Author: kpopreviewed

IVE’s latest mini-album, IVE SWITCH (which was released at the very end of April), features two title tracks – HEYA and Accendio. I have already reviewed HEYA on the day of its release, while Accendio only became eligible for a review once IVE unveiled the music video for the song earlier this week.

I quite like Accendio, as it shows off a more mature sound for IVE. There is also this mysteriousness to the song that attracts my attention. This can be attributed to the paced beat of Accendio, which actively contributes to that mystique that I just mentioned and helps build some intensity in the song. But it also feels like a double-edged sword. It sets Accendio up to be somewhat neutral, which is never a good observation to make in an exciting music genre like KPOP. I kind of wished Accendio really picked up along the way and there was some infusion of oomph to the song. I do hear an addition of energy to the song via the pre-choruses and choruses of Accendio, which I am grateful for. But while this addition of energy was good in the first instance, it didn’t have the same effect when the song revisited the same motif again. Similarly, the instrumental break could have used some added zing (perhaps something more electrifying) to add further excitement to the song. While the backing of Accendio lacked in some regards, I am extremely happy with the choruses. I personally felt the central piece of Accendio had a killer start through a really simple yet addictive “Watch me, Don’t touch me, Love me, Don’t hurt me” chant and some attitude-laced catwalk-like backing. This made the chorus stand out and feel very catchy to me. So much so, I find myself humming along with the song and after the song ends. That particular line in the chorus was nailed thanks to the members’ rap-speak delivery, which we do hear at other times in Accendio. To me, this delivery felt more prolific and interesting than the other vocals we get in the song. Overall, I quite liked Accendio. It is far from perfect, but it allowed IVE to explore something slightly different.

I personally felt the music video for this comeback also had an air of mystery to it, which made it intriguing to watch. The plot of this video also adds to the intriguingness. Gaeul stars as the main character of the video. While the rest of IVE were underwater, Gaeul disappears, causing alarm amongst the other members. Turns out Gaeul had run away and came across a ritualistic group (another version of IVE – henceforth calling them evil IVE) and a magic wand. Gaeul steals the wand and brings it back to her members. Unknowingly to Gaeul, evil IVE were watching Gaeul make her way back to her members. The magic wand gives Sailor Moon-like magic powers to good IVE, who are provided a mission to protect the magic wand to keep their powers permanently. Evil IVE tracks down the wand and have a dance battle with good IVE for the wand. While it isn’t an action packed set of scenes like Mission Impossible, the subsequent battle scene (not the dance battle scene) was nicely choreographed to showcase a fight between the two versions of IVE played out to gain or protect the wand. During the battle, Gaeul had hid the wand in the fridge. Once the evil IVE were defeated, good IVE went to retrieve the wand from the fridge but found it empty. Turns out, the wand somehow found its way to a beach and picked up a young girl. And good IVE were watching this happen, implying they have become the new evil IVE, who were going to fight a young girl for the wand. Personally, I felt the ending a little awkward and wondered why a different version of IVE (or perhaps even an older girl) picked up the wand. Setting up the next battle between IVE and a young girl is a bit harsh for the latter.

The choreography looks good. I liked the chorus routine, particularly the moves they did with that chanty line identified above. I just cannot help but think that this isn’t their strongest routine. It was cohesive as a whole piece, but nothing really stood out in my opinion.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8.1/10

As mentioned yesterday, this week is going to be a busy one. And it all begins with Monday’s comebacks. One of these comebacks belongs to IVE, who is returning for the first time since the release of Baddie. Their new single HEYA (해야) is the title track off their 2nd mini-album, Ive Switch.

HEYA continues IVE’s exploration of the hip-hop genre. However, unlike Baddie, I instantly found IVE’s delivery of HEYA to feel a lot more vivid, exciting and colourful. These are all words that I associate with IVE’s earlier releases, so I personally think this is an improvement from Baddie already. HEYA may not be as pop-coded as their earlier releases, but it definitely heads in that direction a bit. So aside from feeling different, what has the group done differently in HEYA? I like that the instrumentation did not feel as weighted, and so HEYA did not feel heavy. Going into Summer, a heavy song doesn’t usually bode well, so the producers were really clever in using flourishes in its percussion to help liven up the backing. Rei, Leeseo and Yujin’s rapping in the verses feels equally as lively and engaging, bringing out a more dynamic tone in HEYA. This pays off in dividends for the group, as it highlights a newfound edginess and powerful delivery. HEYA also features more vocal parts, which makes way for more melodic touches in the song. The bridge was extremely successful in championing this (which is my second best moment within HEYA, following the choruses). I also like how they extended the melodic touch into the opening hook of HEYA, setting up the catchy and chanty chorus quite well. The extra layer in the instrumentation for the final chorus did a really good job of signaling the end, in my mind. Overall, IVE and HEYA‘s producers did a really great job improving upon the previous song, making for IVE’s next hit.

The lyrics and music video of HEYA sees the group reference a traditional Korean folklore known as ‘The Tiger Who Loved the Sun‘, which is a story that speaks to the formation of the sun and the moon. In the video, we see the members appear as the tiger in the story, dancing in front of the sun and moon to enchant us, before leaving their mark on us. Just like how the tiger did so to the mother, just a lot less gruesome in our case. Keeping to the traditional influence, I really like traditional Korean elements in the sets and post-production. The colours and lighting made everything look very pretty and aesthetic. I also really like IVE’s look throughout the music video, as it adds a bit of a modern flair in the midst of all of the traditional Korean elements present in the video.

From what I can see in the music video, the performance for this comeback is going to look great. The start of the chorus already looks like it is going to be a catchy key point of the choreography, and the rest of the routine looks robust and dynamic.

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