ONEUS's New "Now"

By Kya Brogdon | 27 May, 2024

Image via @official_ONEUS on Twitter

For their first release of 2024, ONEUS have dropped their digital single “Now,” a cover of the third title track from the girl group Fin.K.L. Originally released in 2000, ONEUS's version of “Now” joins the ranks of iconic covers like NCT DREAM’s “Candy” (originally by H.O.T), aespa’s “Dreams Come True” (originally by S.E.S), Monday & Jang Hyunseung’s “Love Me or Leave Me” (originally by DAY6) and StayC’s “Fancy” (originally by TWICE). 

To stay true to the song's roots, the ONEUS members took direction for their vocals from members of Fin.K.L, as well as adapted the choreography to fit their styles under the direction of Aiki, a prominent and popular South Korean female dancer and choreographer. The dedication to making sure their take on the song still gives flowers to the original while showing off their signature flair is admirable.The catchy melody and rhythm of the song is still as prominent in this cover as it is in the original, and the members' vocal tones lend themselves to the slight stylization of the instrumental backing. I’ve been humming it since the first listen, and I don’t think I’ll stop anytime soon. Although ONEUS just finished their 2nd world tour, I hope this cover gets added to their setlist for the next one - this is definitely something I would love to see live.

My favorite part of this release is the hilarious music video: viewers follow the five members as they execute a complex heist full of comedic moments. To break into the building, the members don janitor uniforms and fake a spill in the lobby to distract the lone security guard on the floor. Once inside, the tech-man of the crew portrayed by Xion hacks into the building’s security to open the secret doors they need to get through to get to the vault they are after. Once inside, we see them rifle through different drawers in order to find the small tin they’re after - only for the alarms to sound throughout the building just as they find it. After making an attempt to escape, the members are met with a locked door that they can’t get open, and we as an audience see the video rewind to show Xion stick the gum he had chewed earlier in the video outside the vault door. With a push of a button, the gum ignites and the building explodes. While this is the last we see of the members in their heist uniforms, after the ending dance Seoho pulls out the same tin they took from the vault in the building, alluding to the fact that they somehow made it out of the explosion unscathed. However, Seoho opens the tin to reveal that it’s empty, missing whatever it was that they were after, and the video fades with the members looking directly at the camera. I can’t even touch on all of the flashes of funny things that happen throughout the video, it’s truly one that you just have to watch.

While I wasn’t super familiar with the original song before hearing that ONEUS was dropping a cover, after listening to the original track and with ONEUS’s history in covering girl group songs (their cover of BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom” lives in my head rent free),  It is safe to say they once again succeeded in releasing an iconic take of an iconic track. Both the cover and the original have made it onto my playlist rotation, and I can’t wait to see what ONEUS comes out with next.