[Album & MV Review] CLC - 'Refresh'

AKP STAFF

CLC - 'REFRESH'

Track List:

1. High Heels
2. Refresh
3. Yaya (Say Bye to Solo)
4. Oppa's Friend
5. Eighteen

CLC returns with a refreshed line-up, adding two members to their five-member act. This comeback includes Elkie from Hong Kong and Eun Bin of 'Produce 101' fame. 'Refresh' is CLC's third mini-album, but their first release as a septet. �

"High Heels"
This is the title track, a light, peppy, playful track with lyrics to match. The song has a flute as well as horns and is catchy with several hooks, some of which start the song out ("No no no no") and others in the main part ("So what you wanna do"). It's got kind of a retro feel to it, and, to my ears, it was extremely repetitive. The lyrics talk about a girl and how she feels good in her high heels.

"Refresh"
A mid-tempo, sweetly sung tune, this one has the girls singing sweetly while Seunghee vies for powerhouse status. There are some definitely strong singers here, and I like the juxtaposition of the powerful lungs and the high voices. The lyrics talk about how they're bored whenever their guy isn't there, how he "refreshes" them.

"Yaya (Say Bye to Solo)"
The track begins with a bass synth line that hides the tongue-in-cheek nature of this tune. Of course the hook relies on the title "Yayaya," but it's catchy and smooth all at the same time. The unfortunate thing is there's not much chance for any of the girls to shine here, constrained by the format, but it's still a good song. The lyrics are funny, reflecting the flustered feelings when you're trying to find out if the guy likes you, and you're trying to figure out what to wear.

"Oppa's Friend"
Lively and suffused with sassy horns and some interesting chord progressions, this has some retro nods while being a minefield of bubblegum pop sensibilities. There's a certain confidence here, too, that could be creepy or cute, depending on how you view it. They're singing about their older brother's friend, and how he doesn't view them as women. There's more than one hook here, and it makes me laugh when they claim they hate him while at the same time trying get him to commit to a date.�

"Eighteen"
This is the pre-release track from last year's single. The song feels a lot like some retro R&B, but in a completely different way from "Pepe." This is probably one of the strongest cuts on the album, with some genius time-changes and plenty of excellent vocal work. It's all about young love.

This is an amusing album, and it seems to reflect a much more playful and lighthearted attitude overall. It's refreshing when a band leaves room to laugh at themselves, and that's exactly what they've done here. They capture exactly what it's like when you're trying to find out if your crush likes you, or what happens when you get some awesome threads. The vocal work here is also nice, from the smooth croons to the occasional belt. This is the disc you need to chase away those rainy spring blues.

MV REVIEW

Note: This is the short version of the video, Eunbin is excluded because of her activities in 'Produce 101. '

Here the girls are seen in individual shots,as they perform various aegyo gestures. That's it. No plot, a couple of different sets, no dancing, and that's basically it. There's a couple wardrobe changes, but it's almost like they filmed this because every band needs a video.

I don't know if it suffered because of its length, but it felt like a teaser more than anything. And it also looked exceedingly cheap. They spent a little time on the sets, but not that much. Basically, they could have showed us still images and it would have the same effect. I thought "Pepe" was much better put together. I think Cube needs to put some more effort into promoting these girls.�