It’s Sunday fun day! Or something. Today is the last day of my girl group week before we have to move on to smelly boys. Ew. It’s been really interesting to see the general trends in girl groups of the last six years or so, and how that fits into the wider landscape as I know it. And I’ve got one more lot to go to add to the mix: Lovelyz. One lovely Reddit user, erichama (gonna assume your name is Eric but I apologise if not), has told me that this group is their ult, so this one’s for you Eric. I hope I like them!
Who are Lovelyz?
Rejoice! Finally, we have a group that just debuted as a full, eight-member, team, by releasing straightforward singles! No sub-units, no additional members, no survival show origins to explain (not that there is anything wrong with any of those, but BOY is it tiring to explain it all), just a group that debuted under Woolim Entertainment in late 2014. And yes, you’ve guessed it, I have never heard of Woolim Entertainment, though apparently Lovelyz represented their first ever girl group. That’s probably worth noting. Sidebar: Lovelyz performed as part of the ‘new group’ section of the popular music festival SBS Gayo Daejon in 2014. The other performers in this segment? Winner, Red Velvet and GOT7. Sheesh. That’s kind of like if you were a new pop group in 90s Britain, and you performed your first song on the same TV show as the Spice Girls and Take That. It’s a lot. Anyway, the group are still going (unlike the two I just mentioned, at least not in their original forms), so let’s have a look.
The First Song
Here we have another contender for ‘K-poppiest Title of the Year’: 2014’s Candy Jelly Love. I am not holding my hopes out for something that sidesteps cutesiness here: there are two sugary treats just in the title. Watching the video, I can now triple confirm that in the mid 2010s, the girl group debuting trend was to wear school uniforms and all have chest length chocolate brown hair. This song is no different, and I can’t help but notice that high-pitched childish affection I hate so much creeping in at times. It doesn’t do anything to wow me at all, though, as much as the schoolgirl concept will just never not creep me out, I do like the video’s aesthetic. The multi-coloured bouncing balls reminds me of an ad for…I think Sony, where an empty town was filled with multi-coloured bouncy balls to the soundtrack of José Gonzalez’s Heartbeats. I really liked that ad, so it was at least good to be reminded of that. And yes, that is a very specific reference. This is how my brain works.
Five of the Big Hits
OK so I just went and watched that ad again and honestly, it’s magical. But also beside the point. For Lovelyz’s five, I went for (similarly K-poppy) Ah-Choo, That Day, Destiny, HI~ and Now, We. Oh Eric, I really want to be able to jump on the fandom train with you, but I can’t really say that anything here really grabbed me. That’s not to say that any of it was bad or annoying, because it wasn’t. But there wasn’t, for me, anything memorable in their styling, melody, rhythms or production. Quite a few of their tracks, namely Destiny, HI~ and Ah-Choo, did remind me of GFriend with their rich use of piano and violin in the background, though, as I say, I don’t really feel anything particularly stand out came of this.
However, I will say that with Ah-Choo, exactly the kind of song I would be disposed to hate, there was definitely a charm that pulled me away from that. We did get that childish tone at points, and the verse lyrics were typical to the point of being eye-rolling (I can provide cute charm, always make you laugh, that sort of thing), but in the chorus, where they sing of this crush literally making them sneeze, my hardness fell away. Yes, it’s cutesy and silly, but pushing it to the point of actually causing a sneeze (hence the song’s title) is charming. Also, I noticed something with this group that is often mentioned by the amazing K-pop blog The Bias List: the choruses are full of lyrics. This is a group that doesn’t seem to rely on beat drops, or chants of single words/phrases at their song’s cores, and I have to commend that. Whilst I have absolutely no problem with songs lacking choruses (hey, my favourite song by Loona was Why Not, IZ*ONE’s was Secret Story of the Swan, and my Blackpink jam is Boombayah. I clearly love chanting), it’s impressive to see a group confidently eschewing that. That Day followed this formula, and had, for me, the most interesting production, with the piano and light, fast beats of the opening bars feeling reminiscent of early 00s groove music. The backing track quickly morphed into something straight out of 80s bubble-gum, and I had no problem with it.
The Latest Song
Ah, my theory of girl group style evolution is bolstered once again. Much like almost every other group I’ve looked at this week, in 2020, Lovelyz are now sporting wildly different hairstyles, with at least one bob, one blonde, and one unnatural colour. The music style has also moved forward, and I am 100% here for the change in September 2020’s Obliviate. The beat is more driving, the pianos have been edited much more choppily, and the melody is edgier. The chorus’s refrain of the title does kind of go against the praise I just gave for their choruses, but this maturity is something I’m willing to trade that for. The voices here are also all strong, probably because the lack of a rapper (much like GFriend) means there is less space for vocal weakness. Also, there is a lovely little key change near the song’s end, and who doesn’t love a key change. This song cinched the group their first win on a music show, which is kind of like what Top of the Pops used to be in the UK, except there are multiple versions of this format. Yes, I am old enough to remember Top of the Pops.
The Latest Album
OK, NOW we’re cooking! Lovelyz’s latest release is September 2020’s EP, Unforgettable. That’s a bold name choice to make for any group: the negative review kind of writes itself. However, this was, unlike most of the other groups from this week, where I actually heard the most interesting work from the girls. The opening intro mash-up style tune introduces the textures of the album, and Obliviate follows. I already liked this one, but the following track, Dream in a dream, might just be my favourite of any I’ve heard from them. It is underscored by a similarly gentle groove to That Day, whilst also mixing a music-boxesque chime accent, and a chorus with wonderfully fun descending melodies. It’s so much more distinctive for this, and I loved it. This is followed by the soft, ethereal Never, Secret, which, at a slower pace, was a treat for the ears, allowing the breathy vocal talents of the members to shine. It felt like floating on a neon cloud, if that makes any sense. The EP’s final two tracks, Memories and Worry Dolls, fall much more into the standard mould of Lovelyz songs, though the guitar solo in the bridge of ballad-esque Worry Dolls was a very welcome surprise. As should really be the case with albums or EPs, I got a greater sense of Lovelyz’s range here, and I was happy to hear it.
Thoughts?
As you can tell, my thoughts here are pretty mixed. There was nothing bad that I heard here, and some later stuff that I thought was really strong. Ultimately, it seemed to me that Lovelyz kind of fell into C grade area: sufficient, but could push further.
However, Lovelyz fan Eric also sent me a compilation video of Lovelyz singing acapella covers of mostly Western pop songs. I’ll link it here, because it really blew my socks off. These girls can HARMONISE! And the strength in Kei’s belting? Next level. Given that they can clearly deliver really high-quailty vocal work, I hope that this is allowed to shine through in their future songs, much like Mamamoo, who are similarly strong singers with an acapella background. This video is definitely going to encourage me to watch more, to convince me that this group might actually be A grades in disguise. They have been a great way to close out my girl group week, and I only hope to hear singing as strong from the boys next week. We shall see..
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