EVERGLOW Brings ‘80s Synthwave to the Table with “LA DI DA”
EVERGLOW is finally back after a long seven-month hiatus, and Forevers couldn’t be more excited. Leading up to the news of their new release, Twitter stans have been very vocal about their need for a comeback. With the release of “DUN DUN” in February, along with praise came criticism—many stating that the song had uneven line distribution and instilling fears that the upcoming comeback would provide the same results. While preparing, the members of EVERGLOW continuously dropped hints, telling us this was their most difficult comeback to date and that they worked extremely hard for it. Let’s see what they have in store for us!
Music Video Aesthetics
Visually, this music video is everything one could ever ask for from the moment it starts to the moment it ends, but it has a lot going on. The cityscape and searchlights complement the members’ intro glamour shots, giving off a clear Sin City superhero-esque vibe. As one would expect, it’s not an EVERGLOW music video if there isn’t a splash of color or crazy editing effects; as soon as the beat hits it brings the color with it in the form of outfit changes and bold makeup looks. Whoever their stylist is for this era needs a raise because they did such a good job with the various outfits shown throughout the video and it was really enjoyable to watch. The team also makes very good use of lighting in the dance shots and the color accenting, especially for the monochromatic scene with Aisha and Mia where the red was laced in and enhanced—that shot specifically was very enchanting. The glamour shots were perfectly placed and the angles chosen were lethal. Those combined with the dance scenes containing moves that directly complement the lyrics, such as the throwing of their hands when Sihyeon sings “now cut it out of everything,” and then the covering of their eyes to signify that they won’t pay attention to haters’ comments make the video so much more powerful.
The choreography for this release does, in fact, seem to be harder than their others, seeing as they included small bits of whacking and voguing along with the very calculated hand movements in the chorus. I wish they would have put less of the dance sequence with the black patent leather outfits and more of the other two outfit combinations, but it probably was the best take and it looked good either way. We were very happy to see each member get a decent amount of screentime because that’s hard to do in the time frame you’re given for a music video and varies depending on how many members a group has. It’s worth mentioning that E:U and Onda could have been given a bit more shots toward the end of the video.
The members look even more confident and determined to show off what they’ve prepared and that makes them dangerous— they obviously didn’t come to play.
Let’s Talk About the Music!
Tracklist:
“LA DI DA” ♔
“UNTOUCHABLE”
“GXXD BOY”
“NO GOOD REASON”
“LA DI DA”
We all knew that EVERGLOW wasn’t going to part from their girl-crush concept anytime soon, but it was a surprise when the teaser dropped and we got a taste of the synthwave track that was to come. A lot of people immediately compared it to “Blinding Lights,” but synthwave has existed for a long time—it’s not all the same—and in this comeback EVERGLOW made it their own. The change in sound isn’t the only thing that changed this comeback: “LA DI DA” is officially EVERGLOW’s most evenly distributed song in terms of lines which shows that Yuehua Entertainment took the feedback and criticism from “DUN DUN,” actually listened, and fixed it.
If you need a song to make you feel like you’re the baddest, this is definitely it on the album. From the moment the song starts you feel the intensity, especially with the ad libs in the background. For example, the growling after they say “Everglow'' and all through the song, though a little hard to hear, it’s definitely a favorite part to listen for in the track. The beat change during the bridge right before E:U’s rap switches the song from pure synthwave to an R&B synthwave mixture, and that is another thing that makes the song interesting and easy to listen to multiple times without getting bored. One thing you definitely have to listen for is the electric guitar riffs during the dance break and how they change in tone through Yiren’s “turn it up loud turn it turn it up loud…” That’s a simple EQ and compression technique in audio production and it makes the song so fun to listen to because of the little nuances hidden in the background music.
Besides the music, the lyrics also give off a fierce aura. The English lyrics alone are enough for anyone to understand the angle of the song: “don’t bring me down down, don’t bring me down,” “got no time for haters,” “feelin’ myself (hey!),” “this is for the players and the haters… I don't give a what.” Honestly, the English lines could make for a great English version in the future if they wanted to go that route and every time we hear Sihyeon’s “got no time for haters, to all the bad guys and the players” that’s the first thing that comes to mind. We can also probably all agree that Yiren’s “Everglow, forever. Let's go!” is going to be an iconic line in EVERGLOW history.
“LA DI DA” didn’t disappoint and again, EVERGLOW didn’t come to play.
B-Sides
If the title track hadn’t already been chosen, “UNTOUCHABLE” would definitely have been a candidate for the spot. The song is one you immediately groove to because the bass guitar and drum riffs carry the track into a nice pop sound also reminiscent of the ‘80s. The vocals flow on the track effortlessly and complement the music so well, but the best parts of the song are the pre-choruses when the bass guitar falls out and is taken over by what sounds like a heavily compressed synth keyboard as Sihyeon sings “tell me now tell me now…” and right after the chorus where the members harmonize “we are. we are. we never fall. we are. we are…” It’s catchy, easy to sing along to, and just an A-tier song that is quick to become addictive and will definitely become a favorite on the album!
“GXXD BOY” is the track that signals a change in sound on the album—it’s more hip-hop influenced and heavily rap line based, which showcases and gives justice to E:U’s position in the group since in other songs she more than likely only gets one or two parts. Because it’s a little more rap line focused, Aisha gets a lot of exposure as well, but surprisingly Yiren also shined very brightly in this song; her vocals were perfect for this song, her soft tone offsetting the loud backtrack to create a nice contrast. The bridge of this song where Mia and Sihyeon sing was actually a surprise to hear because it didn’t seem like the track would flow that way, but it was really refreshing to hear the change in the beat. If you gravitate toward bass heavy songs and you have rap line biases, this is your song.
“NO GOOD REASON” is probably the song on the album that feels the most out of place for this particular comeback while still having that classic EVERGLOW sound that their usual B-sides have. It actually is quite similar in styling and sound to “Hush” off of their second single album. It’s a gentle song that simply strikes you in the feels and makes you feel nostalgic, remembering a past relationship you’ve had, miss, and/or want back. As always, EVERGLOW’s harmonization is on point and the members' voices complement each other with this line distribution. It’s because of this that the song holds the power to be enjoyable yet feel so emotional at the same time; it’s a sad jam song. We all have those playlists… add this song to it.