BLACK PINK – 'KILL THIS LOVE'

Track List:

1. Kill This Love

2. Don`t Know What To Do

3. Kick It

4. 아니길 (Hope Not)

5. 뚜두뚜두 (DDU-DU DDU-DU) (Remix)

The queens are back! Black Pink has just dropped their newest EP 'Kill This Love.' And the fans have spoken. The "Kill This Love" MV earned 56.7 million views in its first 24 hours on YouTube. Not only that, they set a new record for the fastest music video to reach 100 million views, eclipsing both Psy and Ariana Grande. That said, how does it sound?

"Kill This Love" is the title track, and -- like the best Black Pink tunes -- is an all-out sonic assault on the senses. It's one of those tunes that sit up and commands your attention, grabbing you by the ears, and won't let go til it's done. And then you crawl back, begging for more as you click the play button again. In short, it's awesome. "Don't Know What To Do" is a slower burn, taking about a minute or so to fully come into its own. But once it gets there, we get a killer club-banger. What I like is that they don't go full on banger til the chorus, but the second verse sounds different from the first. It takes some talent to pull that off, and they do it well.

The bass-heavy "Kick It" has a mellower sound, a bit like the previous track. Still, it's got that raw-sounding chorus a bit like "Forever Young," which was a good B-side. This one is at least as good. Remember "Stay?" "Hope Not" is a ballad like that, in the same general vein. It's got the jangly guitars, but those are buried, and they let the vocals guide the song more. It's a ballad, but I haven't NOT liked a ballad by Black Pink. They strip those things down, and the girls' soulful vocals just make them pop. Then we come to the remix of "DDU-DU DDU-DU." I'm not the biggest fan of remixes, most of the time prefer the originals. This isn't bad at all, though, preserving most of the song's structure and just replacing some of the pop with more violent dubstep style sounds.

What can I say about this album that hasn't already been mentioned in my review? These girls always slay, and I feel this is one of their better comebacks. Their vocals have gotten some subtlety behind them since their debut, but there's always that bold sharpness to some of it that remind you that this is Black Pink you're hearing. And frankly, I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

MV REVIEW

The girls show off their girl-crush chops in the MV for "Kill This Love."

If I thought the song was bad-ass, it was nothing compared to the MV. It starts off with horns, and they show you the brass, all in blue, and then pull back to reveal the girls. And wow! Even the costumes are awesome.

The rest of the MV doesn't slack here, either. They dance in a bear trap, and during the main verses sport chain headdresses, hold bows, wrestle with an apparently out-of-control car, walk through sketchy alleys, and just generally give a lot of attitude. This looks like it was a lot of fun to make, and reminds me of some of the better 2nd gen videos.

And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, they bring out the majorettes. I don't know about you, but I wasn't expecting hardly any of this. Put it all together, and I'm blown away.

So yeah, this gets an enthusiastic thumbs-up from me.

Score

MV Relevance...........9

MV Production..........9

MV Concept..............9

MV SCORE: 9.0

Album Production.....9

Album Concept.........9

Tracklisting...............9

ALBUM SCORE: 9.0

OVERALL................9.0