APRIL – 7TH MINI ALBUM ‘DA CAPO’

Track List:

1. Oops I’m Sorry

2. Doll

3. LALALILALA *Title

4. 1,2,3,4

5. You.Zip

6. Matter of Time (CD Only) (Naeun & Jinsol)

April is back with their newest EP, 'Da Capo.' The title is an Italian music term meaning "from the beginning." It's a direction to repeat a section of a song. This mini-album was supposed to be released in March but was delayed thanks to the coronavirus. So now we have April...in April.

They kick off the album with "Oops I’m Sorry." This is a playful tune and is slanted in a more cute direction. So, in some ways, it reminds me of their early work and despite its cute leanings, it is super-catchy. "Doll" is a little more of a mature effort. Those orchestral synths give it kind of a dramatic feel before the vocals come in. It's not quite as catchy as the first track, but it still a good song despite all that. The vocals are high pitched, but I like how earnest they sound here.

Their title track is "LALALILALA." It's definitely a club banger, which is just the thing to get your heart pumping. Forget the coffee! This track is everything a title track should be -- energetic, interesting, and more than just by the numbers. "1,2,3,4" has some echoes of Red Velvet's "Power Up." I wanted to like this song a lot more than I did. It just didn't hang together that well for me. Each part seemed kind of disconnected from the one before it, and that's just not a good sound.

They wind down to smooth R&B with "You.Zip." It's far more mellow than most of the songs on the EP. After the frantic sounding "1,2,3,4," it's a breath of fresh air. Now the chorus gives you that club banger goodness, but the rest of it is just gorgeous. "Matter of Time" is a single from early March. It's a duet by Naeun and Jinsol. It's a ballad and reminds me for all the world like a lullaby. It's very soothing, and the vocals are angelic.

I've never disliked anything that April put out. I've been a fan since "Muah," and heard them get better with each comeback. This one is a pretty good album. It crosses genres quite well, and I enjoyed every song except "1,2,3,4." I really didn't know they could pull off R&B, but they did. TLDR: nearly every song's a bop.

MV REVIEW

This video had the potential to be really bad. Standard "girl in the box" video. I'm happy to report it wasn't. In fact, it was pretty cool.

At its core, it is a girl in the box MV. But what they do with it is quite remarkable. We have the girls connected up to dream machines, the first one set to configure sweet dreams. There are colorful paintings of various celestial bodies. And then a trip to other star systems and galaxies.

The rooms they dance in are quite space-age, too. From white rooms bathed in light, to dark ones with vague patterns in the background, the sets are intriguing. And that scene at 00:46 where they open the door and see the universe is absolutely golden. And they close that door at 1:18 and show you an even better view.

Those paintings by themselves make pretty effective backgrounds. But the fact that they go a bit further, and give us CGI cosmic vistas to explore, is completely awesome. And yes, what we're seeing has to do with the girls' dreams.

It's just such a well put together a video, even if it doesn't have an overarching plot. I can definitely give this an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Score

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

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

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

MV SCORE: 9.0

Album Production.....8

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

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

ALBUM SCORE: 8.0

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