IZ*ONE – BLOOM*IZ

Track List:

1. EYES

2. FIESTA *Title

3. DREAMLIKE

4. AYAYAYA

5. SO CURIOUS

6. SPACESHIP

7. DESTINY

8. YOU & I

9. DAYDREAM

10. PINK BLUSHER

11. SOMEDAY

12. OPEN YOUR EYES

IZ*ONE has just released their very first full album, 'BLOOM*IZ.' The LP includes 12 tracks, counting the title track "FIESTA." Whatever they're doing, fans like it, since Hanteo Chart reported more than 300,000 sales in the first week. It's the first time a girl group has done this. They also broke another record: highest first-day sales. Bearing that in mind, how does the album sound?

Without belaboring the point for every single song, the album is suffused with their signature sound. Higher-pitched voices, a cute aesthetic, and high-quality songs. "FIESTA" is a beast that is becoming more and more common -- a title track worthy of the name. Pre-2020, I kept finding more interesting B-sides than the title track. Which is sad, because why wouldn't you put your best foot forward, musically speaking? This time, they did. It's cute, upbeat, wistful, and every inch a bop.

There are two ballads on the album. One is infinitely more interesting than the other. The first is "YOU & I." This one starts out with rapidly plucked chords from a guitar, and just overall sounds more pleasant than "SOMEDAY." That one is a garden-variety ballad and did absolutely nothing for me. In fact, it eventually began to sound annoying.

I'm not going to hit every song, just the ones that impressed me. One of those is "SPACESHIP." It's bubbly and playful, and just has that adorable sound that attracted me to IZ*ONE in the first place. The pretty "DESTINY" has a more mature sound. They don't lose the high pitched voices, though. They retool their sound to suit the purposes of the song. And it works really well. "OPEN YOUR EYES" is a really good pop song. With a backing guitar track during the chorus, it sounds like pure magic. It ticks all the right boxes and it's probably one of my favorites on the album.

Now I see why this album sold so well. Taken as a whole, it's a pleasant listen. There are really no jarring tracks on here. You could probably put this on in the background and study to this. But if you sit down and really listen to some of the tracks you'll find there's more going on than you might think. This is a great set of songs. And I enjoyed this album a lot.

MV REVIEW

The girls of IZ*ONE are partying hardy in "FIESTA."

This gimmick-laden MV is a feast for the eyes. There are shadows that move independently of their owners, silhouetted shots, and cosmic backgrounds. There's even one scene framed by wine glasses stacked upon each other. There's abstract art, candy-colored deserts, a room with confetti flying around, and some scenes are framed by entering a doorway.

Part of the reason this video works so well is the explosions of color. All the hues of the rainbow are in full display in this video. Nearly every scene is painted in warm and inviting colors. Not only that, they don't dwell on any one shot too long. They shift from one scene to the next like lightning.

The outfits range from alluring to adorable. Words don't do justice to how many times they actually change their outfits. And I don't think I've ever seen these girls try to handle such energetic choreo. They killed it, I can tell you that. I'd like to see more song and dance numbers like this one.

And I've really only scratched the surface here. This music video is best experienced by watching. And since it's married to a cool song, you shouldn't have a problem doing that.

Score

MV Relevance...........8

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

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

MV SCORE: 8.6

Album Production.....9

Album Concept.........8

Tracklisting...............8

ALBUM SCORE: 8.3

OVERALL................8.5