The one-of-a-kind girl group MAMAMOO recently came back to the stage with their delightful, flirty track "Décalcomanie" and keep things smooth and jazzy with their 4th mini album 'Memory.'
Tracklist:
01. Memory
02. Decalcomanie
03. NEW YORK
04. Moderato (Feat. Hash Swan)
05. Angel
06. DAB DAB
07. I Love Too
Despite Solar's sexual assault controversy regarding "Décalcomanie," the song is a wonderful piece. While MAMAMOO have released more trend-savvy songs in the past that were irresistible to sing along to, "Décalcomanie" has a lot of pizzazz in its own right. The song starts off with rough clapping, raspy vocals from Hwa Sa, and a sexy bridge from Solar before breaking into a powerful refrain.
"Décalcomanie" builds up nicely as the instrumental has an adrenaline pumping, marching theme. The sensation the instrumental and vocals create collectively is key to the message of the song. Check out the sassy song below!
Lyrically, the girls of MAMAMOO are expressing their intense build-up of emotions for their first encounter with romance and love. With strong feelings to match the strong lyrics, the girls discuss their inability to resist their lust and temptation as they state "I'm crossing a line" and "But I can't stop, I feel good."
As expected Moon Byul's "secret party" rap can easily be associated with a night in the bedroom, but "Décalcomanie" isn't necessarily obscene. The song gives a sense of empowerment in the moment of realizing your desires and knowing what you want - hence the reason each member has her own unique kiss scene.
The MV continues telling the story in a classy manner, as it is clean, lavish and uses a lot of symbolism. From being blindfolded to squeezing a lemon until it squirts, the girls used a lot of cliches to imitate that "feel good" sensation of love.
While it is well done, there are still some that find the scenes uncomfortable or shocking because it is a route not traveled down by MAMAMOO before. They always exuded sex appeal, but their MV for "Décalcomanie" really pushed the boundaries as they crossed over into womanhood.
After "Décalcomanie," 'Memory' starts off elegantly with "Memory," a wonderful song as soft and delicate as whip cream. With an angelic air and jazzy instrumental, "Memory" is romantic and alluring all at once.
I can see this being played at any MAMAMOO fan's wedding as the song has a "falling in love" vibe due to the steady but playful piano, powerful saxophones, light guitar strumming and Christmas-like melody with violins and shimmering sound effects.
If you notice, the girls skillfully added this intro song into their MV for "Décalcomanie" during their entrance and kiss scenes, which was well-executed and carries over the mood of this lovely track. After the amazing sounds of "Memory" the 'Memory' album becomes a collective playground of their past hits such as "New York."
"New York" brings up the mood with a sped up tempo, fun rapping and a catchy refrain. The song has a lot of spark and spirit and continues MAMAMOO's whimsical nature in music. Afterwards, the girls still offer something new and refreshing with "Moderato," which features rapper Hash Swan who has a remarkable way of playing to MAMAMOO's style while incorporating his own flair.
"Moderato" has a lot of wonderful ad libs, a repetitive but catchy refrain and some trap-like influences that suit the featured rapper. As per usual, Hwa Sa's strong voice seems to stand out the most and raise the track up a notch.
The other songs to follow are "Angel" and "Dab Dab," which were tracks released during their sub-unit stages. "Angel" features the elegant voices of Whee In and Solar whereas "Dab Dab" is all fun and games with Hwa Sa and Moon Byul.
The album closes in a calming manner with the ballad track "I Love Too" and the sweet, carefree melody of "Woo Hoo." While "Woo Hoo" is as bright as a summer day with its cheery tempo and synthesized instrumental, "Never Letting Go" is a more enjoyable addition to the album.
The track emphasizes Moon Byul's innocent but clever rapping with sentimental lyrics as she jabs at her lover saying, "Hey, are you laughing at me?" and "I hope our hurtful words go out into the universe instead." Although it is second to last, I feel this track is better suited for the ending in order to continue the balance of the album. Despite that, it still has an excellent transition between their new songs and their other popular singles.
Overall, the 'Memory' album is a stellar collection of MAMAMOO's music. Living up to its name, 'Memory' is a collection of MAMAMOO's wonderful releases over the year with a couple of new surprises mixed within.
While "Décalcomanie" isn't as sensational as their previous hits, going down memory lane with MAMAMOO couldn't be any sweeter, and this album is more like a home of beautiful tracks rather than an ordinary album. The songs will make you laugh, cry and feel uplifted all at once and I am awaiting a 'Memory 2' in the future!
SCORE
MV Production.......8
MV Concept............7
MV Relevance........7
Album Production..8
Album Concept.......8
Tracklisting..............8
Overall Score: 7.9
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