Day ten, the tenth day. If it was Christmas, I would be receiving my ten lords-a-leaping right about now (yes I had to go through the song in my head). But it’s February, and the only holiday is that one on Sunday, of which I shall not speak. It’s also Black History Month in the US though, that’s actually nice! Once again, I digress. Today is the third day of boy group week, and we’re on to a group I had to look up the Korean name of to get the pronunciation right: it’s NU’EST.
Who are NU’EST?
First of all, it’s apparently pronounced as ‘New East’, and the letters are actually an acronym for New Establish Style Tempo. Answers on the back of a postcard for that one. This is the oldest group I have looked at so far, having debuted in 2012 (oh my god, how prehistoric) under Pledis Entertainment, the same company behind SEVENTEEN, a label now owned by BigHit Entertainment. The group has five members, but you know the game by now. IT AIN’T ALWAYS FIVE. The group has had two other iterations, firstly as NU’EST-M in 2013-4, when they had an additional sixth Chinese member exclusively for promotions in China. They also worked for about a year and a half as NU’EST W with only four members, as member Minhyun had won a position in the temporary group Wanna One, the result of placing in the top eleven of survival show Produce 101, the same show that gave us IZ*ONE. They’re all back together as the five now, but it’s worth knowing that there are little fluctuations in their history here.
Having debuted in 2012 means that NU’EST effectively straddles the divide between the second and third generations of K-pop. Now, I’m obviously not the best person to ask about this divide, given that pretty much anyone into this genre would be able to debate exactly what and when defines these different eras. But there are some pretty notable stylistic differences, and hopefully we’ll get a good illustration of that over the course of the songs I’ve chosen here.
The First Song
NU’EST’s debut track is March 2012’s Face, and, pretty much the moment I started watching the video, my reaction was this: YES. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. LOVE. We are firmly in the second generation of K-pop here: the outfits are flashy, the sound is more in-your-face, and sweet Jesus THE HAIR. THE HAIR. So choppy, so much shaping, hair gel, length, fringes, I could go on. But that doesn’t do the song justice. This track could absolutely be a Eurovision entry, from the heavy synths to a major key melody progression that I reckon I could find the exact duplicate of if I knew enough about music theory and obscure Eurovision entries. Oh, and then there’s the dubstep breakdown in the bridge, followed by some lovely Autotune. This song has absolutely no subtlety, and I completely adore it.
Five of the Big Hits
Here I went for Action, Hello, LOVE ME (I appreciate the boldness of all caps here), Dejavu and BET BET. Luckily, these songs have quite a lot of dispersion over NU’EST’s whole discography, with the first two songs being decidedly early, and the latter being much later. And boy can you see the difference.
In Action we have another bombastic, synth-driven dance track, and the styling here puts most everything I’ve seen in K-pop to shame. We are clearly in the era of Fantastic Baby rather than Life Goes On in terms of subtlety levels. The colour scheme is largely white and silver, with a lot of very shiny fabrics and textures, plus a whirlwind of accessories. And Ren looks more beautiful than I will ever be with that long blonde hair. The song isn’t quite up to par with Face, but it’s not far off. It even includes the same, slightly incongruent, dubstep bridge section.
Hello (or 여보세요 in Korean, the phrase used to answer the phone), however, is the other side of the K-pop coin. The side I don’t like. It’s not really NU’EST’s fault, but I just can’t do cheesy ballads. And the ridiculous haircuts and skinny jeans combo only serves to make it worse here, somehow. There is far too much *looking yearningly into the distance as snow falls* for this not to feel silly, and nothing inventive enough in the music to keep me interested. In terms of the early stuff, we have one hit and one miss here.
As for the modern stuff, there’s nothing that blows my socks off quite like Face, but the quality is high. Dejavu is slightly dull during the verses, going for a light tropical beat, but the choice to actually strip the chorus down to a minimalist funky baseline is a great one. It allows the member’s voices to shine, and brings a sharper edge to the song. It's worth pointing out that Dejavu actually comes from NU'EST W, when the group was active with only four members instead of five. Just so you know.
Love Me makes great use of house-style piano backdrops and a fun whistling hook to highlight a simple but tight chorus. BET BET takes this whistling motif through to a similar track, but with a more angsty edge to the melody. This song sounds pretty much exactly where I would expect a group of this standing to be after being in the game for almost nine years. Perhaps sadly, the 2012/3 brashness is gone, but there’s nothing wrong with the sophistication in its place.
The Latest Song
On the 11th of May 2020, NU’EST released I’m In Trouble. The title hints at a sense of cheeky coyness, which is complimented by the smoothness on show here: the track is underscored by a strong bass guitar and a steady, pulsing rhythm. As with Dejavu, Trouble is at its most impressive when the sound gets smaller and tighter. The style in the video has also evolved massively: NU’EST have moved, much like everyone else, into calmer hair, well-tailored trousers and wonderfully loose-fitting shirts. They still look good, but part of me misses the sparkle.
The Latest Album
I’m In Trouble was the lead single for the EP released at the same time, The Nocturne. Now, technically, this isn’t their latest collection of songs, as they released a Japanese album called Drive in October. However, as I’ve said, I’m generally trying to avoid Japanese releases, simply to streamline my listening selection, and also because the one time I’ve tried it this time round gave me IZ*ONE’s Vampire, which was…….no. So we have The Nocturne instead.
This EP turns out to be a further demonstration of the tightness and maturity of their developed sound. Moonlight is more chilled-groove in its backdrop, and the vocals are similarly relaxed, which I felt was a fairly brave choice for an opener. Trouble follows, and the next track, Firework, opens up into more euphoric, tropical beats. Back To Me is a soft synth, mid-tempo, gentle pop track that still manages to engage, and there is also the most full-on ballad that I’ve yet heard during this project, Must. Normally I back away from K-pop ballads, over-produced and saccharine as they often are, and indeed as NU’EST themselves were with Hello. The singing here is beautiful, but, most significantly for me, the only accompaniment is piano. As I said, over-production is the killer of any genuine feeling in so many K-pop ballads, but the simplicity here is really truly beautiful, allowing the lyrics to shine and the vocals to melt into your ears. The EP ends with a strong version of the anthemic sing-a-long track, a little faster than might be expected, in Shooting Star. There’s clapping in the instrumental, and an easy, chanted refrain of ‘oh-way’oh/we are shooting stars’. Perfect for linking hands and waving along to at a concert. This EP shows off a lot of stylistic nuance and range, and in the context of their eight years in the game, is a testament to really perfecting their craft and learning how to do it right.
Thoughts?
The…overly 2010s moments aside, NU’EST were a really great treat for me. Hey, their early music was everything I know to be fun about second generation K-pop, and a little bit of what I know I don’t like too. I’m impressed at how well their sound today fits so seamlessly into the environment of the 2020s (oh god it’s the twenties, ewww I hate the passage of time), as I don’t think this is something that’s necessarily easy to do. It feels to me like they sort of got their maximalism out of their system at the beginning of their career, and worked well to hone their sound down to a much more structured, minimal point today. I still may have to dig around in the earlier releases to see if there was anything else as fun as Face, or any outfits as shiny as those in Action. I have faith I will find what I’m looking for, and there's no doubt NU'EST have earned their place in the third generation after breaking out so well in the second.
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