Apink Celebrates Fifteenth Anniversary with Special EP RE: LOVE
Photo: Apink Official X
On January 5, Apink released RE : LOVE, their first EP since 2023’s SELF. Headed by the title track “Love Me More,” this release celebrates the group’s fifteenth anniversary. Chorong, Bomi, Eunji, Namjoo, and Hayoung still remain active years after debuting on April 19, 2011. RE: LOVE also marks the group’s first comeback under With US Entertainment; they previously promoted under IST Entertainment and its former iterations since debut.
TRACKLIST:
“Love Me More”
“Fizzy Soda”
“Birthday Cake”
“Sunshine”
“Hold My Hand”
“Love Me More”
With Eunji’s first “Oh, baby,” “Love Me More” makes it clear that it delivers classic Apink excellence. The light synth and flute notes scattered throughout give “Love Me More” a wistful effect. This approach makes sense for its lyrics yearning for continuous love to return. “This world that I faced, blooming because of you (The world) / Do you know that your love made me shine so brightly? This moment is complete because of you,” Apink sings.
The music video for “Love Me More” uses a surprising amount of winter aesthetics. Though the Northern Hemisphere still experiences this cold season, these visuals normally appear within marked seasonal singles. The video’s fairytale and claymation-like blend of real life and animation makes its first half feel like a Christmas movie.
In their frozen, barren land, Apink tries to cultivate love, visualized by sprouting seeds.Through enlisting the help of animals, they build the perfect conditions for love. This way of representing a previous fruitful love that needs to bloom once again adds some child-like charm to a song with a serious, earnest message.
The B-Sides
After the title track comes “Fizzy Soda,” a hip-hop song creating an unexpected contrast. Despite Apink’s reputation as a vocally-strong group, “Fizzy Soda” relies on talk-singing and rap. While not inherently a negative, this direction comes as an interesting choice. It strays from the signature Apink sound established at the start of the EP. The bursts of saxophone add some bounce to the instrumental but not one super dynamic.
The following song, “Birthday Cake” falls more in vein with the typical Apink sound like in “Love Me More.” Its R&B instrumentation, highlighted with tambourine hits and poppy synths, sets up a cheerful mood. The message of “Birthday” continues to follow the overarching message of love and support that endures many years. The same applies in “Sunshine,” a rock song which describes encouragement seeping through like sun rays cutting through the dark.
Apink ends the EP with “Hold My Hand,” a nearly four-minute traditional ballad. The light, stringed instrumental allows the vocals to provide strength in the song. Considering that Apink performed “Hold My Hand” alongside “Love Me More” on music shows, this carries a lot more weight than the other B-sides on RE : LOVE. Apink reminisces on how their fans, called pink panda, supported them for so long. RE: LOVE sets up a great example of older girl groups continuing to persevere in the industry.
Edited by Clark Royandoyan