Making her first solo comeback in 15 months is YooA from OH MY GIRL. She returned on Thursday this week with the new single Rooftop, which is the lead single off her Borderline single album. Her last solo release was Selfish from November 2022.
Rooftop is YooA’s answer to a mature sound. This is uncharted territory for YooA, who hasn’t really explored the likes of this darker and edgy pop sound before in either of her solo or group work. I particularly like the presence of the string synths in the song. To further delve into this sound profile, Rooftop also sees YooA complement the mature sound with some bold delivery approaches – some of which pays off and others doesn’t. The first verse for Rooftop was forgettable for me. Nothing really stuck out of me during these parts, which does create a void that I cannot fill once the song ends. The choruses, on the other hand, were definitely more memorable. I liked the boldness and confidence that YooA exudes during the central piece of Rooftop. I also liked the rhythm that the instrumental had. Her sing talk delivery motif was good when the chorus started, but it became dull fast as its dragged on. The most engaging part of Rooftop was when YooA gave us melodies that felt substantial. There were other parts in the song that had melodies, but they were brief and passed over quite quickly. The takeaway here is that Rooftop should have incorporated more melodies in place of the sing talk motif to make the track more engaging. Some of the sing talk was justified, but the song didn’t need too much of it.
The music video sees YooA transform into a black bird, based on the feathers we see her leave behind in her wake. This make sense, as in the lyrics to Rooftop, YooA likens herself to a bird who’s life is being held back (like in a bird cage) and expresses her feelings as she leaves that life for another. I like the concept of YooA being a black bird, since black birds have strong symbolism. A black bird can represents one’s inner self and transformation, which is what we see is desire expressed in the lyrics and what we see YooA do in the music video, respectively. Concept-wise, it lends well to the idea of that darker, edgier and more mature vibe she has going on in the song.
YooA is known for her performance skills, and so it comes as no surprise that she flourishes on stage for Rooftop. As mentioned earlier, the performance gives YooA opportunity to tap into that mature side, bringing out a confident and sensual (at times) routine. I really like the impact she has during the chorus, particularly with the opening move with the aggressive hip sways.
Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.2/10
