A “comeback,” in the world of K-Pop, is when a solo artist or a group releases a new piece of music that will be the start of a new concept. A concept is the aesthetic of the album, single, and music video, so a concept can be a beach day in which the music video features the artist(s) at the beach, on a boat, and on a pier. The album or single will feature beach-themed items and beach-themed photos of the artist(s). So, comebacks in a general sense are when an artist(s) release new music.
28 Reasons – Seulgi
This song really surprised me with its unique sound, and it ended up being my favorite of this month. The set designs are beautifully designed and are mostly different from what we have been seeing recently from other artists. The few sets that are common make their distinction with uses of different color lightening such as red or grey, along with the use of a black and white filter which is not as commonly seen. The lyrics of the song touch on topics like temptation, greed, lust, and the balance between good and evil. The set design also touches on these topics perfectly with there being scenes of her in red light rooms with chains, in the shadows, and with stoic facial expressions.
The cinematography is also done well, switching between dancing scenes and standing/walking scenes to keep viewers visually engaged. The outfits worn by Seulgi were great for the concept and made good use of jewelry to further compliment the outfit. Her vocals were amazing as well, with purposeful soft vocals at some parts and more raspy, louder vocals at others to further push this concept of temptation and greed. All in all, this release was one of my favorites in its ability to showcase how talented of an artist Seulgi is and her dedication as an artist.
Mi Deh Yah – CocaNButter feat. KOONTA
There is a lot of obvious cultural insensitivity throughout this music video, and I would say in my stance it’s more in line with cultural appropriation, with the mockery to Jamaican Patois, mockery of African dancing, and the blaccent on certain vocals throughout the song. That doesn’t even touch on how the group members have, in their own time, appropriated black culture by wearing box braids, using the black emoji to represent themselves, wearing durags, and seemingly acting in a stereotypical black girl manner. All being important not only because of its appropriation but because their group name is CocaNButter, which is typically associated with Black and African culture meaning they plan on having their music based around these cultures. So, if they are going to try to profit off these cultures, at least be respectful not only in your music but by how you conduct yourself.
The song alone is also just messy, there are a bunch of sounds and vocals that don’t mesh well together. There are parts of the song that if the song had just stuck to that particular sound, it would have sounded fine but it is almost three songs in one, and to me they didn’t mix well. The feature on the song as well comes out of nowhere and throws off the rhythm of the song even further than already done. His rapping flow doesn’t fit with the beat and it just ends up sounding off-beat. The dance break sound doesn’t feel like it should be used for a dance break, especially with the choreography shown in the music video. It sounds like it should have more of a deeper bass but it sounds soft instead like the beat is echoing, further making this song sound like a messy mix of sounds. The vocals featured in this song were okay but it is littered in poorly spoken Patois and blaccent. Altogether, I would never listen to this song even if it sounded well but it is an insult to injury, as being one of the minorities this song is appropriating, to release such a bad mash of sounds melody-wise alongside the offensive lyrics.
The sets of this music video don’t make sense to whatever the concept is because they have no theme across each other. One of the sets is in front of a restaurant with neon lights, another is outside a motel it seems, and another is in a testing laboratory from the looks of it.
Case 143 – Stray Kids
This song was quite enjoyable to listen to and the music video furthered that experience with how fun the concept was. The concept revolves around detectives solving a mystery about these heart-shaped creatures on the loose, making it a cute and fun music video to watch. The lyrics of the song went alongside the concept with the lyrics touching on the idea of “being in love and not understanding,” which other K-Pop groups have done before but to set it apart it, intertwining that idea with the concept of being detectives as said earlier and their hearts being the “case” that they are trying to solve. These hearts were also quite cute since they were CGI fuzzy big heart monsters, and they just added to the visual appeal of the music video and furthered the understanding of the lyrics. The outfits worn by the boys fit well with the concept since in some scenes they wore cop uniforms and in others some members were wearing outfits with hearts on them or the colors of the fuzzy heart creatures. In this music video, they also have “alternative” versions of themselves who they were trying to catch as they were responsible for the heart creatures because they were in “love,” and their outfits were quite nice as well with it using soft colors like cream, although I wished they would incorporated more pastels into the outfits to really sell that “in love” alternative look compared to their “detective” selves.
All in all, the sets were good since they not only featured crime scenes and police cars but also the cute heart shaped characters and this dreamy lovey-dovey place, that the alternative versions of themselves hide out at.
In a vocal sense, I liked the use of deep and soft vocals on the song from the use of different members of the group at certain key moments and the song has a nice flow when transitioning from softer vocals to more louder ones. It has such a distinct sound that you wouldn’t confuse it with another song and the chorus is quite catchy with the use of deeper vocals and a backtrack that is upbeat. Overall, I am really impressed with this comeback and it was a nice addition to the month of October.
Nxde – (G)I-DLE
This is one of my favorite comebacks this month with not only the unique sound but also the beautiful set design and outfits worn by each member. The set designs were unlike anything I have seen recently and they were beautifully designed either by hand or CGI. The concept is really out there and I love how it highlights burlesque and artistic nudity. They did not play it safe with this concept and fully fleshed it out, which made it more appealing to continue watching. The sets’ designs as said before were beautiful and the incorporation of animation into the music video increased its visual appeal. Honestly, this is one of the few music videos where it is worth watching again to hear the song as opposed to just the audio with how well made visually this music video was made. The girls’ outfits as a group and individually were beautiful and looked well made and customized personally, and they all fit within the elegance, and classy look that was associated with this concept.
The sound of this song is unlike anything I have ever heard and the whole thing is catchy along with the chorus which I think not only comes from the lyrics but the pitch it was sung in. Each member has such a unique voice and in combination with each other or after each other, it makes such an interesting listening experience, that is not only unique but enjoyable. This song really stands out amongst the other releases of this month and overall I would go back looking for this song again.
ANTIFRAGILE – LE SSERAFIM
I loved this comeback. Just song-wise alone, the chorus is amazing and perfectly flows from a softer vocal sound into an upbeat chorus and it is such an enjoyable listen overall. The lyrics touch on empowerment and how nothing can break them, especially their haters, this conveyed through their concept. The concept is a dystopian world with a meteor flying towards them, a unique idea in itself along with how they show this dystopian world through their set designs. The set designs are obviously made just for the girls, with their group names being shown in LED lights in one particular set and them not looking like anything else seen from another music video. Along with that, each member also has an individual set design which is my favorite thing about this music video because they display different elements of the concept which is an apocalyptic/natural disaster. Some set designs are definitely better than others but they all fit within the concept of being strong and resilient and there is not such a huge difference in quality to take away from the visuals of the music video.
Now the outfits worn by the girls aren’t super out there but it fits in with the concept and they still look good, although, on the sets where they are all together, I feel like the outfits could have been more dramatic as that is where the chorus takes place. This song definitely has longevity and repeatability with how catchy the chorus is along with how the song isn’t crowded with beats. The beat in itself is simple but the lyrics are what make it stand out especially in the chorus alongside the vocal range used. In general, this was an amazing comeback from Le Sserafim and it seems to fit the girls well.