Tag: aespa

The last two reviews are for releases from the start of the previous week. I now skip forward to the end of the week to review aespa’s new title track, Rich Man, which serves as the title track of the group’s 6th mini-album of the same name. This is the group’s first release since June’s Dirty Work.

Production-wise, Rich Man is a fantastic song. I love the hard rock influence the group goes for in Rich Man. The guitar work has a grungy quality that lends the song character, and it pairs well with the synths chosen for the song. The resultant instrumental piece is very energetic and dynamic, yet different from aespa’s usual output (which has been more synth-based). However, the disappointing thing about Rich Man is that it uses a lot of the same hook. While the members sound nice delivering the line “I’m a rich man” over and over again, the repetitiveness loosens Rich Man‘s power that has been building up throughout the song. It also doesn’t help that another side of Rich Man‘s hook is the “La La La“. After hearing something that channels power, the softer and delicate “La La La” hook just doesn’t feel like the logical follow-through to really push the song further. From the first presence of this hook, Rich Man has to rebuild itself, which just doesn’t deliver the same result as before the hook. Overall, Rich Man is a strongly instrumented track with weakening material.

The music video shows the members being independent and not needing a ‘rich man’ as they continuously iterate throughout the song. We see the members driving a race car, playing American football against a dog (unsure if this is a real-life occurrence) and alongside an actual team, fixing and supporting a vehicle without a lift, and taking on other typical male professions (this video chose a camera operator to showcase this). Later in the video, we see the members on a farm, demonstrating self-sufficiency (whilst the city in the background burns down). Out of all these locations and sub-concepts, I think everything that revolved around the race track and football was more fitting with the music, compared to the farm scenes.

On stage for Rich Man, their confidence and charisma, as well as their robust and (sometimes) complex dance moves, make for a performance that is worthwhile to check out. If that isn’t enough for you, their performance is also full of a sassy attitude that the song allows for and makes this performance even better.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.8/10

At the very end of last week, aespa made their comeback with the single Dirty Work. This new single was teased since early June, after which the group dropped a short performance video for the latest track filmed on an iPhone 16 Pro. This new track follows their massive hit Whiplash.

Dirty Work gave off a similar serious vibe that Armageddon (another 2024 track from the group) started off with. However, the group makes this new track more captivating by exuding a lot of charisma and seductively speaking to the audience through their spoken delivery. It feels low-effort, but I think this delivery pays off. Admittedly, the leading hook of the song (i.e., “Real bad business, that’s Dirty Work“) is quite catchy and has a ring to it, thanks to this delivery. I do think Hot Work would have benefited from more drive from the members. We got a sense of what that might feel like when NINGNING and WINTER started to sing during the bridge, and boy, it was good. I would have liked to hear more of this. Dirty Work features an instrumental that incorporates synth-bass sounds and boasts a sleek, hip-hop vibe. Definitely captivating as it is, but the backing worked best when there was some activity going on at once, rather than when it was minimalistic (such as in the verses). Overall, it’s a decent track, but it has a long way to go to replicate the heights of 2024. And more was needed to make Dirty Work stronger.

aespa gets down and dirty in the music video, quite literally. There is a portion of the music video where the members are rolling and crawling in the mud and pipelines. The scenes, camera work, transitions and location all make for an epic and grand video. Both the industrial aesthetics and members’ outfits were super cool.

The performance for this comeback looks just as cool as the music video did. Piecing together what I saw in the music video and short performance video, I really liked how they combined the sensual energy from the song with the hip-hop vibes I mentioned earlier. In the final chorus, the members kicked it (both figuratively and literally) by giving us something charismatic and intense to match the energy of that segment.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.3/10

With each comeback, aespa is growing further in popularity. They completely smashed with the pre-release single for their last comeback, Supernova, and followed up similarly with Armageddon. Now, the group is back to do all that again and go even further with their fifth mini-album and title track of the same name, Whiplash.

There are two sides to Whiplash—the exciting and the mild. For me, the exciting side of the song comes through the instrumentation. The catwalk strut energy from the electropop instrumentation (very on-brand for the group) in Whiplash is very prominent and something I cannot get out of my head. There were opportunities for Whiplash to be sharper, but the heavy bass makes up for it. As for the mild side, that was because of the members’ delivery. However, I don’t blame aespa for that. The serious tone from that catwalk strutting energy identified as great earlier probably stifles the material the members could bring forth. It constricts their ability to Whiplash feel robust and dynamic. Instead, that type of energy takes more of a back seat – it is still there, but it isn’t the driving force of Whiplash. As such, I don’t find their spoken delivery of Whiplash‘s title and chorus compelling. However, I am not calling it bad. This delivery does have its moments, particularly since it gives Whiplash a sophisticated and elegant feel. When the members get a chance to deliver some melodic lines, these parts add to that sleek feel. But when you compare their delivery in Whiplash to their delivery in Supernova or even Drama from the end of last year, Whiplash feels a lot drier and more effort to get through.

I have to say that the YouTube algorithm has been really pushing Whiplash since it dropped. However, I am not upset by this, as this music video was a spectacle. The members looked like models, embracing that side of the song. The video had a futuristic vibe that I found very cool, particularly with the camera elements in the beginning and the outdoor scenes. The choreography shots were simple but shot in a manner through camera work and angles that felt unique and different from all other music videos. Even the simple and empty backgrounds and text flashes felt sophisticated and artistic. To top it all off, the editing made what felt like a simple video into a complex masterpiece. Whiplash‘s video is definitely one to watch.

aespa combines their usual performance style with some sexiness to capitalise the music’s catwalk strut energy. And I am all for it. But I think the performance lacks that key defining dance move that I could associate with Whiplash. Nothing screams out strongly enough to be that move, which is disappointing given all of aespa’s title tracks in the last 12 months had a defining move for their given eras.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10

Two weeks ago, aespa made a home run with their first title track Supernova from their first studio album, Armageddon. If you want proof of that home run, just check out the South Korean charts. Today, the group officially drops that studio album and unveiled their second title track from the album – also titled as Armageddon.

Supernova definitely got me super excited for Armageddon. But the couple of listens I have given the new song before and whilst writing this review has left me perplexed. Armageddon sees its stronger points come in much later, leaving the earlier parts of the song to feel dull and unexciting. We kick off Armageddon with some suspenseful and deep vibrating synths, which makes the first step into Armageddon feel very aespa. From there, we get into the first verse, which served the first sign that the song feels rather tame and not as vivid as their former tracks. The synths don’t have much punch to them, and the members’ delivery wasn’t memorable. The pre-chorus (i.e., the ‘Bang Chitty Bang Bang‘) was a good (yet abrupt) uptick in momentum, which I had hoped the track followed through with. But unfortunately, we get a slowed down anti-drop chorus that makes Armageddon feel sluggish and weak. I think the intention of Armageddon‘s chorus was to be more intriguing and mysterious thanks to the hypnotic and exotic motif that aespa brings to life in the chorus. But I don’t think it works as well as the producers had hoped. As for the hooks, I do think there is potential for it to grow on me. But it is too soon to tell if that is the case. For the second verses, we get a taste of powerful vocals from the group. But the resulting product is more so the same as the first verse. Armageddon does get better once we hit the bridge. We get more of that fluidity with melodies in the vocal centric beginning. This is followed with a cool and impactful ‘Throw It back‘ breakdown (my favourite part of the song), before we launch back into the chorus. Interesting to note, the chorus does sound much better following that breakdown. The outro, whilst using the same hook as the chorus, does close out the song in a more energetic manner than earlier in the song. Overall, Armageddon doesn’t live up to the hype and standard that I had set for it. More could have done earlier in Armageddon to make it a stronger piece.

What aespa didn’t deliver in the song aspect of this release, they did in the music video. The visuals in this music video are phenomenal, particularly the montage where they looked very much like goddesses. Their casual look also looks amazing. The members’ closeup throughout the video brings out an intense vibe, and this is felt through other aspects of the video. The post-production was indeed quite cool, as well. It was all very aesthetic. In terms of a story line, my guess is that aespa bring about the Armageddon one way or another.

The choreography for this comeback is also superb. While I am not a fan of the chorus in a music sense, the routine that accompanies it looks very cool. The combination of the wavy and sharp movements looks quite catchy and this bleeds into the other parts of the choreography, as I saw snippets of wavy or sharp throughout the video. The ‘Throw It Back‘ parts and the final chorus are also equally powerful moments in the routine that I can’t wait to see on stage.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7/10

Kicking off promotions for their first studio album is aespa (their first since their debut in 2020), with their new single Supernova. It is one of two title tracks to their 1st studio length album Armageddon, which will be fully released on May 27. The other title track has already been confirmed to share the same name as the new album! Both Supernova and Armageddon follows on from aespa’s Drama hit from the end of last year.

From the very first listen, I could tell that that Supernova is a total blast. Personally, it might actually be aespa’s best thus far, in my opinion. Supernova‘s cyber-like instrumental is definitely the song’s winning element. The instrumental alone felt like it borrowed some of the memorable elements from some aespa’s more recent songs. For example, I could hear charisma from Drama and the energetic motif from Spicy. That being said, Supernova still has a unique profile to it, which continues aespa’s strong run of great songs. I liked how forward driven everything felt and the overall smoothness that the song somehow embodies despite being full of crunchy and powerful synths. I also enjoyed the various detailings in the background of Supernova, which helped add a little something different and extra to each sequence. This variety definitely made Supernova more fun and appealing in my books. The choruses were very addictive, thanks to the fact they were paired with catchy hooks and ear-wormy delivery from the members. Even the bridge change up in the bridge, where Supernova stripped away the electronic synths a for a more funky hip-hop sound, was interesting and charming. Whilst it feels miles away, it wasn’t and was worked decently into the song. There is just two aspects of Supernova that I not 100% keen on. The first is how disjointed Supernova feels and the way the song just abruptly launches between sequences makes me feel a little uneasy. The second is the lack of a vocal sequence to blow me away like in their earlier days. Nothing in Supernova feels challenging enough on the vocal front and the ad-libs felt weak relative to those earlier releases. I guess that just means Supernova isn’t without some flaws, but the stronger aspects of the song definitely outweighs those concerns.

Supernova is defined as a powerful and luminous explosion of a star (from Wikipedia). And the members liken themselves to be a supernova in the lyrics of the song. In the video, it looks like 3 of the 4 members (Karina, Winter and Ningning) come down from outer space to Earth to wake up Giselle, who seems to have become ordinary and mundane. Giselle is the only member to not be shown showing off her power in the first verse sequence of the video, whilst the other 3 members have strutting around and showing the world their unearthly powers – Karina has super strength, Winter can control wind and Ningning can control fire. Furthermore, Giselle is seen trying to prove that she isn’t a robot/is a human via those CAPTCHA tests where you have to select certain tiles containing traffic lights or motorcycles. She has to pick which picture is not an AI and she doesn’t get far into it – it is as if she doesn’t know how to be human. She also celebrates with a not-so-hot cake that says “I’m hot” (which goes against the idea of being a supernova). Ningning gate crashes the celebration and sets Giselle’s apartment alight. This interaction causes Giselle to wake up and use her time controlling power to reverse the events. Giselle rejoins the rest of the members for the final parts of the video before the quartet is swept away in the wind storm created by Winter. I found it to be a playful video, with a cool concept. Combined with the editing, post-production and visuals, I think this places the music video into list of contenders for Best Music Video of the year.

While there is no official performance video for this release just yet, the choreography bits that we got in the music video definitely looks good. I don’t think I saw any key points. But I do hope there is some in the routine, as I think this song can definitely go far in the ongoing trend of short-form videos we get via TikTok. YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. Knowing aespa’s potential and the fact we don’t see majority of the routine in the video, I may return to re-review the performance once there is an official performance.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 9.1/10

Also making their comeback yesterday was aespa, who returns for the first time since their Better Things single in August. Earlier in the year, it was their single Spicy and third Korean mini-album MY WORLD (both of which are nominated in the 2023 KPOPREVIEWED Awards). Yesterday’s return is with the single Drama and the same-named fourth mini-album.

Drama is probably aespa’s most serious and darkest release yet. And like most other aespa songs, the Drama falls into ther usual electronic dance sound, this time around paired with hip-hop influences and what is described as “an aggressive drum sound and sophisticated synth bass”. However, parts of Drama felt like it was being held back (more on this in a second). When I first heard of the song yesterday, I was super impressed with the verses of Drama. It made for a very good opening and had me sticking around for more. The members’ rapping (Karina’s fast “Ziggy Ziggy Zag, I’m new” was an instant standout line for me) and vocals were very well done, while the clanging synths instrumental felt alluring. As for the chorus, I am a bit disappointed with how plain the producers and members took it. It just felt expressionless and I wished there was character to Drama‘s choruses to it. I also felt the “Drama-ma-ma” and “Trauma-ma-ma” hooks to be a little unimaginative and it went on for one too many rounds, but I must admit they have potential to be ear-wormy moving forward. The bridge itself shows some really good vocals from NingNing and Winter, however I wished the instrumental wasn’t as paced as it was. It really dampened Winter’s high note. I also felt like the final chorus and outro was missing some added concentration in its instrumentation and intensity to signal the end of the song and give us an unforgettable ending. The vocals were all there, but (again) the instrumental felt like it was holding everything back. I wished there was more to Drama, just to make the song more satisfying and have a more energised chorus.

What a super cool music video. Drama has a lot going on, in terms of a plotline and amazing yet simple choreography shots that just give off so much impact. The consistent red on black makes re-emphasises the seriousness of the video and song. While I am not entirely sure what exactly is going on in the video, the video opens up with four intriguing rules that give off a sense to not trust anyone, even the other members from the looks of it. There is also an epic sword fight between the members during the first chorus sequence. As already mentioned, the choreography shots where the members are dressed in black, dancing on the red platform and surrounded by dancers was a very simple yet looked so effortless. The second verse showed a really cool montage of the members dancing (with the dancers) with nothing but pitch darkness surrounding them and the lighting purely focused on them. The outdoor dance location in the carpark with the cars going around them in circle was also an amazing set of scenes.

The performance looks pretty good, as well. I did feel like it was lacking a defining move, as nothing really jumped out at me with that potential. But I did like their more sensual focus in this routine, particularly with the abundance of slower and deliberate movements.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.1/10

aespa is one of the few artists that kicks off this new week, returning with their third mini-album My World and the title track Spicy. This comeback follows the group’s pre-release single Welcome to My World, which dropped last week and is a song that I will review separately in the near future. Spicy also follows the group’s 2022 comeback Girls.

Spicy is quite a change to their last comeback and even aespa’s wider discography thus far. Their main title tracks have been of more of an EDM base thus far, but Spicy manages to spice it up with a more pop-leaning comeback. Despite that however, Spicy still manages to conform to aespa’s roots, featuring textural form of EDM, dynamic bass and heavy beats – all of which still manages to make an intense statement. Not once did I feel the instrumental was overwhelming, which easily could have taken over hadn’t it been for the members (more on this in just a second). I liked the more vibrant and brighter tone the synths take on, while the dynamic profile of the instrumentation felt very suitable for the upcoming Summer season that I keep mentioning about. The pop side of the song comes through via the melodies choruses, which by far is my favourite part of Spicy. I am surprised that Spicy managed to still incorporate such pleasantly executed melodic flourishes in such an intense piece. This is mainly achieved by the members and their powerful vocals, which Spicy undoubtedly puts on full display. Upon reflection, the hooks are a bit cringy in my opinion, but I have managed to overlook this during each listen I have given Spicy so far. The rapping is more contained in the verses of the song. But while they pretty much were on par with the intensity of the song in the verses as well, I personally felt that the verses just weren’t as memorable. Hence I can’t justify giving Spicy a perfect rating. But they were so so close to earning it had it not been for the lesser memorable verses.

For once, aespa is not in their virtual world or a built set. I was prepared to see their a virtual landscape and some super cool graphics. But seeing them in actual sunshine and the real world feels very refreshing. That being said, we do get a virtual reference via the glitchy background. A nice subtle nod to their concept as a group. I really liked the confidence that the members instill on the viewers throughout the video. The music video also features some fun moments, such as a car falling from the sky into a reserved parking spot at the start of the video and the frozen-in-time party (which actually looks quite cool).

From what I can see in the music video, it appears the choreography aspect of the comeback is the weakest. None of the moves that featured in the video highlights their performance skills that the members have shown in the past. The most promising moment in the routine was during the bridge of the song (which kind of serves as the instrumental/dance break). The moves here were sharp and showed potential. But I just feel the rest was a bit plain.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 6.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10