Red Velvet
Perfect Velvet
SM Entertainment
What a year it has been for the girls of Red Velvet. They kicked off 2017 with Rookie, before taking a stab at the K-pop Queens of Summer title with the addictive Red Flavor later on.
Less than five months after the release of the sizzling The Red Summer mini album, the quintet – comprising Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri – is back with a new record.
The nine-track album is the group’s second full-length record (following 2015’s The Red), and showcases a more mature side to the group. It also does good on Red Velvet’s dual musical concept: “red” denotes the girls’ vivid and bold streak while “velvet” portrays their chic and toned-down side.
Despite being categorised in the group’s more “toned down” concept, the tropical house-informed Peek-A-Boo is still a maddeningly catchy bop.
Elsewhere, the group presents a more mature and smooth sound on old school R&B tracks like Kingdom Come and Perfect 10.
What Perfect Velvet has successfully done here is make the group’s smoother and relatively more reserved R&B sound a hit in a scene where girl groups are usually relegated to being overtly cute and bubbly.
Look flirts with an 80s disc vibe that shows off Red Velvet’s versatility. Meanwhile, I Just commands attention with its call-to-battle chorus and sleek EDM production.
A chink in the armour does appear in the juvenile My Second Date. The confluence of hip-hop and electronic dance music don’t gel well and the experimental track ultimately comes off like a hot mess.
Credit where it’s due, Red Velvet is arguably one of the few K-pop girl groups that takes risks. That bold disposition shines through on the trap-inspired Attaboy, a perfect extension of the group’s velvety soundscape.
