BESTIE - 'LOVE EMOTION'

Track List:

1. Excuse Me
2. Hush Baby
3. Single Bed
4. I'm So Fine (feat. Almeng)
5. This Day



BESTie needs no excusing as they drop their second mini-album 'Love Emotion.' Apparently, this time they were involved in the concept and got input into everything from costumes to choreography.

"Excuse Me" starts off with sassy horns that continue to move this tune throughout. The emotion in this track is great as you can tell the girls are definitely exercising their chops. It sounds fierce, bold, and as brassy as the horns. U.ji is obviously their strongest singer -- she gets a generous solo in this song. Dahye is the one that does the rapping, which is less than stellar on this track -- ill-timed and no rhythm at all. But it doesn't mar what is otherwise a peppy, energetic tune. Here the girls are excusing themselves, rather than letting a loser hit on them.



"Hush Baby" is a discofied pop tune and gives us a different tone than "Excuse Me." It's Donna Summer-lite, as the girls give us easy hooks and combine for the chorus. A time-change leads into a short rap at the end, which is adequate, and better than on the previous song. It's a body-moving track that should help usher in that summer feeling a little faster.

"Single Bed" almost hits ballad territory, but the tune jangles along to the strums of a guitar. It's a little slower than most of what we started with on the album. The only problem is that the girls, while they sound pretty, almost seem like they're holding back. Near the very end, there's a break and a sweet solo that better showcases their vocals than the bulk of the track.



"I'm Fine" starts out slow, but soon ends up in a fierce staccato. It's a declaration that they're not going take it anymore, that their friends are enough and they don't need this loser. It bears a lot of resemblance to hip hop as they rhythmically tear down their boy. The girls channel f(x) on this track, and that's meant as a compliment. There's a even a short nod to dubstep, lest you forget it's K-pop.  

Last but not least is "This Day." Both this song and "Single Bed" are what ballads are typically about: "I want you back and I'm alone and crying." This track unfortunately falls prey to the schmaltz that characterizes so many ballads from the muted beats to the standard piano-and-synth arrangements we've been hearing from crooners since the 80's. At least there's some fine vocal work here.

The former EXID girls have done it again and actually outdone themselves. Last year's release wasn't bad at all, but the producers have taken their sound and refined and shaped it. As I said, they owe their sound to disco and other retro influences. The songs are fierce and commanding, grabbing you by the tie and telling you how it is.  Derivative? Yes. A bad thing? Certainly not.

MV REVIEW

This was hilarious! In the video, the BESTie members take a highly-enjoyable romp through a day-glo colored city with equally neon-bright insides. The girls dance around in various daring outfits, but there is a plot of sorts.

The girls are looking for guys in a 50's-style diner. I half-expected to see the cast of 'Happy Days' in there, but alas, it was not to be. The girls get some attention in the form of Kang Kyun Sung of the boy band Noel. He has drinks sent to their table, but they're not having any of that and run off. I don't think many Noel fans would have done the same.



They take a peek (okay, several peeks) through a set of futuristic glasses. The glasses apparently reveal who people really are.  So the antics of Sung, as seen through those magic lenses, completely turn them off.

There are two guys they are interested in, however, and they follow them to an outside table. But, once the glasses are donned, the guys appear far more interested in each other, and the glasses are ditched by the embarrassed BESTie girls.



Full of light, color, and amusing sequences, this MV never failed to entertain me. Every time I began to dismiss it I saw something more interesting than just the bog standard. Like the song, the "Excuse Me" MV is tons of fun.

SEE ALSO: Actor Song Jae Rim unexpectedly passes away at 39