Here we go again, everyone! I’m so excited to be writing about another Oh My Girl comeback, and less than a year since the last one! I just. Wow. I love this group so much, and I’m always excited for new music and projects.
I’m not gonna lie, this comeback caught me a little by surprise, since I had already heard that there was going to be a Japanese best album coming out on March 30, while this comeback is March 28. Not to mention, several of the members have contracted COVID-19 (Yubin, Hyojung, YooA, Mimi and most recently Arin) at separate times despite having at least two doses of the vaccine, though thankfully it hasn’t been very bad. Of course, each case made me worry not only for each member, but also made me wonder if the schedule for their comeback would be altered, though as of March 15 this has not happened.
So, because I failed to do so last time, let me introduce the members of Oh My Girl!
Hyojung is the leader of the group, the oldest and a main vocalist; Mimi is the main rapper, main dancer, a vocalist and sometimes writes her own raps; YooA is the main dancer, lead vocalist and the face of the group; Seunghee is a main vocalist; Jiho is a lead vocalist, lead dancer and visual (as well as my ultimate bias); Yubin (formerly Binnie) is a vocalist, though I think she was formerly listed as a lead vocalist; and Arin is a lead dancer, vocalist and the maknae (youngest).
As always, all of this is my own opinion, and you’re free to disagree. I hope you enjoy the article, and please give Real Love a listen!
I also apologize for how long this is. So.
Teasers: 10/10
I’m only going to go over the biggest teasers, since there were a lot of related photographs released throughout the month. Trust me, it’s a lot, and I don’t want to push this article for too long, as much as I love talking about this group.
The first teasers for Real Love were posted to the official Oh My Girl Instagram on March 6, and were split among twelve posts before being combined into one. What I noticed immediately, apart from the crystal perfume bottle pictured in the posts, was the fact that Real Love was referenced as the second album, rather than an EP. For reference, the last full album Oh My Girl released was The Fifth Season in 2019 with a repackaged Fall in Love the same year.
In the caption of each photo is (translated by Instagram) “‘Real Love’ is more like a scene in a movie than a coincidence.” Very interesting, and I wonder how that’s going to factor into the songs included on the album.
Next, on what would be March 7 in Korea but was late on March 6 for those of us in America, the different versions of Real Love were pictured: fruity, floral and love bouquet. The caption announced that the albums were available for preorder. Also on the graphic for the love bouquet version are the words “Real, real love/It’s a real, real love,” which I believe might be another clue to the lyrics. Many groups now release different versions of their albums, though from what I’ve seen it’s usually limited to two versions. I can’t speak for much, since I don’t actually own any physical albums or any merch myself, as much as I would love to.
On March 9, the schedule of teasers was released most clearly in two posts on the official Instagram alongside four other posts to keep the aesthetic set by the first round of teasers. The posts are collectively known as a “fragrance note,” which I googled the meaning of: “Fragrance notes are essentially the different scent layers that make up the final fragrance. These scents are split into three distinct elements: top notes, heart notes and base notes. Together, the top, heart and base notes work together to create a beautiful fragrance.” I’m still in speculation mode, so I’m speculating that this refers to not only the theme of the album versions, but also the kind of layers of the girls’ voices in their songs and the roles of songs on an album.
On March 11, a picture of the album cover was uploaded to Instagram. It was while thinking about this cover and the overall aesthetic that I began to wonder if this album would be a little more heavy on ballad-like songs, or songs like “Krystal,” “Etoile,” “Closer” and “Underwater Love.” If I had to guess right now, I would say this album would be like “Closer” meets “Secret Garden” meets “Bungee,” which may not mean much to those of you who aren’t familiar with Oh My Girl’s music, or even to those who do. I tend to have very complicated and random thought processes. Plus, what the album will actually be like is clearly yet to be seen.
Regardless, up to this point, I think it’s clear that the concept is going to fit the members perfectly. I spoke before about how, for the most part, Oh My Girl can fit in different darker and cuter concepts well, hence why the group is sometimes referred to as “concept queens.” I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment, and I’m just as excited to see the concept of this album as the songs themselves!
As expected, the song list (referred to as a “scent list”) was released on March 15. Each of those songs will be discussed in their own sections! Something worthy of note, though, is that none of the songs credit Mimi as a writer. It’s not totally unusual for her to write her own raps, for at least one song an album, but this was a bit unexpected in my opinion. Still, I’m very much looking forward to nine new songs, plus the instrumental of “Real Love”!
The mood concept teaser was released to YouTube on March 19, and reminded me of peace and serenity in a way. The words “7 hours ago, in the cafe” were on the screen at the beginning, which made me wonder if that would be relevant to the music video or “Real Love” itself. The music in the background definitely set the mood perfectly!
And, of course, there’s the lyrics teaser posted on March 20! It’s only a total of eight lyrics, seemingly from the chorus of “Real Love.” I didn’t translate them this time around, but it includes the line “so unreal, real love,” which I personally am a fan of.
More lyric teasers were posted on March 21, where three to five lines of lyrics from each song were revealed. I think my favorite part isn’t the lyrics themselves, but the pretty colors in the backdrop of the posts. It gives me a color to associate with each song! The highlight medley was then released on March 22, though I’ll be going into a little more detail under the individual songs. Additionally, there are rough translations of the lyrics if you turn on the captions of the video. I’ll also mention here that it’s really common for groups to stick to one genre per album, give or take a ballad or two, but Oh My Girl showcases plenty more than just that even in the medley.
Finally was the music video teaser on March 27, though I didn’t actually watch that one. I was planning on it, but then I got distracted. Whoops.
All in all, I love how each of the teasers fit together in the same aesthetically-pleasing way, not quite like puzzle pieces falling into place, but just as satisfactory for me. They definitely weren’t as flashy as the teasers for “Dear OhMyGirl,” but I think it’s better for them not to be in the case of this album. Additionally, I’m glad there weren’t many spoilers for the album itself; I enjoy being left to wait for that instead of having a good feeling about what it’s going to sound like going in. With that said, the teasers are getting a ten out of ten from me!
“Real Love” Music Video: 10/10
I needed more categories in order to get the scoring to exactly 100, so I’m reviewing “Real Love” itself separately from the music video for a change. This is going to look more at the concept and execution of the music video in comparison to the others Oh My Girl has done in the past.
I listened to the song once before watching the music video, just for a different kind of experience and so I could focus more on the music video itself. The kind of outside imagery that’s in the music video reminded me of the setting of “Nonstop” with the calmness from “Secret Garden.” I think that blend is a really accurate depiction of “Real Love” as a whole, and I’m all for it. The fireworks at the end also reminded me, unsurprisingly, of “Remember Me,” one of my favorite music videos.
A lot of the imagery in the music video is shades of red and pink, along with various other warm colors, matching the images from the teasers. Apart from that, there are moments of green and blue to contrast the warmer color palettes, all of which were absolutely gorgeous in my opinion. I’m a huge fan of colors in general, so I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen as I was watching!
Not to mention, the red dresses everyone wears are absolutely stunning???? I want to wear all of them. Ten out of ten, for sure.
“Real Love”: 10/10
Our first glimpse of what this song sounds like came from the highlight medley linked above, showcasing Hyojung. What was revealed reminded me of TWICE’s recent song “Scientist,” in that chill, not-quite-summery vibe. I quite liked it from that alone. It’s technically featured twice in the video, at the beginning and end, a real(ly) love(ly) bookend. (See what I did there?)
I listened to it first before watching the music video, and the feeling I got about this having some of the same vibes as “Scientist” really reverberated. This feels like a song that should be added to a playlist of songs to study to, the sort of song I’d hear on the radio. The structure isn’t very complicated to me, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Each member is still given their moments to shine, so I can’t complain.
I really enjoyed the part near the end before the key change, and the KEY CHANGE. I’m a huge fan of key changes, and I noticed that there aren’t too many K-pop songs I listen to with key changes. The end is a bit more abrupt than I imagined, though.
All in all, though, I think this song is stellar as a title track, and I’m giving it full marks!
“Drip”: 5/5
With “Drip” in the highlight medley, we heard Mimi and YooA. This song sounded more along the lines of “Quest” and seemed like it would be rap-heavy, which I’m all for. I love Mimi’s rapping.
“Drip” is actually the only other song on the album that was performed live during the showcase stage, and will be linked below under that section. With just the song, I was immediately brought in by the unique beat (at least, compared to most of the songs I usually listen to). The switching of the beat between the verse and what I assume to be the chorus caught me off guard in the best way; it reminded me of switching from one area to another in a video game.
And if there’s another thing that people know about me, it’s that I do, in fact, love video game music.
This song is a lot more unique than I expected it to be, especially compared to Oh My Girl’s music before. I’m really looking forward to watching the live stage for this and how the choreography goes. I’m definitely giving this one the full five points.
“Eden”: 4/5
Featuring YooA once more, “Eden” reminded me of some of the songs from her solo debut album. Very chill, calming. I think I’m going to add this track to my “Rainy Day Calm” playlist.
The opening of acoustic guitar here really put me in a soothing mood, as I would expect of a song with this title. I’m a fan of acoustic versions of songs, but this one doesn’t sound like it needs one until the chorus hits. I was interested to hear Mimi singing in this, since she usually doesn’t have many singing parts in songs.
I feel like this is one of those songs that’s going to grow on me after a while, since upon first listen I wasn’t really a fan of the chorus, but the rest of the song is pretty good! I’m going to give this one a four of five. Pretty good as far as B-sides go!
“Replay”: 4/5
Here we heard Yubin in what’s definitely a more EDM-like song than I’m used to from Oh My Girl. It reminded me a bit of EVERGLOW’s “Pirate.”
We love when a song opens with rapping! Mimi and YooA kill it from the start. Definitely EDM like I thought from the highlight medley, and I wonder if this is a smaller unit song? At first listen, I can only pick out Mimi, YooA and Yubin. I’ll have to listen to it a couple more times to tell for sure, or else see what lyric videos think about it. Whatever the case, I definitely vibed to this song, even if it’s not the kind of song I usually listen to.
I think I can give the song a solid four out of five, and I’m going to send this to my aunt, since she and my little cousins like listening to EDM.
“Parachute”: 3/5
…Okay, from the short bit we could hear, I think that’s Arin, but her and Jiho sometimes sound really similar and sometimes she even sounds like Seunghee so maybe take that with a pinch of salt. I’m like 80 percent sure it’s Arin. Regardless, I really like the sound of this song so far, and I can’t wait to listen to the entire thing!
The song starting with the kind of muffled-radio sound is one of my favorite beginnings to songs, so this song is on my good side right off the bat. Unlike “Replay,” I’m pretty sure this song features the whole group, which means if there is another smaller-group song, it’ll be one of the remaining four.
This kind of reminds me of a song that would play in a show’s soundtrack, or something that would play in a cafe or a commercial. Which are three different kinds of songs, but this reminded me of all of them. It’s another song that I think will eventually grow on me more, but right now I’m going to give it a three out of five.
“Kiss & Fix”: 3/5
This one is definitely featuring Jiho, which means that last one was definitely Arin. Okay. I have to say, coming as a whole, I’m loving the kind of springtime calm but also EDM movement. Any song that has Jiho singing a lot is going to be one of my favorites, so I’m really looking forward to this.
The constant beat in the background reminds me a bit of a heartbeat, which makes me interested in why it was selected for this track rather than “Sailing Heart” since that song literally has heart in the title, lol. I’m still getting the sort of springtime feeling as I did from the highlight medley, which only makes me wish for there to be spring weather outside. As I’m writing this, it’s only 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Definitely not spring weather.
The lyrics were a little more mature in the talk of kissing than is usually present in Oh My Girl’s songs, at least to my knowledge. Given that the album has a sort of more mature feeling to it, I suppose that’s to be expected, and it’s not risque like some other K-pop groups tend to be. This is a more refined kind of mature than mature-mature groups.
This wasn’t really my favorite song in Real Love, but it’s not bad by any means. I think I’ll give this one another three.
“Blink”: 5/5
Featuring Seunghee’s vocals and Mimi’s rapping, I’m very much looking forward to this more uptempo song. I’m wondering if this song will be getting choreography?
So it doesn’t look yet like this is getting choreography, but I really like the upbeat feeling of this song. It gives me a kind of light, pink feeling, which doesn’t really make sense. I love the buildup to the chorus and would really love to see this song performed live in some capacity, with or without choreography. I think I’m comfortable giving this song a five!
“Dear Rose”: 5/5
Arin shines again in the trailer for this song, with a sort of familiar melody. I can tell that this is going to be a popular song, even if it’s a B-side.
The familiar melody is what starts this song. I think this song has the same kind of feeling as the more ethereal tracks Oh My Girl has had before, something I can really appreciate. Their ethereal tracks are usually quite popular, and I expect this song will be one of the more popular B-sides from this album. It’s the kind of song that gets stuck in your head easily, in the best way. This one is getting a five, too.
“Sailing Heart (항해)”: 3/5
Featuring most of the group, this song is going to be a powerful one. I really love the songs where members trade-off lines frequently, if only because that means they all get a good chance in the spotlight, so I’m looking forward to what the rest of the song’s structure will be like.
From the beginning, I could tell this would be a sort of ballad, reminding me of “Flower Tea.” It has the kind of soft-yet-powerful feeling that a lot of their ballads have. I think this one’s going to find a nice spot on my “Rainy Day Calm” playlist.
With that said, I think it’s a little slow to be a song I listen to on a regular basis, but it’s definitely not a skip. I think I’ll give it a three.
Showcase Stage: 10/10
There are two parts to the showcase stage, just like last time. This time, thankfully, all of the members were able to participate, so we get to see “Real Love” and “Drip” in their fullest right out the gate!
First is, of course, is “Real Love.” Just like last year’s comeback, the group performed with live vocals, something that’s becoming a bit more rare for song groups. However, as usual, they killed it with the performance! I was a bit interested, though, as to why the comeback was through Tong Tong Culture rather than Mnet or KBS. I’m sure there’ll be more stages to come soon, though!
Maybe off-topic, but I also think this is the first time in a while all of the members had dark hair during a comeback performance. Just a small detail I noticed!
“Drip” was very fun to watch, if only because of the sheer difference of the stage and choreography compared to “Real Love.” It really goes to show how stage backgrounds and outfits can go towards multiple concepts at once.
Choreography: 8/10
“Dun Dun Dance” reached levels of choreography that blew me away when I first saw it. Recently I tried to start learning it, and let me tell you, it’s tough. Oh My Girl has always been great with choreography, so of course I once more was looking forward to seeing them dance.
On their last full-length album, specifically the repackage, four of the 11 songs had choreography, though two of those (“Shower” and “Vogue”) aren’t really well-known and the latter was only recorded through a fancam. Here, as of just the day of the comeback, only “Drip” has choreography to go along with it, though this may not be the only one in the future.
“Real Love” had some choreography that didn’t seem so complicated, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. It first the kind of energy of the song to a T, which is more important than anything, and the members make it look flawless. Maybe it’s not a song I would seek out to learn myself, but it’s still very satisfying to watch.
As for “Drip,” I loved the choreography. Again, it fit the song well, incorporating more hard-hitting moves and was very interesting to watch. It felt to me more complicated than the “Real Love” choreography, but then again, it’s a more complicated song structure-wise, so that makes sense. Yubin, YooA and Mimi especially SLAYED. Oh My Girl really are concept queens.
Line Distribution: 7/10
First, forget what I said about “Replay” being a small-group song, I was very mistaken. The lines are just heavily distributed towards Mimi, YooA and Yubin. Also, please appreciate this section. It took me about an hour to complete.
Another quick recap, line distribution amounts to the number of lines each member is given in a song. I’ve compared the average number of lines each member had throughout their EPs to their latest, “Dear OhMyGirl,” but I didn’t factor in Fall in Love. That’s what I’ll be looking at here, using my recognition of each member’s voice as well as this site’s assumed accuracy.
This doesn’t include lines that are sung together, and accuracy is helped along by the fact that the majority of these songs have been sung live, the best way to figure out line distribution most accurately.
The average line distribution per song from Fall in Love is as follows:
Hyojung has an average of 11 lines; Seunghee has an average of 11 lines; YooA has an average of 11 lines; Mimi has an average of 12 lines; Jiho has an average of eight lines; Yubin has an average of nine lines; and Arin has an average of six lines.
That’s not too bad of a distribution, with the range being six lines. It’s actually more fairly distributed than the average lines per EP that I calculated in my last article, perhaps aided by “Gravity” and “Vogue” being smaller-group songs, thus letting each member who doesn’t usually have many lines sing more.
I took these same statistics from Real Love, which is quite easy since I can recognize the voices of all the members even without a lyrics video or live stage. So far Oh My Girl is the only group I can do this for, since I almost exclusively listened to their music for several months before branching out into K-pop more. Still, there could be a couple mistakes here and there, so the final number might not be wholly accurate. Even so, here’s the average line distribution per song in Real Love:
Hyojung has an average of eight lines; Seunghee has an average of seven lines; YooA has an average of seven lines; Mimi has an average of 11 lines; Jiho has an average of five lines; Yubin has an average of seven lines; and Arin has an average of five lines.
So, it looks to me here that the distribution range is the same, that being six lines. Everyone’s distribution went down, but that’s because of the average; Fall in Love had one more song, which could’ve impacted the numbers. That being said, I feel like this is only an okay reflection of the distribution between the songs, since there were clearly somewhere specifically Mimi and Yubin were given more chances to shine than usual. I think I’m going to give the distribution a seven out of ten because of it.
Overall: 87/100
I didn’t mention this before, but there was an interview that went along with the showcase stages! You can find it here if you’re interested.
Wow, look at that score! This album really was incredibly good, that’s a higher score than I gave “Dear OhMyGirl”! All of the tracks were so unique, really showcasing how they were each advertised as different “scents” and showing the best of the members’ abilities. I really look forward to seeing how many of these songs will be performed live in the future, and I think it’s safe to say that at least six of these songs are going on my “Best Of” playlist!
I don’t really have any other notes, so that’s all for this review, and I hope to see you all in a couple more days as I give my (much briefer) review of Oh My Girl’s newest Japanese album!