CRAVITY debuted during the early phase of the pandemic, with a hip-hop-driven pop sound and a “bad boy” concept on trend with other active K-pop boy groups of the time. The nine-member Starship Entertainment team was successful from the get-go, but the band took time to find its musical footing. While CRAVITY always made space for brighter, pop-infused tracks on their albums’ figurative B-sides, it wasn’t until 2022 EP NEW WAVE that they set aside the edgier bravado to more fully embrace a feel-good frivolity that evokes the members’ playfulness. CRAVITY’s seventh mini album EVERSHINE lands somewhere between the group’s early intensity and later lightheartedness. The eclectic, six-track tribute to the angst of early adulthood features the pop-rock anthem “Love or Die.” The song’s bounding, drum ’n’ bass beat lends a youthful urgency to its depiction of an all-consuming infatuation: “I know I can’t take it, the poison tastes better/I don’t wanna wake up, it’s our love or die.” Rapper-members Serim and Allen contributed lyrics to the song, while K-pop hitmaker and frequent CRAVITY collaborator Ryan Jhun has composer credits on every track on the EP. While most of EVERSHINE’s songs explore the all-encompassing nature of young love (“Oh my, this tingling feeling/Sugar rush, this dizzy chilling,” they croon in the bubblegum-bop “Cherry Blossom”), there’s still room for some attitude in club banger “Mr.” Here, a few years into their career and with an added layer of self-awareness, the swagger hits harder: “No more mister nice guy (Ha)/I’ll show you my perfect rebranding (Uh-huh).”