SEVENTEEN Takes 2023 by the Reins with FML

Anticipation for SEVENTEEN’s next move has been high since the release of their repackaged album SECTOR 17 last summer. With the summer of 2023 just around the corner, the boys are back with their most explosive and experimental mini-album yet, FML.

Since their debut, SEVENTEEN’s growth in popularity has been one of the most organic in the K-Pop sphere, with even diehard fans sometimes still feeling like SEVENTEEN is their own little K-Pop secret. Now eight years into their career, the boy group has steadily achieved new heights with every comeback, notably with sub-unit BOOSEOKSOON’s wildly popular comeback “Fighting” earlier this year, when the trio outsold their own parent group. SEVENTEEN came back with a vengeance, however, in the form of their tenth mini-album FML, which has now officially broken the record for highest first-day sales in Hanteo history (3.99 million copies).

“Super” SEVENTEEN

With a title like FML, which indeed stands for “f*ck my life,” the mini-album was bound to leave an impression. On top of breaking records, it’s also the first time the group has ever delivered twin title tracks: “F*ck My Life” and “Super.” The latter was released in music video form alongside the album and is a statement piece in its own right. “Super” opens up with an atmospheric sort of sound, putting the listener into a larger-than-life headspace with echoing vocals and reverberating synths. The fast-paced beat kicks in with Woozi’s vocal runs before he passionately delivers the group’s famous catchline of, “SEVENTEEN right here,” a phrase typically reserved for leader S.Coups. Fans can’t help but feel prideful at this change-up (Carats, feel free to read that as a pun), as Woozi, the group’s main producer from the start, has always remained humble despite his status as one of the most accomplished producers in K-Pop.

The song officially takes off with Wonwoo, and the pace picks up with Mingyu and his new crowd-favorite line, “DARUMDARIMDA.” Another change in pace happens in the pre-chorus with Jeonghan, where he finally gets to channel his inner “Yoonzino” (a nickname based on his love for Beenzino) and rap on a SEVENTEEN track. Seungkwan leads into the first chorus before the beat drops to half-time with Dino and Vernon. The Korean title of the song, “손오공” or SONOGONG, is the Korean name of the Chinese legend of the “Monkey King” Sun Wukong, who anime fans might also know as the inspiration behind Dragon Ball’s aptly named Son Goku. The chorus is a repetition of lines saying, “Feels like I turned into SONOGONG,”* a declaration of and testament to SEVENTEEN’s unstoppable growth.

The beat picks back up in the second half of the chorus with Hoshi and Dokyeom as they proudly chant, “I love my team, I love my crew.” S.Coups comes in with the next verse with equal energy as he masterfully raps over the percussive beats before Joshua delivers his rendition of the “DARUMDARIMDA” line. The chorus yet again cuts back, this time with smooth vocals from The8. Jun and Woozi handle the bridge and ending of the song, quite literally building in “ener-energy” until the song’s explosive end.

As a title, “Super” feels like a no-brainer release for SEVENTEEN: they know their power and their worth, and with this song, they’re not afraid to show their pride in their work. And if the music charts are anything to go by at this point, the world agrees.

The Music Video

Despite their fame as one of the best dancing groups in K-Pop, SEVENTEEN tends to go with more plot-centric music videos (even if the plot is very loose). “Super” turns this notion on its head, however, in the way that it is solely a performance video, focused on highlighting the dynamic choreography of the group. Shot on a grandiose set made from a repurposed building colored in hues of red and gold, the video starts out with the members dressed in modern clothing of ripped denim and cut-offs as they dance among a hundred background dancers. The shift comes halfway through with The8’s chorus, as the members switch their contemporary outfits with traditionally inspired black and gold embellished garb (and, by God, the return of The8’s black mullet in conjunction with this outfit is something else). Jeonghan and Woozi are also standouts in the video, with Jeonghan’s long hair pinned up in a traditional style while Woozi, for the first time and much to Carats’ shock, goes shirtless. 

It seems that with every comeback, the boys of SEVENTEEN announce that their newest track has their hardest choreography yet, and this is yet again true with the fast-paced “Super.” On par with high-energy songs like “HIT” and “Rock with you,” the choreography never drops in its intensity. That being said, the performance also has its tongue-in-cheek moments, notably with the “SONOGONG” point choreography in the chorus, where the members place two fingers to their forehead in a way that mirrors Son Goku’s “instant transmission” signal in the Dragon Ball series. Aside from this, the choreography also shines in its formation changes—a specialty of SEVENTEEN since their debut and always made all the more impressive with their large number of members—and in the way that the boys quickly shift between sharp and fluid movements in the chorus.

While the music video for “F*ck My Life” has yet to be released at the time of publishing, the sheer difference in sound between the two title tracks hints that a very different visual experience is in store for us come May 8. Until then, we can continue to watch the music video for “Surprise” in awe.

The Rest of the Album

As the video has not yet premiered, I’ll review “F*ck My Life” along with the B-sides of the FML mini-album. The second title track takes a much more somber approach in its honest lyrics set against a hip-hop-inspired beat, as the members sing about feeling lost and alone while still holding out hope for a better tomorrow. 

“Fire” by the hip-hop team is the first unit track on the album, and marks the first time we’ve seen sub-unit songs since 2021’s Attacca. Penned by Vernon and Wonwoo along with SEVENTEEN’s longtime producer Bumzu, the song has a similar feel to “Super,” but is infused with energy reminiscent of the unit’s “Back it up” off of 2019’s An Ode. The performance team is up next with “I Don’t Understand But I Luv You,” an R&B song inspired by a comment from an English-speaking fan during a live broadcast that touched Hoshi’s heart enough for him to write a song about it. The vocal team rounds out the unit songs with their city-pop-influenced “Dust,” my personal favorite on the album as I will always eat up any city-pop crumbs that K-Pop can give me. Though the lyrics are melancholy, the way the heavenly voices of the vocal team members float over the pop synths of the song leaves me wanting more of this sound; regrettably, the song is the shortest on the album.

FML ends with all 13 members together again in “April shower,” an ode to how the efforts and struggles of today will pay off tomorrow in the same way that “May flowers” can only bloom after “April showers.” It’s a classic SEVENTEEN ending track, evoking feelings of the addition of “All My Love” to 2020’s ;[Semicolon], wrapping up the album in a perfectly sentimental package.

Despite the accolades and achievements already surrounding this album, the music on FML speaks for itself. It’s a monster of a release in a group that’s prone to putting out monster releases, and it’s sure to inspire anyone that listens to it to achieve their dreams, knowing that they have the support of SEVENTEEN behind them.

“Super” Title Track Score: 8.5/10

“Super Music Video Score: 8.5/10

FML Album Score: 9.5/10

Overall Score: 8.8/10

*Lyrics are taken from official translations in the music video

Edited by Vivian N.