With its members in various states of pre and post military enlistment, Winner is currently in a bubble that’s allowed them to schedule a full-group concert for later this spring. I wonder if they’ll release new music to go along with this milestone? For now, we’ll make do with a solo single from the group’s leader, Kang Seung Yoon.

Born To Love You arrives on the heels of Seung Yoon’s first full-length album last year. It’s another ballad, and is gaining headlines thanks to a co-writing credit from Bang Yedam (of fellow YG group Treasure). Beyond a Treasure b-side, we haven’t had much of a taste of Yedam’s composition skills. Born To Love You doesn’t add a great deal of artistic perspective. Its slow burn approach feels instantly familiar, cruising as more on sentiment than dynamic song construction. The track is pretty and effective, but not all that striking.

Seung Yoon’s vocals elevate the song’s relatively flat melody. He brings drama and gravitas in all the right places, giving Born To Love You a personal touch. Even so, he’s recorded much stronger work in the past. Maybe I’m anchored too heavily to times gone by, but I still hold up pre-Winner tracks like Wild & Young, Stealer and It Rains as the best his solo work has had to offer. Born To Love You is a fine addition to his discography, but feels slight when stacked against more memorable material.