After only a little over a month since the release of “KILLING ME” in NEW KIDS: CONTINUE, it is safe to say that we were all surprised when iKON announced their comeback with the release of the mini-album NEW KIDS: THE FINAL, containing three new songs and one Korean version of a previous Japanese single, “Perfect.” The songs and the music video for the title song “GOODBYE ROAD” was released October 1.

We have come to an end with the NEW KIDS series by iKON that had three parts in total, starting in the summer last year and ending in October this year (not including Return that was released in January this year).

“GOODBYE ROAD” is a breakup song about two people who have parted ways and the lyrics wish the other person the best in the future. Although it has a sad message, the melody is not much of a ballad. It’s not as upbeat as “Love Scenario” was but it still does not feel sad when listening to it.

It starts off slow with Chanwoo singing the first few lines before Bobby’s rap comes and the melody changes to something a little more upbeat. The song keeps a steady pace and a good balance between a ballad and something upbeat and happier. It gives the listener a feeling of “everything is going to be ok” in the melody. As the song comes to an end, we have the familiar sing-along part which is nothing new for an iKON title song, but still fun.

Credit: YG Entertainment

Throwback to the Past

The music video is easy to recognize as a music video by iKON, keeping the same theme with similar visual aspects used in previous music videos, such as “KILLING ME” and “Love Scenario” mixed with older stuff like “Airplane” and “Apology.” Scenes where we look at the flashbacks of the members have some resemblance to the scenes in “Airplane” and “Apology,” whereas the performance part in the video is similar to “Love Scenario,” and the individual scenes of the members are much like the scenes in “KILLING ME” as well as “Apology.”

The album’s other songs go from fun and catchy to ballad and emotional, but without making too much of a contrast to each other. “DON’T LET ME KNOW” is the second track on the album after the title and it is upbeat and fun throughout. “ADORE YOU,” on the other hand, is the ballad song on the album besides the Korean release of “PERFECT”; the song has more of an acoustic sound to it with the acoustic guitar and slow drums coming together with bass and some piano. The last song on the album is “PERFECT,” another ballad that is more grand and blues-inspired than “ADORE YOU.”

iKON has had several comebacks the past year with different sounds for each release, and so far they have mastered all of them very well. What has been your favorite release so far this year by the group? Let us know in the comments!