Tag: Wheein (Mamamoo)

My next review is for Wheein’s solo comeback, which was dropped on the Sunday that had just past! Leading her latest mini-album, Whee, is the title track Make Me Happy, which music video also dropped on the same day. Both Make Me Happy and Whee is also her first release as a solo artist outside of RBW, which is still managing her Mamamoo activities. In June of last year, Wheein had chosen not to renew her personal contract with RBW, but did sign another contract to stay on as a Mamamoo member so that the quartet would continue on for the next while Her lost solo release under RBW last year’s water color. A few months later, it was announced that Wheein had signed on with THEL1VE, which is a label founded by Ravi (VIXX member), and is also home to Ailee.

Right from the get-go, Make Me Happy is such a pleasant and soothing track. There is a lot of enjoy in the song. To me, Make Me Happy comes off as an upbeat R&B track that has a tinge of retro flair to the song. Not really the most mind-blowing combination, but it is still appreciable and stunning at times. The bass line gives the song a nice oomph, which prevents it from dulling and increases the appeal of the song by many folds as opposed to the track going down the standard R&B sound. Wheein’s vocals bring a delicate touch to the song. Her vocals are whispery and light, while the melodies were smooth and flowy. I liked the pairing of the upbeat instrumentation with Wheein’s vocals. They offset the flaws of each other and creates a harmonious track that I find is very pretty, beautiful and an enjoyable track to relax or chill to. However, I do feel like my opening statement is a bit of a double edge sword to the song. While being pleasant and soothing is a great thing at times, I do think this is Make My Happy‘s biggest issue. And it is simply due to the competition that both the song and Wheein faces. In the midst of releases that have dropped this week so far, I don’t know if ‘pleasant and soothing’ is the right way to go. It is quite a crowd to navigate in. For example, if I wasn’t writing a review blog, I think I would have missed the release despite being a fan of Mamamoo, due to the fact that it is a Sunday release and that I tend to steer towards more lively and dynamic tracks (which yesterday and today is in abundance of).

To compliment the pretty song is an equally as pretty music video. There was such a heavy presence of flowers and butterflies throughout the video, and Wheein’s visuals got more and more breathtaking as the video went on. The purple dress and the flower head piece, as she walked down that hall, was definitely the money shot for me in this video. The visual work at the start and the post-production throughout the video (such as that beautiful hole in the wall and Wheein bursting into butterflies) definitely took the video to the next level. I also like the overall colour palette of the video. There were a mixture of pastels and stronger tones throughout the video, which helps makes this music video look less muted.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

The next comeback to review from earlier in the week was made by Wheein, one of the members of Mamamoo. While Wheein is the final member of the group to release a mini-album under her name, she actually made her solo debut way back in 2018 with the single Easy (featuring Sik-K). She then followed up with the single Good Bye in 2019. This past Tuesday, Wheein returned with the single water color and her debut mini-album, Redd.

Once again, I am using the term ‘pleasant’ to describe water color, but in a good way. Everything in water color felt very balanced and this makes the song extremely satisfyingly to listen to. We are know that Wheein is capable of powerful vocals through her collaborative stages and past work as part of Mamamoo. But water color manages to show off Wheein’s vocals without tapping into that powerhouse mode. As a result, other elements of water color were given an opportunity to shine. They melodies had a nice ring and helped make the song quite flowy. But not too flowy where the song felt like a blur. There were some nice cuts to the flow that make the song more enjoyable (i.e. her brief rap-speak one-liners just prior to the first two chorus), coming in the right time. They also reminded me a bit of Easy. The overall instrumental was quite groovy and brought a nice upbeat vibe to the song. It isn’t the most special or freshest background out there. But it is a nice relief from the loads of intense EDM we get a lot nowadays. It also has this nostalgic factor. I also really like the post-chorus instrumental break with the higher pitched squeaky synths, which brings forth that nostalgic factor even more. The heavily autotuned vocals (not exactly what the technical term for these vocals are) we get in the bridge also bring the same effect. I think water color could have benefited from a catchier and more memorable hook. The hooks we got were good, but the producers of the song should have somehow delivered more oomph to make them more recognisable and engaging. Overall, another nice song under Wheein’s belt.

I am kind of glad that Wheein’s fashion was a bit more typical than the outfits that Solar wore for her solo debut. It is definitely more of her style and fits in the pleasant tone that I mentioned above for the song. I also enjoyed about the fashion was the splash of colour it gave the video. It also made her the centre of attention, allowing her to stand out in what felt like settings that felt relatively plain. Similarly, the dancers also wore multi-coloured clothing. But Wheein’s outfits somehow felt bolder compared to the dancers. Aside from that, the music video opts for a choreography and closeup formula, and I felt there isn’t much else to the video to talk about.

I really like how they brought the grooviness out of the song via the choreography. It was definitely a nice routine, thought I think it could have been better if it was snappier. Like the song, it isn’t the most original routine out there. But it does its job at showcasing Wheein’s performance skills and complimenting the music.

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

Due to the nature of the video, I have typed up the bulk of the music video section in white font. To read this section, simply highlight the text. 

Mamamoo is back in the form of one member! Wheein has returned to the music scene with a solo release titled as Good Bye. Her last solo single was 25, which she released in May of this year. That release went completely unnoticed by many (including me) due to a lack of promotions in the lead-up and after the release of the single. Let’s hope that Good Bye doesn’t share the same fate! Her last solo single officially reviewed by your faithfully was Easy, which was released last year.

Good Bye takes on the ballad side of the industry. And it does so in a way that feels fitting for Wheein. We know of her impressive vocals through her works with Mamamoo and her solo stages on shows like Duet Song Festival. Her raspy vocals come through in this song, whereas they usually don’t during the group promotions. And I thought they brought some really nice warm colour to the song. The instrumental is pretty plain and ordinary for a ballad, but her vocals do a fair (as you would expect with any ballad) to make up for this pitfall. I also like how her voice builds as the song progresses, which I is something I enjoy when it comes to most ballads. Okay, it sure sounds like the Good Bye confirms to most ballads in many ways. But Wheein’s execution of Good Bye makes it stand out from the rest of the ordinary bunch.

The attention-stealing component of this comeback is the music video. IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE VIDEO YET, I RECCOMEND YOU DO BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO SPOIL IT!!! We see the lead female actress adjust to a singles life for the majority of the video. At the start of the video, we see she flip a picture frame over angrily, make a meal for two when she should have just a meal for herself and removed all of the couple stuff from the house. It seems like her former lover was an artist, as she trashes the painting on the wall with fresh paint. This is the turning point of the video and if you want to read the rest of the plotline, you will need to highlight it as I have typed it out in white. So essentially, a couple arrives at the house to see it trashed. The entire time, we were lead to believe that she returned to her own place. But instead, it turns out it was her lover’s house. The guy runs out, to alert people (I assume), leaving his girlfriend in the house. It actually turns out to be her house and that she was the painter. As this girlfriend enters the room with the painting, she picks up the same picture frame from the start of the video, revealing a huge patch of orange paint over her boyfriend’s face, while her own face is uncovered. We are then shown clips of the lead actress drunk, crying over her lover and she lives the house. If you still don’t get the story, don’t worry. Essentially, the lead actress loves the girlfriend, not the boyfriend. It is another video similar to Please Don’t by K.Will. And it is a really good plot twist that I had to rewatch a couple of times. I also like the warm colours that feature in this video, fitting for the first ballad that I have reviewed on the site for the Autumn season!

Song  9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.4/10

Mamamoo seems to be readying themselves for multiple solo releases in the months to come. Moonbyul seems to be releasing something May, while Solar was just confirmed to make her solo comeback. But kicking it all off is Wheein with her solo release Easy. This isn’t her first solo track, however, as she has collaborated alongside with other singers, such as the chart-topping Anymore with Jungkey and Narccius with M&D.

Easy is a very nice sounding R&B track. It features a nice melody, which makes the song flowy and groovy, which is a word I am using quite often nowadays to describe songs. But this is quite groovy, which isn’t something that I commonly associate with R&B. The chorus is also quite catchy, despite it being a style that I am not into. The line ‘Too late too late, your so stupid, stupid‘ is also quite addictive moments in the song. Also featured in the song is her husky vocals. It isn’t something you hear commonly in her Mamamoo work. Instead, she employs a more raspy sound which really sounds alluring and seductive. And while it may not seem like there is any, you could hear some attitude in her voice. She also tries a little bit of rapping, which was really good as well. The ain sequence was handed to Sik-K, who’s featuring is a perfect accompaniment to the other parts of the song.

The music video shows Wheein trying to get the attention of her boyfriend, who doesn’t really seem to care about her anymore. In the lyrics, she sings about how she went after him but now that he doesn’t really care anymore, she is trying to find a way out of their relationship. But what way out are you thinking of? Well, most likely kill your boyfriend using a fist missile didn’t pop into your head. And well, that is what Wheein results to at the very end of the video. Honestly, it makes the video a little more interesting with that quirky and unexpected plot twist. Also featuring in the music video is Hwasa and an amazing colour palette. Overall, it was a good video.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a full performance of this. I don’t think there are any plans to promote this (I am not sure). That small snippet of choreography around the 1:04 – 1:24 seems quite promising. However, as there doesn’t seem to be any hint of promotions (please comment below if I am wrong), I won’t include any performance section in the final rating below.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10