AHOF Sprints in the Summer Sun in “RUN TO YOU”
Photo: F&F Entertainment
AHOF returns with RUN TO YOU, a bold, anthemic EP that riffs off their pop-rock roots, taking the boy group’s sound in expansive directions as they graduate out of their rookie year as idols. The EP, a fifteen-minute, five-track amuse-bouche, is headlined by “RUN TO YOU,” a synth-driven pop-rock title that is as literal in concept as one might imagine: those boys are certainly running, to you, mileage and all.
The title track builds off the group’s trademark sound that they have refined in prior comebacks “Rendezvous” and “Pinnochio”: all soaring key-changes, anthemic climaxes, and complex layering, praised for its sweeping sound and nostalgic take on modern K-Pop. While “RUN TO YOU” preserves this identity, it offers a fresher, more accessible spin designed for a “beat-the-heat” take on boy-group K-Pop. Dripping in youth and summer sunshine, the nine members run, sweat, and savor the moment with an earnest, if slightly pared-back, take on their signature sound. The result is refreshing, and tightly constructed: acoustic guitar layers over a simple synth motif, echoed in the vocals, the track racing into a compounding EDM-adjacent chorus. A central rap breakdown in the second verse amps up the pace before mellowing into a pre-chorus build and another anthemic chorus. The acoustic elements return for a spare but welcome bridge; the final chorus then strips out the instrumentals before they punch back in for a closing flourish.
“RUN TO YOU” is paired with four accompanying songs: pre-release single “Sugar High”, and three B-sides: “JUST SAY YES,” “You’re the Reason,” and “Our Story.”
The most effusive, if jarring, of these tracks is the pre-release “Sugar High,” which was quite widely panned upon its initial release in June by fans and critics alike. The commonly held problem with “Sugar High” is that, for a group with such a distinct, curated sound, the song’s shouted, noisy chanting feels like a backslide into a sound that, quite frankly, is both derivative and harsh in the landscape of modern K-Pop. To top it off, the song doesn’t particularly innovate off this well-known formula: pounding bass, staccato rapping, and a harshly shouted choral refrain: “Shake, Shake, Sugar High.” Thankfully, “Sugar High” feels more side-step than reinvention, as the rest of the album loops back around to that distinctive pop-rock AHOF fits right at home in.
“JUST SAY YES” delivers on that classic K-Pop pop-rock formula with satisfyingly developed vocal lines that lilt and dive alongside a band-forward rhythm guitar. “You’re the Reason” is a more synth-forward counterpart, and while it is not a standout on the EP, the track has a 2017 EDM je ne sais quoi, offering a nostalgic take on the quintessential synthy, nostalgic B-side track we all know and love. The nostalgic, sweeping closer “Our Story” is everything a fan song should be: poetic but not boring, drenched in the power of friendship in a way that feels more coming-of-age than corny. The chord change in the chorus belies an impressionable, soaring track to close out the EP: “I won’t be afraid of the end of the world.”