Supersonic

The record

Supersonic is the third single album by fromis_9, released on 12 August 2024. It carries three tracks, and the title track shares the album’s name. It came a year and two months after the full-length album Unlock My World, and it was the group’s last summer of promotion before its contract with Pledis Entertainment ended that December.

The album introduction on Bugs says the title track is an up-tempo song built on Miami bass, with words about coming to collect someone from a city summer. The same text credits Lee Sae-rom and Park Ji-won with the lyrics of the second track, ‘Beat the Heat’, and Lee Sae-rom, Park Ji-won and Lee Seo-yeon with those of the third, ‘Take A Chance’.

Reviews

Billboard placed ‘Supersonic’ among its 25 best K-pop songs of 2024. The entry, signed J.B., writes that the song “infuses the girl group’s signature bright charm with Miami bass-infused beats”, and closes: “As fromis_9 prepare to depart PLEDIS Entertainment by the year’s end, ‘Supersonic’ certainly serves as a high note in their discography, showcasing their potential for more success wherever they land next.”

NME put the song sixth in its own year-end feature that December. The entry writes: “‘Supersonic’ may very well be the last release we get from fromis_9 – the group will part ways with their label at the end of the year, leaving their future undetermined – but the sun-drenched Miami bass banger clarifies exactly why we need the dynamic girl group to stick around.” It ends: “Refreshing as a cool glass of H2O, ‘Supersonic’ is the perfect remedy for the potential drought to come.”

IZM’s Lim Dong-yeop took up the song eight days after release. He wrote that it steps aside from what a summer song is usually taken to be, and that it “takes in two styles split between danceable and wistful, and shows off a curious appeal”. He went on: “While the beat that draws out a lively mood turns busily, a chorus that keeps stretching notes long and singing them thin makes a harmony you would not have expected.”

Among the tracks

All three pages take up the title track ‘Supersonic’. Of the singing NME wrote: “After chiding the heat in raspy lower registers and vocal fry (‘Drink and drink but still parched’), then come the high notes and whistle tones with the velocity of a water cannon blast.” Billboard reported that the single was co-produced by BUMZU, a producer at the same label and a frequent SEVENTEEN collaborator.

The other two tracks are the ones members wrote for. By the album introduction, ‘Beat the Heat’ was written by Lee Sae-rom and Park Ji-won, and ‘Take A Chance’ by Lee Sae-rom, Park Ji-won and Lee Seo-yeon.

Numbers

In its own year-end entry Billboard reported that the single landed the group its first top-ten hit on Billboard’s South Korea Songs chart and spent three months on that tally. The same outlet placed the song among its 25 best K-pop songs of 2024 that December, and NME put it sixth in its own list of 25 in the same month.