Tracklist:

1. Intro – Prologue 

2. Lonely (???) - Title Track

3. Past Love (?? ??) (ft. Harim)

4. Amazing 

5. Baby 

6. Oh My God 

7. Too Much (??) 

8. Beautiful (??) 

9. Who Am I 

10. Drunk with the Music (??? ??)

11. Road (?)

12. Seoul

Upon first listen of B1A4's new album 'Who Am I' I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Admittedly, I am not a big fan of B1A4 nor was I too impressed when I heard their single 'Beautiful Target' more than two years ago. However, 'Who Am I' was a sleekly composed album exuding the group's winsome charms through their beautifully crafted songs. If I remember correctly, B1A4 emerged as a gem amongst the ever-swirling vortex of idol groups in the popular music scene through their carefully molded 'cute' image. The scheme was, of course, successful and B1A4 now is well-received by the masses.

But the boy band has long outgrown the adorable, quirky concept that can be clearly witnessed in their earlier videos. Further, it appears to me that this album focuses far more on the pains of break up than the initial, fluttery stages of new-found love. Their 'experience' with the loss of love signifies the group's tentative step into the realm of maturity. Just listen to their maudlin ballads 'Love Then' and 'Too Much', both exploring the heartaches of pining for someone already long gone. Although I am not too fond of ballads or slow songs, 'Love Then' is one of the tracks that stood out the most to me. The song contains both lovely harmonization and lyrics which go, "Love gave me happiness then but also gave me the pain of farewell; farewell gave me sadness but now they're memories more beautiful than pain".

If you are not too big a fan of ballads much like I am, you might benefit from listening to the album in all its entirety. Not only does the album include crooning ballads, there are also power pop anthems sounding akin to—please don't hate me for the comparison—what a very popular American pop boy band may sing on the radio. 'Amazing' and 'Who Am I' are the kind of songs you may easily hear on your mainstream radio station in the states—except the lyrics are 99% Korean. I found myself wriggling my body in the most ungainly way possible along to the 'Na na na na' refrain in 'Who Am I', unconsciously hooked to the catchiness of the melody.

I also cannot forget to mention the group's interpretation of R&B in their songs 'Baby' and 'Seoul'. The slow tempo of 'Baby', blended with the soulful licks of an electric guitar caught the immediate attention of my ears. 'Seoul' is another R&B-inspired jam, thickly layered with bass, guitar and the subtle piano sprinkled here and there. I might even go as far as to say 'Seoul' is my other favorite besides 'Love Then'. The group's title track 'Lonely' could also be considered R&B but is more 'pop', which I supposed was intentional so as to help an audience that is unfamiliar with the R&B genre ease into it.

So do I recommend the album? Yes, I wholeheartedly do. 'Who Am I'? I believe they really answered that question and found themselves with this album. B1A4 is categorized as 'dance' on Naver but they're far from it, if not anything but. They proved that they are more than capable of playing with different genres.