterous most-recent singles, and serves as a subtle directional change and maturing for iKon.
Like past music videos, the one for “Love Scenario” shows the seven members of the group dressed in stylish athleisure outfits while performing the song’s swaying choreography and acting out scenes from love stories, reflective of the song’s lyrics. The highlight of the video comes with a shot from above, showing off the band’s star-shaped dance formation.
“Love Scenario” is one of just a few songs that iKon has released as a one-off single, rather than pairing it together with a second promotional track, along with their 2015 debut track “My Type” and 2016’s “WYD.” All of the boy band’s other singles have been released simultaneously as another, including last year’s “Bling Bling” and “B-Day.”
The septet came about through the Korean television competition shows WIN: Who Is Next and Mix & Match, each of which determined the lineups for two YG Entertainment acts, WINNER and iKON. Since their start, the group’s seen two versions of their album Welcome Back, the first “half” version in 2015 and the full version in 2016, peak at No. 2 and 3 on the World Albums chart, while the full album hit No. 23 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. The group has also seen much success in Japan, where their 2016 single “Dumb & Dumber” topped the Japan Hot 100 chart.
Watch the music video for “Love Scenario” here: