1. R U Ready?
2. WoW!
3. Cameo
4. Emotion
5. Dawn Star (Baby Soul & Kei & Jin)
6. First Snow
7. Knock Knock
8. The (Mijoo & Soojung & Yein)
9. Night and Day
10 . Hide and Seek
11. My Lover (Jiae & Jisoo)



'R U Ready?' for a Lovelyz comeback? Yes, these lovely ladies are back once more with 11 brand new tracks on their 2nd full album. The OnePiece production team once again had their hands on this one, and with that many tracks, it's obvious they had their hands full.


The title track is "WoW!" It starts out with echoes of the intro track but quickly explodes into an exciting main verse. I like how cutesy and catchy it is at the same time. It's got sort of a frenetic energy to it, and some interesting dance breaks in between the mains and chorus. I think its uniqueness is its strength, and its definitely more forceful than their other hits, such as they comfortably cute "Candy Jelly Love." And that makes it a hit in my book.




"Cameo" makes use of extensive synth washes and hits essentially a disco-inspired beat. I like the harmonies in this one. They've got that cute sound nailed, and in this song in particular. It's very by-the-numbers pop, but in some ways that makes it even better. It's a familiar, comfortable number. No real surprises, but it's the kind of song that Lovelyz does well.


One of the other types of tunes that Lovelyz is awesome at is the ballad. "Morning Star" is one iconic example. Baby Soul is so good at ballads, so it's no surprise that she's one of the highlights on this track. The thing I love about "Morning Star" is that they kept the noise to a minimum, so her vocals are what stand out here so well. She has really come into her own as a singer, and this song shows her pipes off nicely.

"Knock Knock" has some elements that remind me a bit of f(x), particularly in the electro-pop beginning. It rapidly becomes its own song. It's a little different for this group, but it still has their signature sounds. It's pretty, sweet, very bubblegum. and entirely Lovelyz. It's got some great hooks all over and is extremely singable and danceable. I think some of the techno effects (some of which aren't strictly music) help make this track pop.


The oddly titled "The" is a rather epic track. Yein, Soojung, and Mijoo do an awesome job on this one. It's more rock than pop, with a crunchy electric guitar and strong synths behind it all. It's got to be one of my favorites on this disc despite it not sounding entirely Lovelyz-like. The vocals here are exceptional and helps give this tune the sweet spot that keeps it echoing in my head.

"My Lover" is an entirely different beast altogether from the other songs. Sort of at the midway point between soft pop and ballad, it bears a lot of resemblance to a French folk song, only in Korean. The instrumentation and melody are definitely traditional European. It's only appropriate since Paris is known as the "City of Love." Jiae and Jisoo give it that cutesy touch while keeping the dreamy aspects of it intact. They also keep it from becoming jarring, reminding us that yes, it is a Lovelyz tune.

One of the things I love about this EP is that they were sort of challenged by some of the material to leave their comfort zones and explore some other genres, while still firmly rooted in pop. There are some pleasant surprises on this disc, and that's part of why I like it so much. It's nice to hear such strong tracks and I look forward to seeing what else they can offer in the future. From their lips to my heart.

MV REVIEW

If they were trying for the cute award of the year, they probably have it covered in this MV. The girls are decked out in aegyo gear, from bright, sparkly nail polish, to stickers all over their faces. I haven't seen 2-D cut out figures, no doubt animated by CGI, used quite this much or in quite this way in a music video.

The effects in the MV are largely animated, with some CGI. But rather than being in your face, it largely passes off interesting effects as something everyday. From cutouts of their faces to their entire bodies being rendered that way, that's part of it. Couple this with animated words that pop into existence, as well as clones of the girls that are frozen in some bizarre version of the mannequin challenge, and you have the video, plot and all.



And the video concentrates far more on the effects rather than the dancing, although from what we see of it, they kill it.

This video goes from absolutely adorable to cuteness overdrive on the drop of a hat and barely manages to straddle that line. Barely. It loses some of my esteem for that alone. But still, it's wedded to a really good song, and the other things are synced halfway well (I could see a few places that begged for better audio sync), and I think that makes it at least watchable.

Score

MV Relevance..........9
MV Production.........8
MV Concept.............7
Album Production....8
Album Concept........8
Tracklisting..............8

OVERALL...............8.0

SEE ALSO: Lovelyz reveal book of memories in 'November' 10th anniversary single MV