Making her grand return to the industry is Sulli. The former member of F(x) has been missing in action from the music industry since her departure from the popular group back in 2015. I will be honest, I don’t keep up with her (other than through news outlets, where it was reported she had a few social media posts that didn’t get rave reviews). But finally, after 4 years, Sulli has finally dropped her solo debut single titled Goblin. This occurred yesterday (Saturday), which is an uncommon day for the release of a new song.

I don’t want to give too much away regarding the concept of this release before I get to the music video. But this is definitely a direction that I did not expect, given that they were going for a creepy concept with this release. I find Goblin to be similar to how an innocent nursery rhyme can be so scary in the right surroundings.  It is very bright and almost cheerful in a way, which I found to be very nice. I also found the track to be soothing. But there are a number of elements that did allow it to stray away from a flowery song. Firstly, the ambiguous nature of the lyrics is an interesting topic. Some people say it is about accepting oneself as they are. Other people are putting into the context of mental health. I do prefer the first meaning, as it puts some lines into context, such as ‘don’t be afraid of the cat without fur‘. Secondly, the instrumental has some creepy moments such as the extremely soft chatting just before the choruses, the wind chimes at the start and the very airy harmonies throughout the track. But the most memorable part of the track has to be Sulli’s vocals. I really like her airy approach. And her voice gives so much tension in a lightly instrumented track.

Mentioned above, the video plays the creepy concept card. We start off with a commentary by Sulli (or her character, I cannot tell) at the start, which introduces us to the idea of a dissociative disorder, where she mentioned she had 3 different personalities (not including the one we saw in the commentary). The first is more a quiet and introverted personality. We see three girls entering the house and despite being there, Sulli doesn’t interact with them. The second is a more extroverted and flamboyant, where she is dressed in huge colourful dresses and interacts with the people around her. The third is the evil side, which I think aims to kill people. While the music video does have some creepy vibes going on, it didn’t feel that creepy up until the end, when she ends her commentary. She says ‘I think they all disappeared. Would not it be better for everyone to disappear?‘. I found this closing statement to really amp up the creepy factor.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9/10