K-Pop’s retro boy band revels in the R&B flavour of the late ’90s

Anyone longing for the R&B-flavoured sound of ’90s boy-band pop will love the fifth album from EXO. The nine-member group once again revels in the era’s huge grooves (“Tempo”), sugary harmonies (“Damage”) and singalong choruses (“24/7”). There’s always more to this crew than their retro streak though. “With You” is a slice of falsetto-soul unexpectedly powered by chilled-out, club-ready breakbeats, while “Bad Dream” fuses the upbeat rush of house music with the moodiness of trap. But even with those new tweaks to their sound, it’s the period-perfect dance-floor bops (“Gravity”) and slow jams (“Ooh La La La”) that continue to make EXO one of South Korea’s hottest exports.