Tag: CRAVITY

After finally getting around to announcing the winners from the 2022 KPOPREVIEWED Awards, I am finally getting back on the reviewing train. As I have constantly saying for the past few months, I will get around to posting the reviews that I have missed. But for now, here is a review for a brand new release, literally right off the press. CRAVITY makes their comeback today with their new title track Groovy and their fifth mini-album, Master: Piece. The new release follows the group’s last comeback with PARTY ROCK and their fourth mini-album, NEW WAVE, from September 2022.

As promised and alluded by the title of this new single, Groovy delivers on being groovy and funky. It would be a disappointment otherwise if it hadn’t! Groovy is described to be an electro-funk song that captures retro pop and hip-hop vibes from the 2000s. You can totally feel each of those influences coming through in the song. I particularly enjoyed the dance break we got as the bridge of the song. The way those brassy synths were incorporated into the instrumental piece really bridged and blended the chorus preceding it, the hip-hop influence and the electronic roots quite well. This dance break instantly becomes a highlight in the song for me. Elsewhere, Groovy is a super energetic track, particularly when we reach the choruses. They contained a blast of energy, further heightened by the smoother and laid-back pre-choruses that comes just before it. Strong and well-presented vocals throughout the song, while the rapping helped infuse more of that hip-hop influence into the song. My only issue with Groovy is the lack of a strong hook or centrepiece. I really enjoyed PARTY ROCK, the group’s last comeback single, as it had simple yet strong hooks/centrepieces that really drew in my attention and got me excited about the song after the fact. In Groovy, there really isn’t much to this department and I am not exactly satisfied with what has brought brought to the table. It could be very well the fact that the hooks and other moments just haven’t really set in my mind yet. But as far as I can tell, it doesn’t feel like they sell me the song as strongly as their preceding single. However, that doesn’t stop the super fun and energetic tone of Groovy that CRAVITY executes well.

My guess is the video shows the creative process in producing a comeback. The members all play a variety of roles throughout the video, including the team of office workers who most likely plans and research new concepts, the idols themselves on stage and at their press conference (and my guess is the black suits represent the members at an award show), the production crew who are filming the performance and the backstage crew. And it is revealed at the end that member Hyeongjun is the janitor that leaves the mysterious puzzles pieces around the office that connect together to give us this fun video. My only question is how the space theme fits into the video. Not exactly sure. Maybe it is a hint towards a future concept for a future comeback?

Choreography-wise, this comeback looked quite decent. I liked how fitting and the simple the moves that coincide with the hooks of the song. Personally, I did want something a little more dynamic to the hooks, but given the hooks don’t really go in that direction in terms of sound, I felt an equally as intense and dynamic dance move here would have just overpowered the sequence in its entirety. As for the rest of the performance, I liked the balance of intensity and energy, which helps live up to the fun and energetic descriptors I gave the song.

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

Next up in my pursuit to review the releases of last week is CRAVITY, who returned with their fourth mini-album, New Wave. Leading the mini-album is the single PARTY ROCK. This comes after CRAVITY pre-released their first English single Boogie Woogie and their Adrenaline comeback from earlier in the year (featured on the second part of their first studio album – Liberty: In Our Cosmos).

PARTY ROCK embraces CRAVITY’s upbeat and fun side of funky pop once again, following a similar sound profile to the likes of Adrenaline. However, when you compare the two tracks together, you definitely feel a noticeable difference. Adrenaline comes off as a much tighter and hefty compared to this new release. On the other hand, PARTY ROCK comes off as much lighter and looser, which makes that fun and upbeat feel so much more natural and easygoing. And this just nudges PARTY ROCK forward on the rating scale for me. The chorus had great bright and appealing energy that brought a smile to my face. The members do a good job of bringing all that energy to life and makes the central piece of PARTY ROCK vibrant enough. I do feel there is potential for the members and producers of PARTY ROCK to have taken the chorus to the next level with bolder delivery and a more concentrated instrumental to just make the chorus a more prominent peak to the song. But what we were given is sufficient enough, as it managed to still get me to enjoy the song. I am loving the “We go jumpin’, party rockin’, never stoppin’” line, being my favourite and pick of most memorable line out of the whole song. That hook (and the rest of the hooks throughout PARTY ROCK) were super catchy and definitely ups the fun factor. The weakest aspects of PARTY ROCK were the verses, simply because they didn’t have much of a memorable zing to it. Had this been the case (and the chorus was just a little more leveled up), PARTY ROCK would have been a top notch song. As for now, it is still a great single for CRAVITY.

The music video that accompanies the release of PARTY ROCK was decent to watch. But there wasn’t much to really talk about from it. From what I could see, it is just another video where the members are having a bit of fun. Throw in some choreography shots and solo shots, and that is pretty much the video for this release. Even the usual elements that I do mention or touch like post production, sets, outfits or visuals were all pretty standard. In other words, it feels like a video which concept has been seen and done many times before.

The choreography for this comeback is just like the song – fun. Nothing too mind-blowing or innovative here, but everything feels lighthearted and easygoing. My favourite move out of the entire routine coincides with my favourite line that I mentioned earlier (also my favourite moments in the music video).

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.4/10

Returning today is CRAVITY, who drops their latest single Adrenaline and their second half of their first studio length album, Liberty: In Our Cosmos. Originally, promotions for this album was meant to occur in February, however the group had tested positive to COVID-19 days before their scheduled return. This lead to the postponement of comeback by a month to today. It is their first release since last year’s The Awakening: Written in the Stars (the first half of their first studio album) and the tracks Gas Pedal and VENI VIDI VICI.

Adrenaline steps away from the sound profile that the group has worked with their last few comebacks – the ‘noisy’ electronic hip-hop, which was either a hit or miss for me. Instead, Adrenaline steps into the very familiar territory of funkier area of electronic music. While there is some nice energy to the song and the funky touch is always a fun element to have in a song, Adrenaline is a bit tame and doesn’t really offer anything new. If the group found some sort of balance between their old sound and this sound, I think Adrenaline could have a lot of potential. The hooks to Adrenaline could have also been more memorable and catchy. That way, the song would have been more appealing and potential more exciting. But for now, I find Adrenaline to be brewing from the same pot as every other pop song. That being said, however, Adrenaline is a lot smoother with its melodies and textures, which elicit a pleasant vibe. The vocals work was neat and pleasant, but nothing really great stood out for me. The rapping faired better, as their sequences had this underlying edginess and suspenseful nature that worked extremely well with the funky instrumentation and gave good drive to Adrenaline. And so the rappers really popped out in this song. I did like the additional electronic synths they added to the end of the song. It wasn’t much, but it refreshened up Adrenaline enough to not be repetitive. Overall, Adrenaline comes as a relief from their more recent harder hitting singles, but ultimately lacks much personality from the group.

The pop sound seems to be re-emphasised with this music video, which takes on a school boy concept. The bright colours and atmosphere is pretty typical for similar songs of the pop genre, and the school boy concept is a bit cliché. I don’t have much else to say about the video, unfortunately.

The choreography looks fine. Nothing really stands out for me, but that didn’t mean it was a bad one. There was a good energy, fitted in well with the upbeat vibes and I liked the flow of the choreography that we saw in the music video.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 6.8/10

Since their debut in 2020, it has been a traditional for CRAVITY to follow up promotions of their main title track with a side track off their latest album release. Following their debut, the group released promotional materials for Cloud 9, another song (other than Break All The Rules) off their debut mini-album. For their second mini-album, the group followed up with Ooh Ahh, while their third mini-album was followed up with Bad Habits. Today, CRAVITY returns with the release of a music video for VENI VIDI VICI, which follows up the release of Gas Pedal from their first ever studio album, The Awakening: Written in the Stars. An album review is being prepared as we speak. But ahead of that, here are my thoughts on VENI VIDI VICI.

Compared to their EDM-aligned title tracks, VENI VIDI VICI sounds much more sophisticated. It is quite an interesting dynamic to be honest. I do miss that striking nature and boldness that their title tracks have thanks to the EDM. But VENI VIDI VICI sounds a lot more mature (without really trying to sound mature at all), showing us a different side of CRAVITY we just haven’t really delved in yet. VENI VIDI VICI opens up with soft brass and guitar work, before soft vocals comes into play. As we progress through the verses, the song steps more into generic territory. But that changes once we approach the pre-chorus, which brings a heavier presence of those guitars (revealed to be electric guitars). I find the pre-chorus leads us appropriately into the chorus, which is more dance territory, but nothing like their EDM. Once again, it is definitely showcases a mature vibe, with the focus being on rather than the raps which is the usual centerpiece of their title tracks. The second verse is probably their least memorable sequence, with the raps going into trap territory and the pre-chorus is then repeated. The bridge focuses on instrumentation. Just when you thought the song would really amp up and return CRAVITY to EDM territory, the song throws a bit of a curveball. VENI VIDI VICI‘s bridge is a dance break and it does amp up, but it keeps itself in line with what we have heard so far. The instrumentals here carry more of a rock influence that I am totally digging. The electric guitars is just so electrifying and the drums just give the sequence that oomph it needs. The brass also returns, reminding us and adding that sophistication I touched on above into this sequence. Overall, VENI VIDI VICI explores a different side of CRAVITY, and I am satisfied with the choice of song as a follow-up to Gas Pedal‘s promotions.

The music video for VENI VIDI VICI is more so a performance video. There were a few close ups, and I like how the producers made sure that Julius Caesar’s words were reflected in the music video (for those who don’t know, VENI VIDI VICI is Latin for I Came, I Saw, I Conquered – famous words from Julius Caesar). At the start, we saw a door, the sword in stone, a painting and one of the members holding and placing a crown on their head. These correspond to each of the three parts of the famous line. I Came (arrival at the door), I Saw (looking at the painting and the sword in stone – i.e. attractions), I Conquered (the crown). Regarding visuals, I didn’t like the video’s hazy look, as that dulled the video for me. However, I did like the lighting and I think the choreography was shown off well.

It is a good routine overall. I did like how the moves were drawn out to compliment the vocal deliveries. The most memorable aspect of the performance has to be the dance break. I did wish they went harder with the dance moves there, as I think it would have been more suitable for such a sequence given the music.

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

I told you I would bounce around while catching up on releases that I should have reviewed much closer to their release dates. At least for this particular release, the group is still promoting it! As you can tell by the title of this post, I am reviewing Gas Pedal, CRAVITY’s latest release. It dropped back on 19 August 2021 (making this review almost a month late) and is also the title track of the group’s first studio album, The Awakening: Written in the Stars. I will confirm now that I will be reviewing this album, but that particular review post will be released sometime in October. Until then, here is my review for Gas Pedal (finally).

Gas Pedal follows the same pathway as their last title track, My Turn, which is quite unfortunate since that particular song did not fair well. The good news is that Gas Pedal seems to stray away from falling into the same obnoxious trap that My Turn fell into, with thanks to a much better chorus. Sure, Gas Pedal is still on the ‘noisy’ side of electronic hip-hop music, with a descending series of synth as the song’s main instrumental piece. This main synth is an odd choice, given that it reminds me more of a dying lawn mower or a decelerating car, rather than the acceleration that the title alludes to or is portrayed in the lyrics. But the other synths that also make up the instrumentation really helps make up for this odd choice. As mentioned, the chorus in Gas Pedal is ultimately better, with the repetition of the title as the main hook. It is executed in a way that is surprisingly catchy to me. I also like the mix of powerful and whispering vocals around this repetition in the chorus, which help creates an interesting atmosphere during the centrepiece of the song. The powerful vocals are further emphasised in Gas Pedal‘s first bridge (i.e. 2:00 mark of the song), which was one of the standout aspects of the song. We also had vocals in the pre-choruses, which helped smoothed out the song. The rapping, which were present in the verses, also had some heft to them and pushed the song along. We actually also got a second bridge (i.e. the 2:39 minute of the song) which featured some powerful rapping as well, giving us an edgy exit to the song. Overall, Gas Pedal is a definite improvement, despite it being from the same realm of song as their preceding title track.

I am not entirely sure if there is a plot in this music video, but it seems like there could be. I am not going to make an attempt at decoding the music video for a plot, as I wouldn’t know where to start anyway! But it looks like the music video is set in the future, with the members having the ability to load their minds into an alternate reality world. But it looks like when one of the members is loaded into this world, everything is collapsing. I liked the other half of the concept of the video (i.e. bikers), which was also quite edgy and matched the tone of the song. I liked the editing in this video and the various sets they were in. It is quite a cool video!

I really liked how edgy this performance was. It also looked quite tough due the constant movement (it doesn’t look like there is much of a break during the performance), but this fits the sound of the song. I liked how they incorporated movements that look like they are revving motorbike handle bars into, which I guess works in place of a gas pedal.

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

The next comeback being covered on my blog occurred back on Tuesday (apologies for the delays, once again). I am talking about CRAVITY’s My Turn, which dropped alongside their third mini-album, HIDEOUT: BE OUR VOICE – SEASON 3. This is their latest comeback following their debut with Break All The Rules and their comeback in August with Flame. The group also promoted Cloud 9 and Ooh-Aah (from their two mini-albums) throughout 2020. So without anymore delay, I present to you my review for CRAVITY’s My Turn.

The biggest elephant in My Turn that needs to be addressed is the chorus. Everything else in the song is just fine, though very unimaginative. Better words to describe the rest of My Turn is generic and plain, given that it felt like your typical edgy dance KPOP track and nothing more. But I can overlook that. Despite that, there was some interesting aspects to the song. The dull metal clanging was intriguing. Vocally and rapping-wise, CRAVITY does sound good and more refined The song’s bridge felt very NCT-esque with the slowed down instrumentation, smooth high note and the brief rapping sequence just before the chorus is brought back into play. The pre-chorus tracked a bit better in my books, with a slightly more promising appeal thanks to the incline in the song’s momentum. But instead of a drop to bring up the dynamics of My Turn or a drop that would drasticially change the direction of the song, the producers went with a childish centrepiece. Never did I think I would hear ‘Vroom Vroom Skrrt‘ as the literal main hook of a song. It felt very elementary. When I heard My Turn for the first time, I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. As some time has passed, I will admit that I have gotten used to the idea of ‘Vroom Vroom Skkrt’ as the chorus’ main selling point. But all of those thoughts I had initally about it being childish and such still lingers. And that really maintains that disappointment in the chorus. The insrtumental is another element that hones straight into that plainness description, with it not doing much other than maintaining that generic momentum that the verses contained. Overall, disappointed about the chorus of My Turn. And not much feeling towards the rest of the new song.

I think the visuals within the music video for My Turn fairs better than the song. But ultimately, the video is weighed down by the song. There are many aspects of the video that I enjoyed. The set designs and the overall feel of the music video felt like it was very stylish and modern. The lighting really helped in that aspect. The use of black, white and red felt very sleek. But with a song like My Turn, I think the video had wasted potential. A more dynamic song would have made everything in this video even more sasitfying (with some slight adjustments to the lighting to ensure that the dynamics is reflected). I also note that CRAVITY is being blamed for plagarism once again. Firstly, it is not their fault. It is their company’s fault for these accusations. Horrible planning, poor vetting of the creative minds and ideas – all faults are pointed at their management. Starship Entertainment really needs to be up their game became plagarism is never a great word to be associated with a group.

The choreography was actually quite good, It definitely fitting for the song. The edgy concept they were going for with the song was actually abundantly present throughout the performance. I appreciate the serious mode they were in, which made the childish nature of the chorus disappear briefly whilst watching the performance.

Song – 5/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6.3/10

Burning their way to their first comeback today is CRAVITY, who is returning with the title track Flame. If you missed this group’s debut, they are the latest addition to the Starship family and made their debut with BREAK ALL THE RULES back in April of this year. The group followed up their debut promotions with Cloud 9, which was a side track from their first mini-album, HIDEOUT: REMEMBER WHO WE ARE, which I have also reviewed. Let’s see if CRAVITY latest comeback is worth adding fuel to keep alight, or whether it is better to extinguish now.

Excuse my bad pun at the end of the introductory paragraph. But I thought it would make my review a little more interesting. To answer that dilemma, Flame is worth keeping alight. Though, I may have thought it was be best to extinguish it, given that Flame doesn’t offer anything new to what we already hear consistently. There are a few elements in the song that keep it alight and they should become apparent as you continue reading this paragraph. It starts off with these hollow and soft taps that plays throughout the first verse. I liked them as they add a little refreshing aesthetic to the instrumental. They poke through the rest of the song’s instrumentation every now and then, which keeps that aesthetic continuing in the song. Unfortunately, the rest of the instrumental reverts to something a little more typical. It was a generic intense instrumental spiel. There isn’t anything wrong with this, as the atmosphere was still quite good. But I would have expecting something a little more dynamic and captivating, given that was what those hollow taps alluded to in my mind. I also think the generic nature caught onto the vocals and rapping, as they could have been more explosive and powerful in this song. While I did think things got generic, I did enjoy the vocal melodies in the chorus, particularly the second half of the chorus. There are also some good hooks that keep this song in my mind, even after all those generic thoughts about it. Overall, Flame could have been better in many senses, but it just has enough to justify maintaining the flame.

While I may have used ‘generic’ as a word to describe the song, it isn’t a word I would used to describe this the music video at any given moment of its three and a half minute span. Just from opening sequence, we get a bit of futuristic and apocalyptic vibes. I feel that there might be a story line embedded somewhere throughout the closeups or a connection to their previous music videos, given that these mini-albums are a series. Aside from that, you can tell that the production value of this music video is extremely high. The quality just looks so good! The editing was amazing and the post-production gives off a cinematic aura. And of course, amber orange is the main colour of focus to match the title of the song.

While the choreography doesn’t really have anything that impressive, I still feel that it was a good routine. It matches with the music that we got. So if we got anything sharp or intense, I don’t think it would have been fitting for the song that we got. I would have said that they had overdone it. I did like how they got into formation for the start of the second verse and their suits looked quite elaborate, even though the suits were cut into.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 7.6/10

Over the last few years, Starship Entertainment has grown to be a highly successful label, with MONSTA X, Cosmic Girls (WJSN) and Jeong Sewoon each flourishing in their separate music careers. Today we observe the addition of a new group to that lineup. Cravity is a nine-member male group, consisting of Serim, Allen, Jungmo, Woobin, Wonjin, Minhee, Hyeongjun, Taeyoung and Seongmin. Some of the members may have familiar faces as four of the group members participated in Produce X 101, with Minhee and Hyeongjun going on to debuting as part of X1. However, X1’s music journey was short-lived after the recent voting scandal, which lead to the disbandment of X1 and the two Starship Entertainment members returned to their home company to rejoin their fellow trainees to debut under the name of CRAVITY.

Their debut song is titled Break All The Rules. It sadly doesn’t break any rules and plays fairly safe. It is a urban hip-hop track, one of the many subsets of the hip-hop genre, which has undeniably become the default genre of today’s KPOP music. They do manage to infuse some rock elements during some parts, gave a good rush of intensity in the song and added that funky synth to give the chorus a dynamic touch. But I wanted more. Something unique that sets this new group apart from the rest of the competition. Maybe they could have leveled up the intensity and dynamic nature of the instrumental by going with rougher synths that is loaded with impact. Like some of the songs that I have recently reviewed, I noticed that Break All The Rules had subpar hooks in this song was rather lacking. The chorus is slowly growing on me, but I don’t think it has that reach that they need to extend into the industry. What the group does well is on the vocal front. Great vocals and rapping from the group. It is a decent track. But I am not exactly sold on the group. Hopefully, their mini-album or next release can seal the deal for me.

What the song lacks is made up visually by the music video. Watching this video, it made the song feel more impactful and definitely boosted the song in terms of appeal. That is a sign of a fantastic music video. The cinematography and the lighting just blew me away. The sets, even though some were digitalised, looked amazing and very real. I also liked the minute use of colour in this video, which adds to the impact.

And what an intense performance. This group has the choreography chops down pat! It seems like it comes at the expense of their live vocals and rapping, as it was a little choppy in their debut showcase that they had today. But I don’t blame them. It is a powerful routine that I am 100% anyone would be breathless afterwards. I would have liked to some individual CRAVITY flair in the performance. But I was amazed nonetheless.

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