Battle of the B-Sides:: VANNER: WANT U BACK

I know that The Roulette Wheel gave me VANNER to do, but I was genuinely pleased about this because I love this group. They're goofy goombahs with incredible voices. Also, Gon is a day older than SCoups, who is a day older than Minhyun. That's a clump. I was originally going to do Diamonds or Savior from their first post- Peak Time mini album, but then as I was listening to VENI VIDI VICI, waffling between the two songs, I realized I should probably do the one that I have in more of my playlists. Thus, WANT U BACK. The entire album is great though. Highly recommended. 

WANT U BACK is the fourth track on the album, released in 2023. There's one particular name on here that had me raising my eyebrows in surprise, so that's going to be the last one I say. Justin Oh as composer and lyricist has worked with Monsta X quite often, and he's also written a lot of his own songs. Also as composer and lyricist, the second of three I'm going to mention, Jantine who, again, has worked on a few Monsta X songs, as well as NCT 127, Chung Ha, Key, and AB6IX. For the solo lyricists, we've got Gon and Sungkook, who are likely there for writing their raps. And lastly, the name that surprised me to see. VANNER has gotten a lot of idol songwriter attention since they were on Peak Time, because this one was written, composed, and arranged by Hyungwon of Monsta X. 

Good news, the song has been out long enough that they have done performances of it. And you'll also be getting one of my favorite things: choreography video. Because they released that a few months ago.

So they have a pair of rappers in the group. The always impressive Gon and Sungkook of the deep voice, currently doing his military service. Normally I have to warm up to rapping, which I'm working on, but Sungkook has a fabulous timbre, rich and warm and a little bitter like a spiced, thick cup of hot chocolate. No basic "made with water and a packet" garbage here, and it provides a great counterpoint in general to the higher pitched vocalists. The trading off he does with the vocalists during the post-chorus is just interesting. Plus, I really, really like how he plays with rhythm during his rapping, lingering on some of the syllables. It's not just that he slows down the beat, but he scrapes the ice cream, spreading it out instead of chopping into it and taking space between each pronunciation to slow it down. I might be hungry since I've made two different food analogies in the same of a paragraph. But the point still stands, because even when Gon does something similar, he doesn't do it like Sungkook. 

A whole paragraph on one person? Yes; partially because he's doing his military service and I want to recognize that, and partially because Gon has said that having to pick up the slack where Sungkook would be has been difficult because his voice is unlike anything anyone else in the group has.

You know, I really kind of love that Hyesung got the ending fairy for this one. Well, hold on. First, I really appreciate that they got to perform this on The Show back in 2023. One, it makes my life easier for this, and two, this song very much deserves the attention. Back to Hyesung (the thumbnail), he's a bit of a cutie patootie and dimpled like most of the group. His smile after the kiss heart is adorable and precious. And he, like Gon, doesn't have as much fabric to his stage costume here as some of the others. One of the comments on there is "Gon's abs are clearer than my future". I don't think Gon is shy. Also, I can't disagree with the comment.

And Gon is an excellent dancer. Which would make sense since he was their dance teacher before the CEO convinced him to become a trainee. So have a fancam.

He's very fluid and precise and wastes absolutely no energy. I'd love to see him and Lee Know do something together. 

And his expressions are excellent.

The song doesn't highlight Yeongkwang's vocals as well as I'd like. But as you can see from the choreography video, he is a solid, reliable dancer who draws attention anyway even if he doesn't have as many lines. He's the one in the sleek black tee, no jacket, black jeans, and the Chucks. This choreography is really quite satisfying. Audible, synchronized foot stomps. Sleek. Sexy. So many s words. It's not aggressive and in your face.

So, in conclusion, this is an awesome song, the members did an excellent job of it, and everyone looks and sounds great.