KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Wanna One is back with their second mini-album 0+1=1 (I Promise You),  a followup to last year’s 1-1=0 (Nothing Without You).

Featuring seven new tracks, the music video for the title track Boomerang was launched alongside the album on March 19.

Like the flashy but rather confusing Boomerang video, I Promise You is a mixed bag that hints at a lot of missed potential.

It doesn’t help that as usual YMC Entertainment, the group’s agency, has again turned to lesser-known writers and producers resulting in tracks that are serviceable but hardly stellar.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. GOLD

GOLD was originally supposed to be the title track but was shelved in favour of Boomerang, the latter track judged a better fit for their new "strong and sexy concept.”

That was probably the album’s first mistake. Co-written by Hyun Ji Won, JQ, ESBEE (Korea), Kiggen & ASSBRASS, the track starts off with a mellow falsetto over a subtle guitar track, slowly bringing in what sounds like actual drums instead of an EDM loop. The beat picks up before again favouring a slower, driving tempo in the chorus.

EDM has been the driving trend behind most of K-pop’s biggest hits over the last three years and GOLD is much less reliant on the tired formula of generic EDM/beat drop, favouring a more solid pop flavour. Think a more mature followup to last year’s monster Wanna One hit Energetic that was straight-up pop and easily one of 2017’s best K-pop tracks.

2. 약속해요 (IPU)

IPU (short for I Promise You), from the Galacktika team, was released prior to the album as a gift to fans.

The track is full-on EDM with rather dated drum tracks that sound as though they were stripped from a Greatest Hits 2000 dance music album.

While charming, the song’s appeal would be limited to fans who would appreciate the cutesy sentiments urging the listener to promise to stay loyal and remember them, in return promising their own devotion.

3. 부메랑 (Boomerang)

Boomerang is the kind of oddity only K-pop can produce. It starts off with the refrain "wing wing wing wing Boomerang.”

No, it doesn’t make sense -- but it’s the kind of oddness that K-pop gets away with. This time the songwriting team is composed of Shaun Kim, BreadBeat, WonderKid & ROYDO who’ve meshed together an odd electro trap song that seems as though they just decided to mix drums, synths and random rap lines in a blender to see how it sounds.

It never properly builds itself up to a decent chorus which might explain why the video is as much of a mess as this track.

For a better example of a song that uses a nonsensical refrain and makes it work in its favour, there’s EXO’s reggae-infused Ko Ko Bop.

4. WE ARE

On songwriting credits this time, it’s MACHINE and Time & GRVVITY (yeah I don’t get the spelling either) for a song that is so generic you can play this five times and not remember how it goes.

With lyrics like We run for the throne and we got this/We don’t need to play the game and the constant refrain We Are, We Are, it’s perhaps the most boring song on the album. Hard pass.

5. 보여 (Day by Day)

Fortunately the B-sides on the album save the day. Day by Day is a fun, breezy track with R&B styling and breezy synths. Party In My Pool & Jeong Ho Hyun (e.one) are behind this one and while it’s one of those laidback, fun tunes you’d play in the car it does have this funny off-beat loop that sticks in your head and not in the good way.

But if you can ignore the weird loop it’s a nice change for Wanna One with its more grown-up vibe.

6.   너의 이름을 (I’ll Remember)

Shim Kung & Dalli co-penned this song, which starts off as a straight-up piano ballad before seguing into a rap segment (of course) and a more laidback drum loop, with some strings thrown back.

It’s a sweet song that is perhaps the better version of last year’s Always from Wanna One’s first comeback, with less repetitiveness and dialing down the melodrama.

The stripped-down instrumentation allows Wanna One’s vocals to shine through instead of drowning them in EDM beats and overproduction.

7. 약속해요 (IPU) (Propose Ver.)

The ballad version of IPU strips away all the annoying bits from the original, leaving behind sweet falsettos and clear bell tones. A nice way to close the album that makes me wish they’d released this version instead of the beat-laden original.

Overall, Wanna One shows some growth musically with stronger-sounding vocal and rap performances.

What’s still a pity that this group of talented young men are forced to contend with material that is only elevated by the fact it’s them performing it.

Let’s hope YMC invests in some bigger names for their next tracks before the group’s contract ends in 2019, marking the end of a chapter for one of K-pop’s biggest sensations.