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Playlist Sunday: Favorite INFINITE Songs

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INFINITE came back on July 13 with their new album “Reality”, and the teasers and music video for “Bad” are really getting us excited here at Kultscene. What better way to celebrate the group’s return than with a list of our favourite INFINITE songs?

There’s something about INFINITE’s “Can U Smile” that turns me into a giddy teenager again. Even though the lyrics to the song are a bit on the gloomier side, it’s one breakup song that I don’t mind listening to on continuous repeat, especially with their live performances. INFINITE has a way of making even the saddest of songs enjoyable to listen to and to watch. Their music has only gotten better with every comeback, so the anticipation and bar has been set quite high for what’s to come with this new album!

— Tam

Although this song does not belong to any album and is not particularly well-known, it is a song that never fails to tug at my heartstrings. It has a very simple melody as compared to flashier INFINITE songs, and it does not showcase INFINITE’s vocals as much as other ballads, but “Together” is a memorable and touching song. It feels all the more heartfelt because INFINITE member Woohyun composed it, and when accompanied with videos and pictures from INFINITE’s past concerts, practices and the hardships they faced, I teared up just thinking about how much the boys have grown over the past few years, both musically and in their relationships with each other. It makes me proud to be an Inspirit (fan of INFINITE,) and I’ll definitely be supporting them forever.

— Anna

Also on KultScene: Which Korean Entertainment Company Is For You? [Quiz]

Europop is one of the most used genres in K-pop. It has seen many iterations yet none have been as good as ‘‘The Chaser’’. INFINITE’s best song goes down as one of my all time favourite K-pop songs and, as a result, one of the best pop songs of the last ten years. ‘‘The Chaser’’ mixes blasting synths, swooning violins and, slick guitars to euphoric pop perfection. Everything about it works from the vocal arrangements to the stunningly symmetrical choreography. There are very few songs that can match the energy of ‘‘The Chaser’’. It rightly brought INFINITE the success they deserved.

— Joe

INFINITE would not be where they are today without their debut song and, for long-time Inspirits, this holds a special place in their heart. The group’s present popularity all started with “Come Back Again,” a fun track which incorporates rich guitars, signature violins, and a bit of autotune, which is okay in small increments like it was done here. Their first single matches their young and fresh faces perfectly, and even here we can hear the strings and horns that comprise a majority of all their songs to come. This is one group that knows what sound they are going for and sticks with it! “Come Back Again” is an overall catchy tune that will surely have listeners dancing and clumsily getting into bloody accidents while doing it (which might or might not have happened to this Kultscene writer…).

— Shelley

There’s something very distinct about INFINITE’s sound. It builds up, it’s bombastic, and it makes you feel something in your insides. One of those songs, for me, is “Man in Love.” I love how the whole song builds up to the chorus, where it explodes and is a myriad of beats. Not to mention all of the members’ voices, which sound awesome as one. It’s incredibly cheesy, yes. But everything else makes sure to justify and make up for it, especially the choreography and the rap verses.

— Alexis

Also on KultScene: Let’s Discuss: INFINITE & The SM-Woollim Merger

INFINITE’s “Destiny” brings me back to life every time I hear the song. The bubblegum dubstep just makes me want to go crazy and dance to chaotic feeling of the track. The video was filmed in California and everytime I go to Universal Studios Hollywood and see the locations of where the video was filmed I get very excited to know that the members where there. There is really not that much that I could say about this song, the best thing to do is to listen to it and watch the video to get full “Destiny” experience.

— Alejandro

I love “Rosinante” for it’s positive message about overcoming hardships. The title is based on the name of Don Quixote’s horse, a symbol of something that is unable to accomplish the tasks set before it. “Rosinante” is anything but that, and is instead an upbeat, extremely positive dance track with INFINITE’s iconic retro, synth style. “Rosinante” isn’t one of INFINITE’s title tracks, but the powerful beats and various instrumentals, each member’s solo lines, and the lyrics of the song makes “Rosinante” just one of the many non-title track songs that deserves praise. With some falsetto thrown in and a stand out performance by the seven members of INFINITE, “Rosinante” is one of my favorite songs by the group.


–Tamar

What’s your favorite song by INFINITE? Let us know your picks in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to the site and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr to keep up with all of our posts.

Let’s Discuss: INFINITE & The SM-Woollim Merger

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Let’s go back a little less than a year ago in Seoul: INFINITE gets up on stage at the first night of their world tour, performs a bit, and then starts to talk. With tears on their eyes, they apologize and promise fans that things won’t change, and swear that INFINITE will always be INFINITE.

No, a member didn’t leave, but news broke that day anouncing that INFINITE’s company, Woollim Entertainment, would be merging with SM C&C. And yet, in that moment, sitting in the audience, and only picking up every few words with my limited knowledge of Korean, I thought that INFINITE was disbanding. Or, at the very least, a member was heading to the army. The way that INFINITE acted towards Inspirit (the group’s fanclub), seemed like the members had to apologize for practically killing someone. Why?

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In South Korea, SM Entertainment is both respected and feared. The first few days after the announcement of the merger, fans wrote articles saying things like, Did SM buy INFINITE’s company so that the group wouldn’t compete with SHINee and EXO? (Both groups are some of SM’s most popular).

Fans feared that INFINITE would be relegated to some backburner by SM and not be able to be competition. What many fans missed (but others pointed out) was that Woollim Label (no longer an entertainment company in its own right) would still have control over INFINITE and other Woollim artists, like Nell and Tasty. This meant that INFINITE would, hopefully, still have the artistic guidance that it had had since debut.

In Retrospect, Why The Merger?

First thing’s first: Money. INFINITE, almost singlehandedly, took care of Woollim. Yes, Nell is extremely popular in Korea, but it doesn’t rake in the income from various appearances on television, concerts, CFs, and more, that INFINITE does. The two Tasty twins also aren’t even close to being big enough to take care of an entertainment company. Woollim has always been amazing at what it does, but has been too small to really support several artists because only one group was bringing in constant funds.

Second: SM is bigger, which opens more doors in Korea.

Third: INFINITE really was competition for SHINee and EXO. The group filmed a $1 million blockbuster music video in the U.S., even though it was never released. The original video included a plane wreck scene, and due to the Asiana Airlines crash of 2013, Woollim decided it would be insensitive to release. Moreover,  they had embarked on a world tour, and had members debuting as solo artists (Sungkyu) and becoming incredibly popular actors (L and Hoya), to name a few.

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INFINITE was, and is, big. So when a big company sees a little company being successful, the typical response is, “let’s buy it out.” A merge helped both Woollim and SM –Woollim got the financial backing it may have been lacking, and SM got rid of competition by incorporating it.

A Year Later, What Happened? 

Pretty much, just that—INFINITE came back with Back, and it’s been well-received so far. Last Romeo also topped the charts, although fans’ generally thought that it wasn’t INFINITE’s best song. But, it meant that the group would still be active —which it had been doing since the merger occurred.

Since the merger occurred, other than releasing the album Last Romeo and its repackage Be Back, the group also released The Origin, a completely instrumental album of all of INFINITE’s best songs.

Moreover, INFINITE has held several concerts, introduced an upcoming subgroup INFINITE F (Sungyeol, Sungjong, and L), and appeared on the variety show This Is INFINITE.

Separately, the members have also been busy –Woohyun, Sungyeol, and L have all acted in dramas, while the other members have frequented variety shows.

What Did INFINITE Gain By The Merger? 

Well, for one thing, there was this little thing called ToHeart—INFINITE’s Woohyun and SHINee’s Key, who have long been known to be best friends, were able to have a project group now that they were both under the SM umbrella. And people really liked it!

Then, there’s the support from SM; while idols at different entertainment companies generally are civil, they rarely promote one another. But when Sungyeol appeared on Law of The Jungle – Caribbean & Maya, members of Girls’ Generation cheered him on. There have been several other cases now where SM artists and INFINITE have been seen together in a way that they never had appeared before.

[As a side note: Since the merger, SM artists and Woollim artists have been collaborating more in general – on We Got Married Global Edition, f(x)’s Amber and Tasty’s Soryong have worked together as MCs.]

Oh, and, of course, INFINITE (and other Woollim acts) now appear at SMTown concerts.

So… What Was The Freak Out About?

Pretty much? Nothing really.

So is SM still a threat to INFINITE’s integrity? Probably not.

There was definitely room to worry,  but then it turned out that INFINITE would still be INFINITE. The group pretty much has kept doing what it’s done in the past- make really good, retro-inspired music with perfect synchronization.

And continued to be the derps they started out as.

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What do you think? Has INFINITE changed since the merger? Be sure to share your thoughts and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,
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