K-Bops in K-Pop

This is a little delayed, but I would never pass up a Red Velvet comeback. I had some mixed feelings about this album, but I don’t abandon Red Velvet for anything so I knew I still had to review it–even if everything I said wasn’t glowing praise. That said, there was still a lot to love in this album, and I’m always happy to listen to new music from my SM queens.

Zimzalabim

I still don’t know how I feel about this song. Each time I listen to it I find myself thinking that I don’t particularly care for it, but then I have it stuck in my head for a full day after. I think the reason this review took so long is because I couldn’t quite decide how I felt about this song. Although, to be fair, that’s generally how I feel about Red Velvet songs when I first hear them. And I literally always come back around. I’m sure it’ll be the same way for this song, but for right now I’m just in this weird space where I like the chorus but I’m not sure about the verses. The song feels a little disjointed and weird? but not in that trademark Red Velvet way that I love.

Sunny Side Up!

I love a track with a creepy-chill vibe and this song has that down perfectly. I definitely didn’t expect it given the title but I was pleasantly surprised. The song is slow and slick and it makes you feel like you’re sweating your butt off on a beach somewhere sipping on a tropical drink; it has that kind of lazy-day vibe that’s somehow summery and warm. It doesn’t sound anything like it, but it reminds me so much of Wonder Girls’ Why So Lonely.

Milkshake

This album feels like a rollercoaster, but in a way that feels planned and purposeful. After the relatively calm ‘Sunny Side Up!’, this song feels like it’s trying to pick the pace back up. It’s not quite the kind of song that you could dance to, but it is the kind of song that makes you feel happy just listening to it. It has a fun vibrancy to it that feels like the end of a summer day.

Bing Bing

This is where the album starts to pick back up again. While ‘Milkshake’ was trying to wake you up, Bing Bing expects you to be wide awake. It’s the song you listen to when you’re hype and you want to keep the party going. I’ll admit: this is not my favorite song. I was not a fan of the chorus and I felt like it wasn’t doing enough between the verse and chorus to feel like a fully rounded song. It just all sounded very similar and it felt like a dud in an album of bops.

Parade

This song sits somewhere between Bing Bing and Sunny Side Up! for me. It’s not quite my favorite, but there are some parts of it that I absolutely love. For starters, the whole video game sound effects are so much fun. I also love the quiet buildup of the verses. The chorus doesn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I can see myself coming around to loving this song completely.

LP

The start of this song really threw me for a loop. Mind you, I listen to a lot of Bossa Nova, so I can recognize it pretty much right away and I was not expecting that from Red Velvet. That said, I LOVE it. It’s so well done and it’s so chill and fun all at the same time (which is pretty much all you need to know about Bossa Nova). As a general rule, I’m often disappointed by the last song on the album, but this was a rare occasion where the last song was actually my favorite.

What did you think of the latest Red Velvet album? Which song off the album was your favorite? let me know in the comments!