LOOK

Once perpetually bright as fluorescent markers, Apink embraces more subtle shades and moods on their ninth mini-album, *Look*. Their upbeat R&B and pop still glows but with muted strength. Their maturity especially shows on “Moment,” an ascendant and cascading ballad. A wellness message blends nicely with carefully crafted synth-pop on “Be Myself,” while shades of 2000s Ashanti can be felt on “Yummy.” Yet for all the growth, *Look* hasn’t left their core contingent behind. “Dumhdurum” and “Everybody Ready?” serve as the mini-album’s banger bookends, and “Love Is Blind” and “Overwrite” blend romance woes and inner thoughts into K-pop catnip.