Song Review: &TEAM – Back To Life

Since their debut in late 2022, &TEAM have developed a strong Japanese discography. All of those singles have also been recorded and performed in Korean, making it feel like they’ve already made a K-pop debut. But with the release of their first original Korean album, the guys have officially branched out to a new market. Title track Back To Life arrives a day ahead of the album and sees the group working with a familiar cadre of composers.

&TEAM have several distinct iterations in their music. I tend to prefer their anthemic rock sound and/or their light, funky dance tracks. However, I’m not surprised they’ve gone back to their angstier roots for their Korean debut. For whatever reason, angst and darkness seem to appeal more to international audiences. I guess the moping around is just seen as “cooler” even if the music itself is rarely as enjoyable. Thankfully, Back To Life updates the sound of tracks like Under The Skin and Scar To Scar with cinematic scale that feels more epic. The production is fuller and the chorus pulses with more energy.

While the verses are catchy, they’re almost too repetitive to work. At a certain point, the melodic looping becomes monotonous and this isn’t helped by the production’s heavy use of vocal effects. Maybe some unexpected spikes in the instrumental would help these segments shine. Instead, much of the song’s drama comes during the ascending hook at Back To Life‘s center. This makes me long for an equally dynamic bridge. Back To Life is over three minutes long, but it’s still just a verse/pre-chorus/chorus/verse/pre-chorus/chorus structure, making the track feel a bit incomplete even if these individual segments are longer than expected. Overall, I think this is very solid but far from the group’s best work.

Grade: B