Song Review:: Highlight:: From Real to Surreal- Chains

• Release date: 2025 April 28

• Album tracklist: Chains, Endless Ending, Good Day to You, Follow Me

• Album runtime: 13 minutes

 Y'all, when I say how excited I am that the second gen groups are still getting wins, that's not even the half of it. As a side note, as I was setting up this review, Fiction by B2ST started playing, specifically the Orchestra Version, which is hands down an unbelievably gorgeous song and I have it in like seven playlists between the regular and the orchestra version. Congrats, Highlight! Whoo!

Jazzy. If you're new to my reviews, I very much love it when songs have certain instruments. The violin is one of the top frequent flyers for me in that way, but woodwinds, brass, and/or other various stringed instruments also bring me a lot of joy because they add a delicious texture to what would otherwise be a standard affair. They trigger my love of big orchestras and cinematic drama. In other words, I love movie soundtracks. This doesn't go that far because there's only one interesting instrument addition and it doesn't hang out at center stage. Instead, what it does is give us quiet hints underneath what is a very solid instrumental track. There's a subdued grace to the song that occasionally veers into quirky, but doesn't remain long. But what strengthens the instrumentals is the addition of the various sound effects included. There's a siren, there is metal clinking (which to my ears sounds more like a coin than what ostensibly is a chain, given the title of the song), and there are clicks built into the instrumental track, which is all interesting.

So, second gen group. There are a few points where the way the vocals are going reminds me of EXCEL by 8TURN without being that similar. I'm a little surprised by how mild the vocals are generally, although we do get multiple ad-lib bursts during the song, not just in the standard a, designated ad-lib section towards the end that most songs have to increase the amount of excitement and tension leading into the climax of the song. That being said, there are also some really fun vocals riffs and such happening, but nothing where any of them really let loose. I'm a little bit disappointed by that, but the general amount of texture going on is still satisfying. Also, it's got an incredibly sultry sound. 

I see what y'all are doing, Highlight. You're showing off the mature sexy thing that y'all have going on. And bellybuttons. And the fun thing is that it's all set to a backdrop of an art heist. Or a museum heist of some sort. The storyline isn't especially strong, but it does flavor the song enough that it's in that gray area between Full Of Story and Vibes And Visuals. Also, I'm kind of glad that I didn't look up the lyrics before this (as I generally want to see what I can catch of the Korean and also see what the song vibes like for a more objective review, so I wait until the music video section) as I would have been thoroughly distracted. Overall, a nicely done music video. I would have liked a little bit more color or visual effects of some kind (a dramatic lens flair or two would have been perfect if placed well), but what we got was still very satisfying.