Concerns/thoughts about &Team’s recent music quality/musical direction and thoughts/hopes for future releases.
Been wanting to make this post for a while and get some things off my chest and have been trying to find the right words, hopefully I’ll be able to convey my thoughts well. So first of all, I do want to say that this is just about the music and none of this is coming from a place of hate and these are just my opinions, you are free to politely disagree. First of all, I love &Team. Been watching them since &audition. It was the first survival show that I’ve ever watched throughout and first time participated in voting. They are also the first and only music group I’ve ever bought albums from (their Yukiakari album was my first album that I bought). I’ve been so proud and impressed with their growth/improvement. My first Reddit post that I ever made in my life was even about them (https://www.reddit.com/r/AndTeam/s/cpa1Upovje).
They are very talented and have a lot of potential. That’s why if I’m being hard and critical, it’s because I have high standards for them and I believe they can do even better. I want them to grow and reach their full potential and leave a good musical legacy (they are musical artists first and foremost). Plus, since &Team comes from a big company, won a Daesang, are a million dollar seller group, and even became the first Japanese group with Japanese comeback to win Korean music show then the standard should absolutely be high and we should expect more. Also just to be clear my criticisms are mostly with A&R/music production choices and not with the members themselves.
&Team’s recent releases post Yukiakari era have not been up to the same standard as their earlier works. They’re not terrible and I do enjoy them to a certain extent, but they are a bit generic and feel a bit regressive for &Team. I do wish that different productions choices were made so that they could stand out or be fully utilized to the best of their capabilities especially since they were promoting a lot in Korea and thus listeners/watchers had more accessibility, so it could have been a good opportunity to show some interesting stuff and show what makes them different from other kpop/Hybe groups. &Team’s music quality should continue to improve and they should be taking further steps to grow and evolve musically, but tbh it feels like they’ve been plateauing lately. I’m concerned that the people in charge of &Team don’t really know what to do with them anymore and are not prioritizing musical growth anymore. It’s important that they continue to grow and evolve like they did during their four seasons era in order to maintain longevity. I’m also getting concerned that they’re so focused on the storyline/presentation of the lore/webtoon that the music is becoming an afterthought. I don’t mind &Team being committed to a lore but I don’t want them so focused or boxed by it that it’s to the detriment of &Team’s music quality and artistic/musical growth. At the end of the day, people stay for good music so the music should be top priority. Plus, their early works showed that they were able to make well produced songs while still being related to the lore.
I do want to say that I do personally like Go in Blind more than Back to Life and We on fire (both as title tracks and EPs). I actually even wish that Go in Blind was their official Korean debut project (maybe even combine it with fully/better produced versions of Back to Life songs so that it could have been a full album and I think that would have gone along with the “go in blind” theme even better). I just wish that Go in Blind title track and bsides were longer and had more harmonies/group singing/group chanting. For example, the chant “we go go in blind” in the dance break could have been a group chant to help give a bigger impact towards the end especially since it’s a short song (and also add more adlibs). Speaking of short songs, I’m also getting tired of Hybe doing this TikTok/short song thing.
I’m also disappointed that we’ve gone back with the heavy processing/autotune, more specifically with Back to Life and We on fire title tracks. Although I do want to note that the Back to Life EP as a whole also had a bit of that processing/tinny sound. I was hoping that after their four seasons releases which was a time where their voices were starting to sound less processed and sound more mature/less nasal (which goes with their puppy to wolf/werewolf transformation concept) that the vocal processing/autotune would be put at an end (at least for their title tracks). Especially since the heavy processing is a criticism of Hybe groups and discontinuing the use of processing would allow &Team to differentiate themselves from other Hybe groups. Also, showcasing each of the members’ unique tones would be beneficial since it’s sometimes rare to see different tones in a large group. I do want to add that their growth and good music quality were also what made me like the werewolf concept even more and made me a little more intrigued/less annoyed with the lore since it made the concept feel real. Even image wise, especially after watching Deer Hunter, I was hoping they would keep leaning more into mature/“chic” or dark/manly elegance (like fierce and manly/mature but still beautiful/contemporary-like). I think that’s a really cool/interesting balance to see especially from a boy group and I think that would help them to stand out even amongst other Hybe boy groups. Even when they do bright/upbeat songs like big suki, wolf type, Aoarashi….there was that balance of coolness/maturity without it being too cutesy or juvenile (tbh hotline sounds a bit too cutesy/juvenile for &Team especially in this time of their career). Plus, with &Team showing cool sophisticated choreography and mature powerful vocals they’ll really show people that they’re beasts/wolves.
I’m also a bit bummed that there’s not as much group singing and harmonies as I would have liked to have seen after Yukiakari. Especially since Yukiakari was basically a song about them overcoming difficult times and moving forward together and we got to see each member vocally placed well, so it would have been a good opportunity to take it to the next step and showcase the members singing together even if they’re just three part harmonies or simple harmonized ooohs and ahhs in the background. In fact, a lot of their recent songs would have really benefited from some harmonies. One of the things that I would love to see &Team do more in future releases is to incorporate more group/unison singing and harmonies in their tracks (and sing them live even while dancing), especially since they have “team” in their name so they should show their teamwork through their singing as well and it would also add to their wolf pack concept. And there’s nine members so they should really utilize them all to the best of their abilities. I believe that this would also help &Team to step up their vocal game and help add more substance in their music, and even get people to take them more seriously as singers and a vocal group. Especially since there’s talk about how the kpop scene is lacking harmonies. I do believe that other people will find it impressive that they can harmonize even while dancing. Plus, I feel like producers make them sing high in order to make the song more impactful which unfortunately causes them to sound strained and appear as weak singers, but having more than one person singing at once would be another way to help give impact in a song.
I would also love for &Team to lean more into rock instead of trap /hip hop and maybe even incorporate more R&B elements (like R&B rock/R&B pop rock). Especially since some of the members show potential in vocal runs/melisma. I think R&B would also add to the emotion and maturity of their sound (Remember that Bang PD said in &audition that he wants &Team to be a group that gives emotion in their performances). It would also allow the members to showcase even more interesting things vocally. I recommend watching this video ([https://youtu.be/vq94oM1QMyE?is=xY0\_lyuUaaoFmg3Q](https://youtu.be/vq94oM1QMyE?is=xY0_lyuUaaoFmg3Q)) to get an idea of what could attract other listeners. Speaking of vocals, I hope the members will be able to keep improving vocally/get better vocal training. I’ve been a little concerned that it seems that the members are borderline stagnant/regressing (this is probably due to the music style or they’re just overworked/tired). It’s still a hope and dream of mine that they will reach their full vocal potential and become “vocal beasts.”
I also think that &Team needs a new marketing strategy. Credit to Form of Therapy’s patreon video for this idea ([https://www.patreon.com/posts/157224092?utm\_campaign=postshare\_fan](https://www.patreon.com/posts/157224092?utm_campaign=postshare_fan)). He suggested that &Team should do double title track releases (release two title tracks simultaneously instead of the typical single release or pre-release then single release methods) since &Team is a group of duality and are able to show two different sides of themselves that are very immersive. For example, when &Team released Yukiakari they should have also released Deer Hunter at the same time. Or war cry and dropkick together…go in blind and run wild…samidare and scar to scar…under the skin and scent of you…etc. I personally love this idea and I think it would also be on brand for &team if they do that since a werewolf also has 2 sides (wolf and human). They can even release a dark/edgy/rock heavy track that represents their “wolf/werewolf” side (songs like war cry, deer Hunter, road not taken, scar to scar…) and sentimental/nostalgic pop/pop rock or bright/upbeat track that represents their “human” side (songs like dropkick, firework, big suki, 4 seasons TTs…). This could also help please listeners who prefer &Team’s four seasons sound and those who prefer dark/edgy sound. I understand that the concern might be about how this will affect view count but I think allowing &Team to show 2 different sides to themselves with 2 different songs is a good way to show artistic growth and showcase versatility and different musical capabilities. Plus I think people having friendly debates about which song is better would get people curious and cause them to want to check out &team.
Again, these are just my opinions and if by the end of reading this you still disagree with what I said, that’s fine just as along as you took the time to understand where I’m coming from. I do understand that growth is not always linear and that there will be times when artists will have some ups and downs and not always release their best work, and that’s sometimes even essential in learning what works and how to get better. I also understand that there’s a lot that goes behind the scenes and sometimes it’s not always even company staff or producers’ fault due to time constraints, budget constraints, contract obligations, investors, etc….there may be times where producers want to do more with a song and do it differently but they can’t because the companies want the song a certain way. But it’s also true that if companies/producers know that they can keep making more money by cutting corners and not putting in a lot of effort then they will just keep doing it, and then fans and artists/groups end up getting screwed. I certainly do not want Hybe/YX Labels to think that they can keep getting away with only doing the bare minimum when I feel like they can do so much more with &Team. Otherwise if this keeps up then &Team will regress more and it’ll get harder for them to get back up. Keep in mind that the market is over saturated and there’s always a new group coming in (even Hybe is going to be debuting another new group) and I don’t want &Team to end up getting lost in the shuffle. Anyway, hopefully my thoughts made sense, but if I need to clarify anything, please let me know. Also feel free to share your own thoughts and ideas as well.