8TURN’s End of Summer in Electric Heart: Born to Glow

Photo: MNH Entertainment

Off the heels of a world tour, 8TURN returns with their second single album Electric Heart: Born to Glow, a two-track effervescent fling, marking the end of summer and a nostalgic, synth-pop lookback for the now two-year-old group. 

Title track “Electric Heart” is head-to-toe pop music, with a booming bass and inspirational, layered vocal chorus.  The song builds, stratifying upwards in tight layers of interspersed rap phrases, shimmering vocal ad-libs and a triumphant, soaring chorus, shouting to the sky, “That’s who we are!” It’s a song driven by youth, nostalgia, and synths. While it’s a newer sound for 8TURN, it slots in nicely to the fresh, light sound the group recently explored in predecessors like “I Want You Now” and “Like a Friend.” Perhaps better known for their powerful choreography and tight hip-hop flair, 8TURN’s softer angles in Electric Heart: Born to Glow are just as resonant, and their dancing is equally as sharp. The music video features the members in crisp white, with intricate formations and fluttering heart-shaped hand gestures. The summit? Member Kyungmin laid back and lifted horizontally by the other members, whirling around before landing on his feet for one final chorus. Gunning to be performance powerhouses, 8TURN’s choreography never wavers. The members race through fields and forests, landing in a shimmering night of fluorescent butterflies until they celebrate, tossing each other up in the air for the finale. It’s the perfect anthem for a hazy August: a farewell to summer and a hello to friendship. 

Accompanying B-side “Close to Me” offers a pop-rock synth pairing to the uplifting “Electric Heart.” Unlike it’s predecessor, “Close to Me” is grittier, with an electric guitar frame and more pining: “I’m dying for you.” It’s the nighttime alternative to the daytime feel of “Electric Heart,” as the members yearn under the moonlight with drama and desperation. 

Together, the two tracks on Electric Heart: Born to Glow are a quick, 7-minute fresh synth-pop listen, laden with boyhood and the swirling emotions that come with it. With its sprinting melodies and pop production, the single album is one to return to as summer fades and time gives way.

Edited by Cara Musashi