Only six months after their last comeback with “Love Scenario,” iKON returned with the mini-album New Kids: Continue on August 2. The title track “Killing Me” has left fans surprised with the new sound of the group.

Light is the keyword when talking about the music video. Warm and cool tones together throughout the video set the vibe and mood. The video focuses on the performance and choreography rather than a storyline to go with the song, and the choreography was created by Donghyuk.

“Killing Me” starts off slow with Hanbin before we go to Bobby’s first rap and the melody instantly changes, which is the first of many times it changes throughout the song.

The structure of the song might seem confusing due to these changes, even though they follow the “typical structure” of a song.

The EDM instrumental after the chorus is what might surprise people the most, and it truly makes the song interesting to the listener. It’s hard to know for sure if the EDM instrumental is the chorus or if Jinhwan/Junhoe’s parts are the chorus. After the second chorus, Chanwoo sings his part as the bridge and although we expect the chorus to come in again, Bobby instead surprises with another powerful rap. We then get the very recognisable “everyone-sings-along” part of an iKON title track (previously used in “B-DAY,” “Bling Bling,” and “Love Scenario”).

Following “Killing Me”, the next song on their mini-album is titled “Freedom,” this time bringing rock into their music with a heavy electric guitar and drums. “Only You” is the next track and it has a groovy sound. “Cocktail,” the entitled summer song on the album, is feel-good, fresh, and catchy. The final track on the album is the ballad “Just For You” and features the rappers singing.  

The mini-album is the third in the New Kids series released by the group, and it captures different sounds and types of music without breaking the whole of the album, keeping the balance and keeping it from sounding messy or unorganized.