Tag: Cherry Bullet

Making their return today is Cherry Bullet, who returns with new single Love In Space and second ever mini-album, Cherry Wish. The female group returns for the first time in over a year, following their February 2021 release Love So Sweet. Since then, some members of Cherry Bullet (Bora, Jiwon, May) participated in the Girls Planet 999 survival show, but none of them placed in the top nine (who went on to debut in the special project group which debuted earlier this year).

It seems like Cherry Bullet is finally getting into the groove of great releases. Love So Sweet set the bar high for them, and I think Love In Space has what it takes to rival the likes of their previous song. It too also delves into the retro sound profile, but opts for a more synth pop sound. I really like the consistent tapping synth used in the later parts of the choruses (there is probably a technical name for it, but I am no musician!). It is quite memorable and catchy. This follows on from a satisfying dive into the retro sound profile for the instrumentation. As for the verses in Love In Space, they are a lot more interesting thanks to the fast delivery of some of the lines. They really caught me off guard the first time, and I felt they added a cool presence to the song. I really like how the pre-chorus reminded me of Love So Sweet‘s main hook. It really appeals to me, especially since I really enjoyed that release. Elsewhere, the vocals were also quite good. I also love that ending, with a brief extension to the song. Suspenseful, but extremely satisfying. I think my main problem with the song comes during the bridge. It just brought a typical atmosphere to the song, and didn’t feel special enough. I kind of wished the producers put together something a bit more unique for the bridge. And the answer might have been a few second later. I did quite like ramp up to the final chorus, which has that unique touch that I am looking for. But apart from that, Love In Space is still a solid song.

The music video has this intergalactic concept without going into space. The whole video comes off quite abstract, but essentially the members are searching for their long lost partner who is far away. I think they skip all the space travel that you expect to see with a space concept, and focusing on searching that their long lost lover. In the end, the cat leads them into an elevator and it takes them to the growing tree. The tree looks likes a tentacle as it grows from the ground, before blooming into beautiful pink leave tree. And it is a happy ending from there. A bit weak and typical on the plot front, but it works well with the lyrics. The video itself is one of those videos where the producers have made it a bit fluffy to fit with the group’s image and it detracts from the story a bit. But the visual effects and visuals of the members make up for it.

The choreography for this comeback is quite good. Not as memorable as their last, but it does the job. I liked the routine when we hear that consistent tapping synth in the later parts of the chorus, and the fast pace end to the performance.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.3/10

Apologies, once again, for drip feeding the song reviews again this week. But the weekend will definitely feature more reviews (and this time I am for real as I will be spending my time indoors away from the hot weather, which means more time on the blog!). The song I want to focus on today is Cherry Bullet’s Love So Sweet (as you can already tell from the title of the post). The now-seven member female group returned on Wednesday with the new song and their very first mini-album, Cherry Rush. This is their first mini-album release since their debut in 2019 with Q&A. This is also their first comeback since Aloha Oe last year.

While I have yet to show it due to my slow reviewing capacity, Love So Sweet is fast becoming a favourite of mine this week. To me, I find the song’s instrumental to be so unique, memorable and addictive all at the same time. The start of the song gave off a modern TWICE-like feel, before settling with a minimalist beat that reminds me of the Western pop industry. The pre-chorus kicks the song up a notch by transitioning the song from bubblegum into a more intensive pop sound. And I really liked how it bridged the gap between the verse and the chorus, which also felt defined. The chorus was fun and continues the energy from the pre-chorus. It definitely honed in the fact that Love So Sweet was of the cutesy nature. But while high pitched vocals and sweet melodies were used, I didn’t find the song overly saturated with this vibe. I did like the paced nature of the instrumentation, which really helped in preventing the song from becoming too overly cutesy. Following the actual vocal section of the chorus comes the song’s best part – the post-chorus hook. It brings back that minimalist vibe of the verse in a really unique and sophisicated manner. It also drives the energy down slightly to give way to the slightly more energetic (relatively to the first verse) second verse. I personally didn’t like the rapping in the bridge, but everything else in the segment was fine. Another really strong moment was the high note and its pairing with the subtle blast of energy for the final chorus. It was very fitting and definitely helped make the song peak in a very satsifying manner. I also like how they borught back that post-chorus hook at the very end, ending the song with the highlight of the entire three minutes. Overall, Love So Sweet is definitely a sweet song. But done in a way that was enjoyable and refined.

I really liked the concept of the music video. Essentially, each chunk of the song has given a particular room or setting. The transition between each room was done by a singular doorway, which was a very unique idea for me. I am certain they reused the same rooms, just with different lighting to give off a different feel and make it seem they set up a new room for each scene. Pretty smart. I also liked the editing at the end of the video, where each set was flashed for one second. It was quite flawless. I tried to work out if one member was out of place or not. But I guess the director had such great attention to detail because I couldn’t pinpoint any issues with the quick transitions.

The cutesy charm of the group came through in the performance. Once again, I am glad it didn’t look over saturated with this. There was no bad moment throughout the choreography. My favourite part has to be the during the post-chorus hook segment and after the high note at which the song peaked (and so did the performance!).

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.3/10

The next release to be in the reviewing spotlight is Aloha Oe by Cherry Bullet. The track was released on Thursday this past week and follows the release of Hands Up earlier this year. Not much else happened with the group since their last comeback, so this introduction is quite short. So why don’t we just get straight into the review?

Cherry Bullet’s Aloha Oe is what I would consider to be a more upbeat and exciting Summer season track, unlike the previous Summer track that I just reviewed. It is colourful and definitely catchy with its addictive melodic and instrumental hook. One might say this instrumental hook might be squeaky, but I didn’t mind it. Specifically, the chorus features a bright blast of pop energy that makes this song extra appealing. And this blast of pop energy carries throughout the chorus, from start to end, which gives the song an overall boldness that I thoroughly enjoyed. I wished the verses also reflected this, as they did feel quite plain. But this is a good example of how the chorus really compensate for the verses’ plainness (as mentioned in my previous review that came out just before this one). The members had nice vocals in this song, with the lightness and higher pitch suitable for the Summer brightness and energy. There was a brief rapping sequence embedded in the second verse that I felt could have been left out. The instrumental backing for this was slightly over dramatic and Aloha Oe didn’t feel like it needed that dramatic backing (or a rap sequence in general). It did feel overwhelming and scared me during the first listen as it came out of nowhere. But apart from that, I really enjoyed Cherry Bullet’s new song.

While the music video features the closeup and choreography formula, I personally thought it was a really good video. Each member was doing their own thing in this music video, as if it was emphasising the idea of social distancing, which we are all actively doing (I hope). We have a member editing videos, food blogging, camping, partying, watching movies (more specifically horror flicks) and playing tennis amongst other individual activities. We also got the mirror wiping Tik-Tok trend that I am sure everyone has already seen on their social media. One element I really enjoyed was the video’s play on colour. During the individual shots, everything was quite colourful. However, when we got to the choreography shots, the set was more of a blank canvas and the members’ outfits gave that spruce of colour it needed.

Once again, given that the song has that cutesy feel to it, the performance aligns itself with that vibe and adds some aegyo into the performance. When Cherry Bullet does this on stage, it actually looks good. I say this because when other idols do this off stage as a challenge or dare, it is pretty cringy. I also liked how sharp their movements were and how good this made the performance looked.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.9/10

My reviews are going to be a day late, unfortunately. With that warning in place, I start this review for Cherry Bullet’s Hands Up, which was meant to be written yesterday as it was released yesterday. But as I say quite often on here, better late than never. This is the group’s second comeback, which follows their addictive Q&A debut and their alright Really Really comeback. Since their last comeback, the group reformed into a seven-member lineup after the departure of Mirae, Kokoro, and Linlin. Let’s see what seven-member Cherry Bullet has to offer us.

If I were to put their last two title tracks into list, Hands Up will fall into the Q&A list. Why? Well, I was blown away by the song from first listen. The most memorable aspect of this new song has to be the sample of Beethoven’s Für Elise. I thought it was a one time thing in this song but it kept on reappearing in the background. It had a very unique charm and gave the song some class. I particularly liked how the vocals merge with the sample at the very end of the bridge, which I thought was very cool. In addition of that sample, the song takes a mature profile, compared to their earlier works from 2019. And I thought that this was a nice change. It is another one of those songs that you expect a massive drop for, but they never delivered this drop, which adds to the suspense of the song. The vocal work and slight rapping we heard in the song was very good. The melodies give off a polish feel, further highlighting the mature side of the group. Overall, enjoying the song.

What I think the group is also nailing are their concepts. We first got a video game centred music video for their debut. Their comeback showcased the virtual reality aspect of gaming. And now, we are given a look into their Cherry Bullet Development, where videos games are made. I liked how to match their mature sound, the group is given mature colours to wear. Their sets are definitely less colourful (but not dull in anyway). Overall, I thought this was both a very visually and conceptually video to watch. I wonder if the group will extend their video game concept further somehow with their next release.

I thought the choreography was good. Not really the most unique performance out there or the most captivating. But it does the job in my opinion, especially for a song that does not drop.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.7/10

Another big (and one that I am highly anticipating) comeback during the week that I, unfortunately, have yet to review. Cherry Bullet made their very first comeback with Really Really on Wednesday. Previously, the group made their debut with their very addictive and catchy Q&A, which I still replay (around) once or twice a week. Let’s see if the group can continue with what they left off with their new single, Really Really.

If I were to compare Really Really with Q&A (as that is my standard, given that they don’t have any other title tracks), the new single doesn’t really match or continue the momentum that their debut track had. But it did tick a few boxes. Really Really is another fun song in its own way. It is bright and bubbly, highly suitable for the Summer season once again. The vocal work was pretty good and the rapping was decent. The instrumental was a lacking aspect. While Q&A had a very powerful build-up (in my opinion), Really really had a lacklustre buildup. And because of that, I felt the chorus instrumentation wasn’t as dynamic as it could have been. I also felt that the chorus felt like a typical girl group release, as it didn’t have anything unique. Finally, I think the hooks could have been a little more powerful. I do feel like it is growing on me but ever so slowly. To sum up, Really Really is an okay song. It just didn’t fare well when compared to Cherry Bullet’s debut track.

What the music video continued with was the technological concept. Their debut music video had a futuristic video game concept embedded in it.  Really Really opted for a video set more in the present but featured a lot of that electronic concept through the presence of augmented reality. And in a way, the video game concept continued on. Though, I guess their goal was to turn every heart into a cherry. The video also managed to incorporate some cuteness into it. While I do not enjoy this too much, I thought the song really allowed for the cuteness to filter through in a manner that didn’t feel overwhelming. After all, I did mention the song was bright and bubbly.

I did think the dance for this song was a little weak (For example, I thought the moves starting the chorus were a little slow and uneventful for the song). But watching it a number of times already, I am starting to think it is actually more fitting. Sure, I still like it to be a little more energetic and a little more powerful. But I can’t really think of the performance as any other way.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10

It is time to review a brand new group in the KPOP industry. And this particular group comes from FNC Entertainment, which is widely known for FT Island, CN BLUE, N.Flying, AOA and SF9. They are Cherry Bullet and is the company’s first girl group since the formation of AOA. The 10 member girl group consists of Haeyoon, Yuju, Mirae, Bora, Jiwon, Kokoro, Remi, Chaerin, Linlin, and May. They made their debut with the single Q&A on the 21st of January. So, let’s dive a little more into their debut package.

Q&A is what I would call a bubbly song with a very nice typical yet refreshing instrumental. I say that because the instrumental is rather techno-infused pop and isn’t that mind-blowing when I think about it. But I love the direction of the song. The verses were quite nice. The pre-chorus rap sequences were very ear-catching. To also add to the fun of the song, the chorus was very catchy with its melodies and amazingly addictive hook (I am already humming along to the ‘DaDaDa’ despite listening to it a few times. The bridge really brings out the vocals capabilities of the group, which I think were really nice. I think if they added an extra element into the instrumental to make it really pop and colourful, the song would have gone extra miles for me. But other than that, this is one rocking debut track.

Cherry Bullet’s debut music video is a fresh take on AOA’s music video for Bingle Bangle. Both music videos feature the retro video game concept. Instead of going completely 8-bit, Cherry Bullet’s video went with a retro-futuristic video game, which I think looked really cool. Added on top of that, they managed to make everything look and feel high-tech, which I think would be appealing to the audience of today. I really like the backdrop for the choreography shots for this music video, as they looked like the coolest parts of the music video.

The choreography was quite good. Nothing too new or mind-blowing here, once again. But it seemed energetic and lively, like the song. I personally like the skip they did during the chorus to get out of the formations and that they genuinely looked like they were enjoying every second of their time on the stage.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10