Known for dramatic, dance songs, INFINITE returned with a new take on their typical style in their latest song "Bad."

Released on July 13, "Bad" is the sort of powerful, upbeat song that fans expect from INFINITE, but with a more dizzying, complex style than other, smoother INFINITE songs. With trap and orchestral elements, "Bad" offers INFINITE a new, experimental style than what the group has released in the past without relinquishing their representative retro sound.

While "Bad" offers different elements than many of INFINITE's earlier promotional tracks, there is little lacking in the outstanding track from INFINITE's latest mini album, "Reality."

Thanks to the arrangement and dynamic vocals from the group, "Bad" doesn't come off as a cliched K-pop dance song but shows growth from INFINITE's members, regarding both style and vocal skills. Whereas INFINITE's older songs, including 2014's "Back," are exemplified by powerful build ups to smooth dance choruses, "Bad" turns up the volume from the beginning of the song and only then transitions to INFINITE's usual smooth style. 

"Bad" kicks off with tapping synth and a vibrant strings introduction, before the first bombastic lines from leader Sungkyu. An underlying bass beat flits throughout "Bad," disappearing at times but always reappaering eventually, as various instrumentals including strings and piano notes accompany individual lines by members.

Duality is key in the song when it comes to the vocals, as building beats are paired with smooth bridges and members sing in pairs, offering up falsettoes, duets, and harmonies. In comparison to other INFINITE songs, rap plays a relatively small role in "Bad," with only a few lines of rap throughout the entire song as the song is swallowed up by powerful beats. 

The varying tempo of "Bad," ranging from slow bridges to the fast paced chorus, comes off occasionally as disjointed but usually works thanks to the previously mentioned beats and instrumentals, each of which appears seamlessly interwoven throughout the song. 

The catchy, repetitive chorus is made to dance to, but is highlighted each time by a drop in rhythm immediately preceding it that could appear to slow down the song but helps to build up to the loud chorus. The strong beat is different than what INFINITE has favored in the past for their choruses, with more bombast and less synchronity than the group traditionally favors, but the overall style of "Bad" fits into INFINITE's style. 

INFINITE has full mastery over analogous sounds (as seen in the group's early song like "The Chaser" and "Paradise,") and doesn't disappoint in "Bad," except at one point where the attempt to meld fast paced dance music with classical elements comes off as awkward. Towards the end of "Bad" the music stops entirely following Woohyun's solo before leading into chorus, and seems a bit lacking after the preceding build up. However, this momentary pause does not ruin the overall sound of "Bad."

"Bad" is particularly noteworthy for being one of INFINITE's most evenly distributed singles ever, with all seven of the members singing a nice amount of lines. Previously, the members of subgroup INFINITE F (Sungyeol, L, and Sungjong) typically had far fewer lines than INFINITE's power vocalists Sungkyu and Woohyun and rappers Hoya and Dongwoo, but that has changed in "Bad." The song successfully showcases the diverse vocal ranges of all of INFINITE's members via a variety of styles throughout the song that enables each member's vocals to shine.

At first glance, "Bad" seems like a glaring diversion from INFINITE's usual sound. But the experimental, disconjointed sound, keeps the familiar elements that INFINITE has showcased in the past and morphs them into something louder and more dynamic.  

Watch the music video for INFINITE's "Bad" RIGHT HERE:

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