Got7 is a seven-member pop and hip-hop group from South Korea. Arrival is their fifth mini album and the third in their Flight Log series. Its predecessors are Departure and Turbulence.

Each album, coupled with their music video and title tracks, follow the same story about a car crash involving the members. There have been many speculations and theories among fans about the tale behind the videos, all of which have been less than happy.

While the story behind the music videos is sad, the songs behind them cancel out the sadness with exciting instrumentals and powerful vocals. The album reached #1 on charts in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam and peaked at #5 in America.

Of the eight tracks on Arrival, all of them, with the exclusion of the title track, “Never Ever,” were composed and written by the members themselves. With each new album Got7 puts out, the percentage of songs worked on by the group themselves increases, as does the quality and maturity of the songs.

The tracks in Arrival have a heavy focus on BGM and range from intense and hard-hitting to slow and powerful.

The album opens up with the title track, “Never Ever.” The beat of the song and overall feel helps the listener get immersed from the get go. Compared to their previous title tracks, with “Never Ever,” I see a new level of maturity. The vocals and raps are flawless, and, frankly, the song is just enjoyable to listen to. It showcases the talents of each different member well and does a seamless job of making them flow together in one song. The song holds a theme of coming back to someone you’ve left with the promise to ‘never ever’ hurt them again. Compared to the hopeless themes in the following tracks, Arrival kicks off with a song that’s a breath of fresh air.

The next track, “Shopping Mall,” is one I primarily had doubts about. About two weeks prior to the release of the album, Got7 released a video of the song being recorded, and I was underwhelmed. Hearing the track after editing, though, my mind has changed. There’s a big difference between hearing the members sing their parts individually and hearing them all together. The song is about the excitement someone receives when they see their crush, similar to the feeling of going to a mall. The concept seems silly, but overall the song is energetic and fun and an earworm in the best way.

On each album, lead vocalist, Jinyoung, composes only one song. For this album, that song was “Paradise.” Similar to his previous compositions, “Can’t” and “Mayday,” Paradise takes on a somber tone and mixes it with instrumentals that contradict the lyrics in a way that allows the song to truly become something more and shine. “Paradise” is about finding your sanctum in another person, and the theme is just as beautiful as the song itself.

Compared to the other songs on the album, “Sign” takes on a much more relaxed sound. The song is about a girl who the signer still misses even though they’ve been apart for a long time. The theme of the song reminded me a lot of one of their previous tracks, “Back to Me.” The primary difference between “Sign” and “Back to Me” being the way the music meshes with the lyrics. While “Back to Me” had to stay happy and fun to match well with the Just Right album, “Sign” is able to sound just as heart wrenching as the story behind it is, allowing the listener to truly feel the deep emotions behind it. Another aspect I really loved about “Sign” was that, unlike many other songs, each chorus was sung by a different member. This allowed each chorus to give off a different feeling as the song progressed and really make a story out of it.

“Go Higher” was worked on by four different members of the group as well as the composer of the title track for this and the last album Got7 put out. This is evident within the energy and mixture of styles within the song. It’s the type of track that makes you want to dance and sing along as the energy backing it is strong and the singers themselves put just as much of that energy into performing it.

My personal favorite track on Arrival is “Q.” “Q” is an upbeat and fun song about the push and pull of a girl who is hesitant to reveal her true feelings. The beat is very bubbly and matches well with the tone of the song. Although it’s evident from the lyrics that the situation is frustrating, the song still manages to put a smile on my face as the feeling of it is so happy.

Out of all the tracks, I believe “Don’t Care” best showcases Got7’s transition to a more mature group. The song was worked on by youngest member, Yugyeom. Many of the songs Yugyeom has worked on previous have been fun and upbeat, but “Don’t Care” is much more of what one might call a ‘slow jam’. The song has a slow and powerful beat reminiscent of popular American artists at the moment and brings in a whole new sound to the album as a whole.

“OUT” is a fitting ending track to Arrival as the most repeated line in the song is “I’m out.” The track actually spurred from an inside joke within the group, and I’m happy to say that I adore the song just as much as I adore the joke. The song incorporates so many different aspects stylistically, but never for a second does it sound like a fragmented song. “OUT” truly shows Got7’s ability to highlight each member’s individual styles and bring them all together into something fantastic.

Overall, Arrival has once again showcased Got7’s ability to raise the bar higher with each album they put out. As a fan, I am very proud of them and look forward to see what they will create for their next album, as I’m sure it’ll blow me away.