Highlight Offers Up a Good Time With The Promise They ‘Can Be Better’ on ‘Celebrate’ EP
A few months after telling their fans to “Plz Don’t Be Sad,” Korean boy band Highlight has another uplifting message for their listeners in their new single “Can Be Better.”
The lead song on their Celebrate album, released on Monday (Oct. 16), “Can Be Better” is a pop anthem propelled by rock instrumentals and shining, even fuzzy, synths. Paired with a comical music video that shows the quintet having an extremely bad morning and getting over it to have a good time, it’s an infectiously enthusiastic single that continues putting forward the supportive lyrical message Highlight’s promoted since the group, formerly known as BEAST, rebranded earlier this year.
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Celebrate is Highlight’s second EP under the new name, but serves as a commemorative album tied into the act’s eighth-anniversary in the K-pop industry and fittingly is filled with songs that are both upbeat and reflective.
Along with the single and an instrumental version of the same track, the album features a quintet of tightly-packed tracks: the riotous party song “Celebrate” heralds the anniversary; the pump up track “Take On Me” builds into a pure banger after teasing with a medley of bossa nova-style instrumentals, EDM, and trop elements; the sentimental ballad “Who Am I” offers up a softer side to the group; and the trancy rhythmic slow burn of “Love Like This” closes things out.
Aside from the latter song, which was co-written by Lee Gikwang and and Yong Junhyung in collaboration with several other songwriters, all of the tracks were written by Yong and his regular songwriting partner Kim Tae Joo under their Good Life production team name.
Since 2009, Highlight (as BEAST) has been a prominent act in the K-pop industry with multiple hits. Since leaving their former agency, the renewed quintet saw their debut EP Can You Feel It? land at No. 9 on the World Albums chart.
Watch the comical music video for “Can Be Better” below:
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