It’s been a busy year for upcoming girl group LOONA. After carrying out an impressive blueprint of pre-debut activities, it’s been both a joy and a challenge to keep up with each member and sub-unit’s debut each month. As their discography’s diversity broadens with each high-quality release, the group’s then small fandom has also grown in numbers, securing the group a large following even before their official full group debut.

After LOONA 1/3 defied the usual pop sound and LOONA ODD EYE CIRCLE brought out stealthy R&B, all eyes are now on the third sub-unit of the group, whose debut kicked off as member Yves was introduced through the retro synth-pop track “new.” Now debuting its 10th member, LOONA brings us Chuu, who debuts with the magnetic single “Heart Attack.”

“Heart Attack”

As solo singles are introduced prior to the formation of the sub-unit, the musical direction each sub-unit takes falls relative to the genre of each member’s solo releases. However, as the first two sub-units of LOONA became total opposites, it’s a challenge to guess which route the third sub-unit of the group is going to take. When Yves’s retro synth-loaded track “new” hit the market last month, one might guess that the next member’s release is somewhere along the same lines. Chuu’s solo, however, turned out to be quite different, as “Heart Attack” is totally trendy and energetic.

Utilizing a lot of brass and hard-hitting kicks, “Heart Attack” may be one of the most energetic releases we’ve got from the group so far. The song is very quirky with its unpredictable arrangement, as well as the catchy “You attack my heart” lines. There’s a certain degree of wittiness in the whole product as the track utilizes a few cool vocal samples that go perfectly with the brass and kick-snare layers, as well as the fun, comical plot of the music video.

Music Video

There are a lot of theories and mind-boggling plot twists that revolve around LOONA’s music videos and “Heart Attack” is no different. However, the difference the video makes is that it’s very quirky—probably the quirkiest since member Yeojin’s “Kiss Later.” It’s very fun to see Chuu fall for Yves all throughout the video, as well as go through different amusing instances like mimicking Yves’s dance moves. The production team that filmed the music video for “Heart Attack” also nailed the color grading. Despite the use of a lot of colors, the video isn’t straightforward with its brightness, utilizing a great amount of contrast to refrain the colors from popping out.

Of all the LOONA solos that were produced, Chuu’s solo has been one of the most surprising due to her vocal capacity. Judging from the photo teasers, Chuu looked like a bright, energetic member, but as “Heart Attack” played, she proved that she was more than just that. The vocal technique she carries is a total 180 from the breathy style a lot of the previous members had, as her vocal chops are more straightforward. It’s totally mind-blowing to hear a voice with so much control coming out of someone rather petite.

The B-Side

The single’s B-side, “Girl’s Talk” is a duet with Yves, the member introduced prior to Chuu. Produced by song-writing team MonoTree, “Girl’s Talk” could fit in Yves’s solo single as it features just about the same amount of synth in its arrangement. Different from the title track, “Girl’s Talk” stays reserved the whole time, with a certain level of airiness in the vocals.

Overall

With each member raising the bar for solo releases, it’s unbelievable how consistent LOONA has been with the quality of their music. Given the ambitious scale of the whole project, one would think that the group would have put out at least one single that’s sub-standard, but it isn’t the case for LOONA. Chuu’s “Heart Attack” only raises the bar once again, completely enchanting fans and non-fans to look forward to how LOONA’s overall map unfolds.