As comeback season rolls around again in kpop, we have a lot of amazing comebacks already. Including comebacks from groups like Pentagon and Ateez, and soloists like IU. But there’s still so many more to come as the year rolls around (including an upcoming release for BTS and an album comeback from TXT). One highly anticipated comeback for the end of April was from the group Enhypen. This was Enhypen’s first comeback since their debut last November, but it was a comeback that many fans were waiting for. Truly, the Enhypen comeback was one worth waiting for.
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Enhypen Comeback – All You Need to Know
Enhypen’s comeback was April 26, 2021. They came back with an album titled “BORDER: CARNIVAL” and a music video for their title track “Drunk-Dazed.” This album is a part of the same series as their first album, “Border: Day One” with the title track “Given-Taken.”
With this new album “BORDER: CARNIVAL,” there’s a total of six tracks—an intro, four songs, and an outro. Not only do they keep the same setup as the first album, they also continue the same theme. In the music video for “Given-Taken,” their debut song, you can notice the theme of vampires—complete with visuals of bats, implications of searching for fangs, and the occasional neck biting (you know, very vampire-like things). With their recent title track “Drunk-Dazed,” they take the vampire theme to a new level.
Compared to the first music video, the music video for their song “Drunk-Dazed” is more modern and dips into other supernatural phenomena. This is shown at the very beginning of the music video with the two “werewolves” being introduced. As the music video progresses, we see continuous blood-drinking images and other vampire related things. We can’t fully say what the Enhypen storyline is with the vampires yet, but it’s slowly beginning to take form with each new music videos they put out. And with each new Enhypen comeback, I’m sure the story will only grow.
Impressions of Each Song on the Album
Firstly, this is just my opinion as an Engene (their fanbase name), but “BORDER: CARNIVAL” is an amazing album in its entirety. Though the intro and the outro might eventually become tracks I skip (because they’re not actual songs, but talking), every song on this album is powerful and catchy and something I find myself humming along to even when I’m not playing them.
Intro: The Invitation
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-OuEDkHiCk[/embedyt]
This first track is haunting. It continues the creepy carnival/circus music that had ended the last album. But it quickly shifts into a more upbeat tune that brings a bit of… chaos with it. Jake is the member speaking—as it’s in English and he’s their resident English-speaking member from Australia. And his voice really sends a chill down your spine, especially with the last line “Hey, come inside the castle. Take everything.” What better way to start off the Enhypen comeback than with an invitation?
Drunk-Dazed
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc7-Oe0tj5k[/embedyt]
Oh. My. Gosh. This title track is everything you could hope for in a song. There’s build-up to the chorus, powerful beats, and a catchy tune. In fact, this title track hit just right in the Twitter world that other kpop fandoms were using the song for their edits. I’ve personally seen edits with this song for Jin from BTS, Seonghwa from Ateez, Yeonjun from TXT… it’s gone viral in the kpop twitter world. It’s so vastly different from their debut song, but shows just how much growth they’ve gone through. (And I won’t even talk about the amazing choreography.)
FEVER
Jaw dropping. That’s all I have to say. This is easily my favorite song on the album. The vocals, the beats, the mere feeling this song gives is too much to put into words. It’s like a slow jam song that you’d blast driving down the highway late at night with no other cars around—not that I’ve fully experienced that, but it’s kind of that feeling.
Not For Sale
As soon as this song starts, you just want to smile. It’s catchy, it’s upbeat, and it’s a bit groovy. The high notes during the chorus hit just right and the continuous du-dum rhythm in the background is enough to get you tapping your foot along. What makes this song better is the adorable choreography that goes with it—there are pastels, baggy pants, and as many heart variations as the members’ hands can make.
별안간 (Mixed Up)
Just like the rest of the album, this song brings it’s own unique beat and feeling. This one is also rather upbeat, but the pre-chorus to chorus parts are just downright beautiful. Though the beats are quicker than the other songs, the song itself seems to move along slowly. (Personally, I will never get over Niki—the youngest member who’s from Japan—saying “I won’t stop” at the 1:43 mark. It was so surprising the first time I heard it.)
Outro: The Wormhole
The outro, unlike the intro, is more talking than music. It wraps up a lot of the feeling of the album, but also leaves us wanting more. The last line sticks out the most: “And when we wake at this tunnel’s end, what vision awaits?”
Enhypen Comeback Show on M2
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjEh2_iVhvs[/embedyt]
The Enhypen Comeback Show came out just a few hours after the album was released. The members partook in various games and performances. Since the album itself was carnival themed, it only makes sense that they would visit their own kind of carnival during the show.
It started off with a performance of their debut song “Given-Taken” and an edit of their new “Intro: The Invitation” track.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6lGfN8rdZI[/embedyt]
From here, it transitioned to the members walking in one-by-one to fill out a survey for entrance to the carnival room. Complete with a few funny jokes and cute poses.
Next, before the members start with the things on the agenda board, their performance for “Not For Sale” comes.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPevsbgX3SQ[/embedyt]
After this performance, the members start off by talking about the new album and having fun. When they move onto the first thing apart of their agenda, they’re excited. Of course, who wouldn’t be excited when it’s a dance party?
As the show progresses, the members are split into groups of two (and one single—poor Niki was unable to make a pair) and complete other missions from their agenda board. One of which includes writing a story with their fans, Engene. The show then moves on to their powerful performance of “별안간 (Mixed Up).”
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXaGzy_cbYQ[/embedyt]
The last segment of the Enhypen Comeback Show is a hilarious gift giving section where they realize that the staff is more tricks than truth… The members have a great time teasing each other and making light of the funny gifts they receive.
Their last performance is of their title track “Drunk-Dazed.”
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wq8kkdDDts[/embedyt]
Enhypen’s Growth Since Their Last Album
If you listen to this Enhypen Comeback versus their first album—which came out November 2020, only five or so months ago—it’s undeniable that they’ve grown immensely. Their sound has matured and their dancing has gotten sharper than before. They truly have their own sound now, and it’s amazing to hear.
What makes Enhypen stand out?
Compared to other 4th-gen groups in kpop, Enhypen is unique because they are a globally made group. They came from the show I-Land—a 2020 show created by Belift Lab (a joint company that’s under CJ E&M and Hybe Corporation). It was a reality show that consisted of twenty-three male trainees all working to debut in the fan selected group. At the end of the show, the seven chosen were the ones to form Enhypen.
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Each member was picked through fan voting, team grading, and judges choice. The show itself was heavily involved with global voting from fans, so Enhypen debuted with a relatively large international fanbase (myself included). This most likely explains why many of the members were also from various countries—Niki is from Japan, Jake is from Australia, and Jay grew up in the US for a while.
Because of the show, fans already followed Enhypen long before their debut. I-Land itself gave fans insights to the members before any actual content was out. It made the group have a stronger and more unique connection to their fans.
What has Enhypen been dealing with since their debut?
Compared to a lot of older groups within the 4th-gen, Enhypen (as well as other groups that have debuted in the past year) have had to deal with the difficult task of performing without fans. Since their debut, Enhypen has only met with their fans in person a few times. The first time was for a small fanmeet performance—which, unfortunately, they could only allow fans in for the first day and then they had to go back to strictly online for the second day. Enhypen was only able to meet with their fans in person again recently. They had an actual fanmeet on the 30th of April to celebrate their comeback. Of course, there was still a glass between them and their fans…
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As someone who’s watched them grow from the very beginning of I-Land, it makes me curious to see how they’ll react once they are able to perform in front of a crowd. I hope they’ll get to hear the chants of their fans soon, though. They’ve worked rather hard during everything without being able to actually see their fans.
Where to find more about the Enhypen Comeback
Enhypen is on all platforms, so you can follow their accounts to learn more about their latest comeback. Including: the Official Twitter Account and the Member Twitter Account, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, VLive, and Weverse. The members are most active on their Twitter and Weverse accounts, so check those first if you want to see more interactions with their fans.
To hear the album directly, you can get a digital copy on iTunes or listen to it on Spotify and YouTube. You can buy the album on Amazon and the Weverse Shop.
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Of course, the Enhypen comeback is just one of many this season. But theirs stood out and truly showed the amazing growth they’ve gone under since their first album. If you’d like to read into more amazing comebacks from kpop or just learn a bit more about the whole kpop scene, you can read through our KPop Category. If you are interested in learning more on Kpop girl groups, check out the video below!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yb_8nqHVaY[/embedyt]
