Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Boyfriend are the latest group to find themselves at that precarious seven year mark, where contracts are up and the guys are forced to decide whether to stick together or go their separate ways. Whatever happens, they’ve left behind an incredibly strong (and underrated) discography. Their lengthy run of Sweetune-produced singles always gets eclipsed by groups like Infinite and Kara, but songs like “Janus“ and “I Yah“ deserve all the love in the world.
Whether or not “Sunshower” is a farewell song, I’ve never been a fan of this type of composition. It favors sentiment above song, and veers toward the emotionally manipulative. Taking the same string of weepy melodies loved by melodramas everywhere, “Sunshower” is everything you’d expect it to be. Whether you enjoy it or not will depend on what you’re looking for in an anniversary single. I appreciate that the track was co-written by the guys themselves, but I would have preferred a more celebratory encapsulation of Boyfriend’s seven year career.
This emotionally-wrenching release might be forgivable if Boyfriend had been given a decent Korean comeback in the past three years, but it feels like we’re lamenting something that hasn’t been allowed to flourish for ages. The members deliver the song’s soaring refrain with panache, eliciting a series of impressive power notes that fully embrace their overwrought intentions. As electric guitar powers the climactic finale, you can practically see the confetti drop framing Boyfriend as they look out upon their audience with teary eyes. In this way, “Sunshower” gets its job done. It’s sappy. It’s slow. It’s a stereotypical anniversary single, through and through.
