March Favorites
Favorite Comeback: WINNER - “뜸 (Hold)”
When writing about my monthly favorites, I try my best to give a general overview of what I’ve been listening to and enjoying most. In doing so, I categorize my favorites by song, music video, and live performance. Those categories are a great expression of what I enjoy most about K-Pop: the musicality, the performative elements, and the use of visuals and storylines. This month, however, I must do it all differently, and I have WINNER to blame.
Maybe this quarantine just has me watching far too much Frasier and Seinfield for my own good, but the sitcom style, quasi-Full House vibe to the music video that accompanies “뜸 (Hold)” is just perfection. Featuring AKMU’s Lee Suhyun, the music video tells an adorable story of four brothers, played by WINNER, watching over their little sister’s love life. It’s cute, it’s silly, it’s delightful to watch. The visuals are quite charming, with calm tones that perfectly mimic the everyday life of a family living together at home. At times like these, I am incredibly appreciative of a silly, lovable story about a family together at home. The laugh track only adds to the sitcom set-up and was brilliantly used. Even the promotional image teasers are absolutely perfect, the members and their fictional little sister posing in a classic family portrait style with matching outfits and haircuts.
The choreography is giddy and easy to follow, especially the finger choreo featured during the end credits. Since this only came out a few days ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to start seeing numerous TikTok videos mimicking the end credits. The song is also exactly what we need right now—a fun melody to move your body along to while working from home. It’s a lively, exciting track that will stick with you for the rest of the day, but you won’t be mad about it.
With “뜸 (Hold)” as the pre-release single for the group's upcoming album Remember, I am now incredibly excited for their newest release. I truly can’t bring myself to make up a single complaint about this release. My categorization of favorites is usually structured as so because there’s something about a different release I liked more than my favorite release of the month. Not this time. Bravo, WINNER, you take the win this month.
Special Shout-Outs
Of course, there were other releases I enjoyed that can’t go unmentioned. Queens of EDM, ITZY, are back with an ever so exciting track and an incredibly visually appealing music video, “WANNABE.” While not necessarily my favorite music genre, it’s undeniable that ITZY has perfected the K-Pop EDM style. The music video is incredibly balanced, each member having their own special segments and beautiful group shots showcasing the choreography. With the exception of “ICY,” ITZY music videos come across a bit too similar to me; I feel like I always know what to expect before I even click on the video. That being said, I still think they do so brilliantly, never falling short of artistry.
I also can’t write a March favorites list without NCT 127 and "Kick It." Reflecting the group’s formation and the globality that is NCT, the song actually has three different titles. In Korean and Chinese, the title translates to “Hero,” which I personally think is a far better title to the song and music video than “Kick It.” The punk-emo guitar riff enthusiast in me loves a good rock-heavy introduction and NCT 127 has given me exactly that. In true NCT nature, we're bombarded by adlibs and synths that create the song. The music video is a salute to martial arts, of course relating directly to the many Bruce Lee mentions included in the song. The exaggerated use of yellow and black also took me right back to Kill Bill. While not exciting me as much as WINNER did, I was quite entertained with both the song and music video.
I would like to give a last quick shout-out to Kim Jaejoong. After four long years, the vocalist is back with the romantic ballad, “Tender Love.” While this style of both song and music video aren't necessarily my favorite, one must never not acknowledge the brilliance of Kim Jaejoong, so here I am. His vocals are incredibly breathtaking and the music video heartbreaking. I do appreciate a movie-like music video in which all we get is a beautifully crafted plotline featuring actors as opposed to the vocalist. For a song like "Tender Love," I believe that was the perfect choice.