IDK if it has something to do with LSM leaving but it's looking like they saw alot of the criticism about them and actually strived to improve.
- Less reliance on KWANGYA/SMCU and we can see that with the fact that this is their first comeback with none of the ae members in teaser photos. I mean yeah there's naevis feature but I guess they wanted to keep a little something for the fans who stanned them for that.
- Slightly different sonic change......this one I was a bit skeptical about at first but the new music has been pretty good. A common critique about their music was that it sounded 'too NCT'd' and 'too experimental' but ever since Hold On Tight release they've been gaining more casual fans as the music is more 'casual fan friendly'. No more ear-piercing high notes that YYJ tends to love, etc.
- Improvement in the promo department such as Winter getting solo Vogue shoot after 84 years and them starting to perform at university festivals
And from what it looks like SPICY will end up following this pattern too
Maybe nothing of value was lost when LSM left