Banana Culture, known for group EXID, has debuted their first boy group ever on February 19! TREI, a trio consisting of Lee Jaejun, Kim Juntae, and Chae Chunghyun came onto the K-Pop scene with mini-album BORN; 本. Jaejun and Chunghyun may be familiar to MIXNINE fans, as both participated in the show pre-debut.

Title: “Gravity 멀어져”

At first listen, “Gravity 멀어져” doesn’t really have much about it that stands out musically. The melody is a traditional acoustic, alternative pop aesthetic, reminiscent of popular music in the early 2000s. There is an occasional breakdown for rap verses that has a more modern flare, but otherwise the beat is pretty stagnant. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the song is bad; it just doesn’t have much of anything that makes it memorable. This is a good track to have on in the background during studying or work, since it has a warm and light feel but isn’t distracting.

As far as the music video goes, there’s a heavy focus on nature and bright, warm colors, often seen in the expression of oranges and yellows contrasting the darker, natural tones. The eye is immediately attracted to the brightly colored homes the boys are dancing in front of, the odd coloring definitely commanding attention even in the background. The use of color contrasting nature makes for a lovely visual experience and helps to bring more personality to the song itself.

The Album

BORN; 本 features five tracks, beginning with the title. “아가씨” is the first B-side, representing a bright, sweet, and upbeat song singing of a blossoming love. “안아줘” has a bit of a more modern hip-hop beat, which makes it stand out from the first two tracks and adds a new dimension to the musicality of the album for a nice balance. “어질해” comes second to last and has a more EDM musical style than the other tracks. The album concludes with “너의밤,” the singular slower, ballad-esque song. The songs on their own aren’t particularly revolutionary or memorable either, but the full album itself has a decent balance.

Unfortunately, TREI’s debut has failed to leave a lasting impression on me. It’s not so much that their music is bad or that they are untalented, but more that they haven’t yet found something that distinguishes them from the rest of the crowd. That being said, it’s clear that these boys are quite talented, and I hope that they have success going forward.