Song Review:: The Wind: Hello : My First Love- Hello, My First Love

 

• Release date: 2024 October 07

• Album tracklist: Hello, My First Love; Whoo; I Don't Thing; Good Morning; Way To Home

• Album runtime: 15 minutes

I'm deeply saddened right now. I did the math wrong, and I just realized it. The maknae turns sixteen in a couple of weeks, which means he turned fifteen last year, which means he debuted at fourteen. And I can't support that. Which means I can't listen to the group anymore. I'm genuinely sad about this. I love ISLAND, but debuting kids that young is just not okay.

Which means I get to listen to this song twice, and watch the music video once only for the review. 

I love the piano at the beginning. It's so sweet, and then it's followed by a burst of synth energy that actually reminds me of an anime opening, and that feeling continues through the rest of the song. The drum that proceeds to give the beat isn't one we hear a lot of in K-Pop, and plays around with the electric guitar that pops in. The piano comes back in for the chorus, cheerful and whimsical to provide interesting contrast with the drive of the rest of the instrumentals. There are sections where most of the instrumentals get stripped away, which allows the vocals to shine, but not quite as much as the brief drop before the chorus. The actual drop between the bridge and the final chorus softens and sweetens the song again, before the "Na Na Na" part at the very end of song explodes with energy, stronger than what we heard before.

The problem with debuting teens this young is their voices aren't mature. Older teens at least, while they still have vocal maturing to do, have mostly hit puberty and their voices are most of the way to their adult sound. But my experience with fourteen-year-olds, having been one not too long ago and also spending time with youth as a youth leader for camps, is that their voices absolutely are not finished enough, especially the young men. Sixteen is better, and he turns sixteen in a few weeks, but in a few years he could also lose the sweetness that so strongly matches the group's concept. Not that they can't change their concept; NU'EST did. But NU'EST also took seven full years to get their first win as a full group, and most companies are unlikely to wait around as long as that. Just see the turnover rate for K-Pop groups who don't manage to make it to their third year. I'm not saying it's not doable, because there absolutely are other groups who have stayed with their company despite an underwhelming number of wins and groups who changed their concept and that was the catalyst. JYP kept a hold of Day6, who recently beat NU'EST's record for longest time from debut to first win. Beat Interactive still has A.C.E. despite eight years now without a win. BTOB changed their concept and got their first hit after five years.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox. There's a reason why I liked the group even when I knew literally nothing about them. I genuinely like their voices, even if they are young sounding, and I like the sound of their songs. Unfortunately, Hello, My First Love is no exception to that. It's fine. I'll be able to add it to playlists in a couple of years. I hope that they continue to take a lot of care of their voices so that they don't develop problems later on. I want to be able to hear what their adult voices sound like, because they have a good chance of being very popular. They remind me a little of Astro.

Starting off in a school just reminds me of how young they are. Anyway. Okay, this music video is a cute little rom com that reminds me intensely of high school, so I'm glad to know that a decade and an ocean difference doesn't really affect the high school experience that much. Actually, this song reminds me a lot of TWS's plot twist, because it's a similar genre and style and their ages are similar. It's the story of cute, awkward love that you're not quite sure how to deal with it, but are going to pursue it earnestly if shyly, because that's the only way you can do anything. The hyping of the other members, I assume, is adorable. The entire thing is such a cute music video.