LOVELYZ - 'GIRLS INVASION'
Woolim's first girl group, Lovelyz, has finally dropped a full album. After releasing a host of singles, they've gathered those together with some new material for their debut album. Though there's been controversy, nothing's been confirmed and I'm anything but a rumormonger.
The first track, "Introducing The Candy," is sort of a reinterpretation of the second track, "Candy Jelly Love," with a keyboard standing in for the girls' vocals. The intro song is vocal-less save for very faint "ah-oohs" from the girls themselves, and precious few of those. Didn't make much of an impression on me, frankly.
Moving along, the lead single is "Candy Jelly Love," which starts with a plucky synth before adding some fuller riffs and vocals. The pre-chorus ratchets up the tempo, adding more synth riffs, and the song starts chugging before stripping itself back down for the main verses and the bridge. It has a very innocent feel to it, and is refreshing and cheery.
Things slow down for the pre-release track, "Goodnight Like Yesterday," a sweetly sung ballad. I kinda like the synth strings they serve up here. The riff reminds me of a harp for some reason. This song actually proceeds at a nice pace and kept my interest for a ballad.
"Farewell, Chapter 1" turns the tempo up with an insistent synth riff and more danceable beat. It's a nice, straight-ahead pop tune. According to the lyrics, the girls are saying that they're better off alone, that they don't need anyone. What's kind of interesting is that the high-pitched vocals don't really exude confidence to me, or at least the strength that they're trying to convey.
Track five, "Secret Journey," starts out strange, sounding like a hospital with life support and the beeps that go along with that. It quickly becomes a bit annoying, as too-high-pitched vocals repeat "My lies" over and over. It mars what is otherwise an enjoyable light, fluffy, pop tune. There are amusing breaks here when a sampled male voice says "living, living, living stereo."
The rest of the album is all previous solo singles, some going back as far as 2010. Babysoul's solo, "No Better Than Strangers," is a serious ballad with emotional vocals detailing a woman's criticisms of her hot-and-cold running boyfriend. "She is a Flirt" (Babysoul and Kei's duet) starts out with a painfully shrill synth line before mercifully fading into a more bass-driven ballad. Ji Ae's track, "Delight," lays down mid-tempo pop beats and injects some life into the album again. The disc finishes with JIN's solo ballad, "GONE."
I have to admit that albums like this are my guilty pleasures. High-pitched vocals, fluffy pop tunes, and overall aegyo I find enjoyable to listen to and can often be heard when I'm working. The songs on this album remind me a lot of Girl's Day and A Pink in some ways, and I think this is an impressive debut. Now, if we can coax some amazing songs like "Exception" out of them, I think they could hit some all-kills.
Recommended tracks: "Candy Jelly Love," "Farewell, Chapter 1"
MV REVIEW: Candy Jelly Love
I think something like this MV was the right approach. They range in age from 16-22, so a sexy concept would have left out half the band if they wanted to stay away from being highly inappropriate.
There is no plot in this MV, but there doesn't need to be. Adorable girls dancing around a school in school uniforms, eating candy, throwing balls around, and putting their heads down on desks sleeping. No shortage of things to look at, and they don't linger on one scene too long.
There's also a lot of color to this video, which helps it pop. I think anything much more serious would have blunted the impact a lot. No, there's no amazing special effects, no deep symbolism, and nothing more than some aegyo and school-related hijinks. But I believe this is largely the point. It was still enjoyable, and that's all that matters, right?
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