Song Review:: L5ST: Only One {DEBUT}

• Release date: 2024 September 05

• Album tracklist: Only One, Amazon

• Album runtime: 6 minutes

Debut songs are a fascination for me because they're the ultimate introduction for a group/artist into the space they're stepping into. This is them saying "This is who we are. This is the music we like." And with only this one song floating around in the internet space, and with little fanfare from what I can see, already, I'm liking the group.

There's been a trend through the later part of fourth gen and into fifth Gen of the shouting, which I'm not a huge fan of. I think it's unwarranted for the most part in most of the songs we find it. Because of the music that I came into K-Pop listening to (predominantly second and third Gen even though I started last year), I'm more biased towards those styles, which largely excludes the shouting. So imagine my surprise to find that not only is this new group not doing the shouting thing, but they chose to debut with what can only be described as a comfort song, something that immediately endears them to me given who my favorite groups are.

It's possible that L5ST (and by looking at the Hangeul, I'm guessing the group name is pronounced as in "lost") are setting themselves up to be healers in the shouting war of fifth Gen, joining the ranks of BTOB and Seventeen. I'm not sure that they have the voices to compete with either, but in terms of style, I'm hearing a lot of similarities. I'm not as familiar with EXO (yet), but Only One sounds like some of my favorite EXO songs. I'm also hearing some Beast and Infinite influences, maybe, and going even further back, I'm also hearing some H.O.T. and Shinhwa legacy embedded in this group's sound (although not to be confused with the song Only One by Shinhwa, the two only share a name). This is the only sample, but I didn't even need repeated listening for me to instantly attach to the song. It only took one for me to go "Yes. More, please."

Because this is a debut group, I'm choosing to focus on other, similar groups to them instead of just the sound itself. I get the impression that the group members might be older, which also earns them a star in my book, and I enjoy that we got to hear their lower voices instead of focusing on the all-impressive high notes. This was a very quiet debut, with an equally quiet song. They didn't stomp onto the scene with a cult-like chant as xikers did, nor did they have an older, beloved group to introduce them as TWS had. They didn't have decades of legacy and fame, for ill or for good, to rely on as RIIZE did (I've heard RIIZE described as a younger version of SHINee). 

I'm excited to see where they go from here. In a cacophonous world, it's nice to hear a small space carve out some peace.

Update: So when they dropped the song on Spotify, I was super excited. And then I discovered that the single includes ANOTHER SONG. And it's the exact opposite! Their debut single put their vocalists on display, and Amazon puts the rappers out in front. I am so intrigued.