Samuel’s latest mini album, ONE, is front to back quality. It’s a fun, sing-along album that will lodge
itself in your mind upon first listen. This album is a sugar hit of vintage K-pop catchiness but still
sounds current thanks to its tight production, and it’s a wonderful change of style for Samuel.
Kim Samuel is a name that was on the lips of many a K-pop fan last year, as one of the most
popular contestants on Produce 101 Season 2, and a debuting soloist in his own right. Some
slightly older fans may remember Samuel from his days as Punch in 1Punch, alongside YG soloist
One. Samuel was so young in those days that Punch bears almost no resemblance to him since his
Produce 101 stint, and he has now become like a Korean Justin Bieber. Samuel is still under the same
agency he’s been with since 1Punch, Brave Entertainment: the label of renowned hit-making
producer, Brave Sound.
It was Brave Sound himself who suggested Samuel go for a more grown up, manly concept with
this mini-album and comeback. This advice was definitely followed, starting with his title
single, “ONE”, and its MV. Samuel’s clad in a suit, with shorter hair and there’s a much greater
focus on choreography. It’s a striking change from previous releases “Candy” and “Sixteen,” and
definitely a change for the better. The makeover he’s been given really allows Samuel to start his
journey from cutesy teen to charismatic adult, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of hot and bothered
teenage fans because of his smouldering gaze in this video! His dancing is phenomenal, with very
sharp, memorable moves and an amazing dance break during BTOB Ilhoon’s rap. Add to this the
excellent production of the track from Brave Sound and JS and Samuel’s looking like the finished
product!
Samuel’s latest mini album, ONE, is front to back quality. It’s a fun, singalong album that will lodge
itself in your mind upon first listen. This album is a sugar hit of vintage K-pop catchiness but still
sounds current thanks to its tight production, and it’s a wonderful change of styles for Samuel.
Kim Samuel is a name that was on the lips of many a K-pop fan last year, as one of the most
popular contestants on Produce 101 season 2, and a debuting soloist in his own right. Some
slightly older fans may remember Samuel from his days as Punch in 1Punch, alongside YG soloist
One. Samuel was so young in those days that Punch bears almost no resemblance to him since his
Produce 101 stint, where he’s now almost a Korean Justin Bieber. Samuel is still under the same
agency he’s been with since 1Punch, Brave Entertainment: the label of renowned hitmaking
producer, Brave Sound.
It was Brave Sound himself who suggested Samuel go for a more grown up, manly concept with
this mini-album and comeback, and this advice was definitely followed. Starting with his title
single, “ONE”, and its MV. Samuel’s clad in a suit, with shorter hair and there’s a much greater
focus on choreography. It’s a striking change from previous releases “Candy” and “Sixteen,” and
definitely a change for the better. The makeover he’s been given really allows Samuel to start his
journey from cutesy teen to charismatic adult, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of hot and bothered
teenage fans because of his smouldering gaze in this video! His dancing is phenomenal, with very
sharp, memorable moves and an amazing dance break during BTOB Ilhoon’s rap. Add to this the
excellent production of the track from Brave Sound and JS and Samuel’s looking like the finished
product!
Third track “Princess” is a highlight of the album, so long as you don’t mind something a little
cheesier. It’s very much a standard boy idol song, with lyrics like “you’re my princess” and “can’t
take my eyes off you”, but the actual song behind it is a delight. The song was handled by another
Brave producer, this time the duo 2Champ, whose work up until now has been mostly extremely
catchy girl group songs – they arranged DIA’s “Will You Go Out With Me?” and Brave Girls’
“Rollin’”, as well as co-writing and producing T-ara’s “What’s My Name?”, Stellar’s “Crying” and
Brave’s Japanese girl group CHERRSEE’s excellent “Cry Again” (seriously check this song out, it’s
incredible!) That said, their work with male artists like Romeo and Teen Top clearly came in handy,
along with their work on Samuel’s previous albums, since this track fits his voice perfectly and
gives him ample space to show off his range and his youthful timbre. The bright synths and retro-
style drums really take you back to K-pop’s past, and that’s no bad thing.
This rolls straight into track four, “I Can’t Sleep,” another JS production with help from ElectroBoyz
member Chakun. This one’s more chilled but it’s still catchy as all hell with its colourful synth line
and foot tapping beat. The chorus here is just perfect, and listeners will definitely be sounding like
insomniacs with all the repetition of “I can’t sleep now” they’ll be doing! It’s nice to see some R&B
influence since it’s definitely something that could be elaborated on in later releases, and it suits
Samuel’s voice down to the ground.
Another highlight of the album would have to be “Clap Your Hands” just because it’s such an
anomaly in the album. Most of the songs on this album are catchy, boyish pop, but this song is
going for a more manly feeling and sounds more targeted towards the Western market. It feels
almost like a 24K or Monsta X instrumental, and that’s much harder than you’re expecting from an
act as young and (so far) cutesy as Samuel. It really shows his versatility that he can still manage to
pull off a song with attitude like this, and it could very well be a marker of things to come for
Samuel if he wants to progress his image further in this direction.
This album is an undeniable joy. I was trying to find an example to reign in my praise for, but every
song here is just great! Samuel and his Brave Sound overlords may well have produced an early
contender for album of the year here! It’s as pop as K-pop boys get, and that’s what a lot of fans
got into K-pop for in the first place. ONE won’t be for everyone, but for those who love a catchy
chorus and a head-bobbing beat, it doesn’t get a lot better than this.
This post was written by our guest blogger, Ben Chuter.