Song Review: SF9 – Love Race

It’s hard to believe that SF9 will be celebrating their tenth (!) anniversary next year. Their discography has remained remarkably consistent, and every once and awhile they’ll pull out a total stunner. As with many of their recent releases, Love Race sees their group configuration slightly reduced with six out of eight members promoting this time around.

Listening to the album’s highlight medley, it became immediately clear I would enjoy several b-sides more than that title track. This isn’t a new phenomenon with SF9 as they tend to have at least one standout album track on each of their projects. But while Love Race isn’t always my thing, the full song is stronger than the teasers suggested. Its worst instincts (the cringy, overdone post-chorus chant) are not a huge part of the track and the overall arrangement unveils a more boisterous sound than expected.

After an atmospheric red herring intro, Love Race swerves into a guitar-backed verse characterized by slurry melodies perched somewhere singing and rap. The instrumental has a grungy 90’s texture that could have been developed into a very unique sound. Instead, the style is bent to the whims of a more conventional K-pop template. However, the first half of each chorus widens the scope of the music in a satisfying way, adding a touch of bombast that works well. In my mind, this song pairs nicely with OnlyOneOf’s similarly race-themed seOul drift from two years ago.

Grade: B