It has been a while since we last heard from APRIL. Their last officially Korean release was back in 2018 through their Oh! My Mistake comeback. The group was absent from the Korean music industry in 2019, but they did make their Japanese debut with Oh-E-Oh, which was originally a b-side track on the group’s The Ruby mini-album. Today, the group makes their return with LALALILALA, which is the title track off the mini-album De Campo, which also dropped today.

With over a year’s absence from the industry, it would be a pity if APRIL returned with their usual sound. There isn’t anything wrong with their existing portfolio, other than it just didn’t work with the general public. LALALILALA definitely excites me as it goes in a new direction, just as I had wish. There is a beautiful aura around this song, which suits APRIL’s usually style. The instrumental takes on an electronic profile, which is very different to their previous releases. There is a strong beat in this song that reminds me club setting. There isn’t anything new with this style, as it is pretty much done by every other artist in the industry. But just before the chorus, the producers manage to incorporate what I would call a ‘ray of sunshine’ into the song, which gives way for a pretty and charming chorus. This makes the song conform to the group’s usual youthful and innocent charms. The way they do this comes off as fresh and is very neat as well. The song’s hooks are memorable and catchy and this is aided by good vocals from the members. I also liked how the bridge seemed to incorporate a bit of a rap-speak sequence. A more hard hitting rap sequence would have been better, but I don’t think that would match the group’s image. Overall, LALALILALA is a great return to the industry for APRIL. (It also seems to be paying off, as the group is now charting in high positions on the charts, which was never the case for the group before today).

I think the cosmic concept was really a good choice for APRIL, given that the song does have that vibe coming from it. It is very pretty and I liked how they made it their own, as the cosmic concept is commonly associated with a different female group. I did liked how the music video highlighted the group’s visuals and gave an opprtunity for the group to really pop out in their setting. Based on a comment on YouTube, the story-line of the video is about the members dreaming of success. Whether it is actual story-line is unconfirmed, but I liked the direction it went in. I have screenshot a copy of the comment below:

We only saw snippets of the choreography through the music video. But based on what I saw, I would say that this is a good routine. They bring their youthful charm to the choreography, whilst still adhering to the mature sound that the song steers towards. I liked the swaying moves for the chorus hook for its simplicity but also refinement.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.8/10