A PINK - PINK LUV ALBUM & MV REVIEW

After a week-long delay, A Pink dropped their fifth mini-album, 'Pink Luv.' Mere hours after its release, the title song hit number 1 on major charts, including Bugs, Genie, Melon, Mnet, Monkey3, Olleh, and Soribada.

The first song, "LUV," is straight-on cutesy K-pop. Sampled break beats give the tune some punch and I love Eunji's part in the chorus:

Do you remember the time we spent together?
L-O-V-E LUV
Are you excited? Once it was everything
L-O-V-E LUV
The time we had comes to my mind sometimes
L-O-V-E LUV

And the bridge with Chorong and Hayoung,"Do you miss me?" is a nice sweet touch. The honeyed vocals and the stuttering nature of the "L-O-V-E LUV" combine to make the tune both danceable and sugary at the same time.��



Next up is "Wanna Be" and it's even sweeter than the first track, if that's possible. Unhampered by the hip-hop stylings of "LUV," it comes off as brighter and cheerier. I feel that the girls' vocals really help carry the song even more than the first track. While there are no standout parts, I can hear their voices better here. I can tell who's singing each part even more, and they share the vocal duties on this song nicely.

Cymbals give way to synth claps and piano in the ballad "Secret." Bomi and Eunji really do a bang-up job on the vocals. Gentle and sentimental, the secret is that she loves someone who apparently is emotionally unavailable.



"Not An Angel" is a cheery melody that lifts the tempo and the spirits. This song is the most playful one on 'Pink Luv.' You can hear hints of electric guitar and a synth violin and the girls handle the pounding beat well. The point of this song is rather amusing: apparently she doesn't want to be an angel from heaven, she wants to be a bit bad or at least mortal enough to love her guy.

The final song is "Love Like A Fairytale." A flute intro starts out this confidently sung track. There are hints here of an epic, perhaps something you would hear out of a drama or an anime. The track feels very much like something off an OST. You get the sense from the vocals that the girls feel strongly about what they're singing, without getting overwrought. There's even a sample of a music box in here, with the sounds of it being wound. I like that; it adds dimension to prevent boredom. Something more to listen to, to contemplate as you listen.



This is a breath of fresh air for this time of year. In my hemisphere, the clouds are gathering, rain is falling, and there's usually more darkness than daylight. This entry into the light, fluffy pop canon help put a smile on my face and had me singing along during some parts. Listening to this album, it's no surprise why people become Pink Pandas.

MV REVIEW

Eschewing the sexy concept, the girls of A Pink find themselves in the 1930s. They sport various outfits to match, with their man or alone, weepy eyed and forlorn.

There are some nice touches here, such as the car. Well, they're never actually in the car, but it helps serve as a quick visual reminder of the time period (a la Boardwalk Empire). Shots of them framed by ironwork gates also lend a touch of class to the video.



The dance is anything but challenging, but as they aren't really marketed on their dance skills, I'll let it slide. I do like the way they used the dance breaks in the song to give you closeups of the members.

The plot, such as it is, has the girls remembering good times with their man and being sad that they're broken up. Their expressions seemed genuine, I'll tell you that and it made me want to comfort them.�



The girls end up in enough unique environments to keep my interest. Everything from standing by those trees with notes on them, through the iron gates, inside a mansion, around the car, dancing and singing, carving their initials into a tree, much of it done in period costumes. The scenes switch quickly to match the beat of the song. �

Overall, not a bad video. I think the 1930s set design helps to set this video apart somewhat. The video's fairly appropriate too, as the lyrics are not the happiest in the world. As notable as the lack of sexy outfits is the lack of aegyo as well, which would be out of place here. I'd watch this MV again, probably more than once, but then again, I really like the tune too.�