Gain is a member of Brown Eyed Girls and is consistently known for her unique concepts that no other artist or group in KPOP have ever done. Her songs and music videos are just proof of this. Now, she has returned with part 1 of  her new album and the title track, Carnival.

This is an 180-degree turn around for Gain. All of her concepts in the past have emphasised the sexiness. From the sound to the looks, everything has been sexy. This new sound is a lot different and quite unexpected. The songs are more of an orchestra inspired or theatre based 1930’s song. Staying true to her versatile roots, she still manages to go for a style that is not done that much in the industry. It does remind me a lot like IU’s Red Shoes, however, this song is still quite different. First of all, the song sounds a lot brighter and more “happier” (in a sense). Secondly, this song also compliments Gain’s vocals quite well. Gain isn’t known for her vocal work but is quite known for her voice’s huskiness. Not once did I listen to the song and think “boy, if only she had a more powerful voice for the song”. She handles it perfectly, to the point where I wondered why I always thought she was vocally weaker than others. I did have my doubts with the song, though. The first few listens, I thought the instrumental would have been a little too overpowering for her, but after a while, I realised there was much more of a nice balance. Personally, I really like the track. Though it is much different from her past songs, she managed to pull it off and still sound stunning. I totally love the grand nature of the instrumental and that ending was perfect, ending the song on such a grand and elegant feel.

While I did say she had an 180-degree change, she still managed to keep the sexy in the video. I believe we all saw the shortest length the dress will ever become in the video. Anyway, the video is quite complex. The plotline confused a lot of people (myself included) but I think most people agree that in the video, Gain had died and the every start and end of the video are parts of her funeral. The parts where she gets up from where she was laying and starts randomly dancing with an umbrella seems to be when she is a ghost and reliving the memories of her past, including when she met the man of her life (aka. the old guy who attends her funeral at the end). I love the sets. Everything looks stunning and breathtaking. Especially those firework scenes at the end. I love how her outfits still carry that early 20th century feel to it while keeping the sexy in.  Beautiful video.

I love the use of umbrellas in this dance. Especially how it is used with the ending of the song. Really gives the stage that extra sense of boldness and uniqueness. I, however, am disappointed with the rest of the dance. While it does keep to the roots of that era, going around in circles and giving small kicks in the air for the dance isn’t amazing nor spectacular, like the song or video.

Rating –  9/10