[#44] 2PM - "이 노래를 듣고 돌아와" (Come Back When You Hear This Song)

From: "Grown"
Released: May
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Entries: 2009: "I Hate You" and [#9] "1:59PM" / 2011: [#26] "Don't You Know"
Other notable song(s) from 2013: "Go Back", "오늘부터 1일", "하.니.뿐."

Once in a while my soft spot for 2PM resurfaces, mainly because we go way back. They were one of the first Kpop acts I heard of, back when they were promoting "Again and Again", and back then I was a JYP stan of sorts, so they were the obvious choice. (I never became a "proper fan" though!) And they have had some great songs over the years, so it's not as if that soft spot of mine is completely baseless.

"Come Back When You Hear This Song" was the first 2PM song I heard in a while, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was still very much 2PM, which is basically very much JYP -- the whiny, choppy vocals, the half-cheap half-okay synth line, and the catchy hook were all there. But true to the title of the album this comes from, it's a more mature sound for the group.

2PM were never really "juvenile" as far as their singles were concerned (except maybe "10 points out of 10"), but "Come Back When You Hear This Song" has an air of refinement to it. From the crisp beats, to the cinematic/melodramatic piano line, to the chorus of background vocals at the hook, they all give the standard JYP elements some sophistication. The song is very much like the style of the video with the crisp suits, the skyline, the well-dressed female actress -- if those visuals were translated into sounds, "Come Back When You Hear This Song" would be that sound.

As a whole the song is about as anthemic as JYP can get -- the hook is catchy without being too annoying. There is always that element of annoying in JYP songs that you learn to appreciate, so long as it doesn't go overboard. In this case, it's tempered by a melody that's easy on the ears, very clean production, and an instrumental with a dynamic arrangement. This is one of the few JYP songs I can actually put on loop!