I’m already sat in first class, getting super hyped about this album, I wonder if it’s going to be better or as good as Pink Tape?

1.Red Light

When I saw the teasers I wasn’t sure what to expect and on first listen of this song I was even more confused. It felt a little disorganised, a little jumpy and I felt a little disappointed. Why couldn’t the song be more coherent? But after a few listens without the bizarre MV it has actually grown on me. I listened to the original demo version, and I can understand why the final is the way it is. It’s simply more interesting to listen to.

 

2.Milk

The introduction for this song is so weird, gunshots and animals hannh? But for me this is the standout track of the album. I love the chorus, I love the lyrics, I love the bollywood drums and the way the song almost lilts. I don’t have a negative thing to say about this song, it’s my favourite one on the album by a very large margin.

3.Butterfly(나비)

For whatever reason this song makes me think of Charmed, Alyssa Milano, combat trousers and beads. It’s such a laid back song that really reminds me of early 90s girl groups standing around harmonising. I like it, it’s a very background/soundtrack song though. It’s catchy in a way that you’ll find yourself humming the chorus, but not catchy enough that the lyrics of the verse will be stuck in your head.

4.Rainbow(무지개)

And then this song appears and Amber’s voice kind of yells at you to pay attention. Again it can seem a little jarring like it’s two songs put together, but it actually makes it more interesting to listen to. This song gives me such a 2NE1 vibe, but like you know good? (shots fired. don’t hurt me fans. pls)

5.All Night

If this song tried, I don’t think it could have a more Miami Vice, late 80s early 90s feel. When I hear it I think of crop tops, denim cutoff shorts, plastic jewelry and people hanging out by the beach. It’s such a hip song in a retro way. More songs need to use the electric keyboard in this way. Bring back the keyboard drum beats!

6.Vacance(바캉스)

If Butterfly is the background track in our 90s movie, then Vacance is our montage song. I actually thought this song was a bit too long it could have easily been a 2:30 song, and just not repeated some of it’s elements. Again, it’s not bad, but more of a humming catchy song.

7. Spit It Out(뱉어내)

This is why I love f(x), experimentation. This song sounds like a club remix of a song they’ve done. But they’ve just gone ahead and released the club version as their title track. I don’t know many K-Pop groups who make club music, so this is a fun song for me. It’s for sure earned a spot in my, “Get Ready” playlist.

8.Boom Bang Boom

Hmm. This is an okay song, has catchy parts, but for the most part it’s a filler song for me.

9.Dracula

I like the bridge and the ‘Dracula-la-la-la’ part. But this song is just not very good. It sounds like the bad side of the nineties, the one track girl groups with matching outfits who pretended to be best friends but weren’t. It’s not a bad song, but it’s just … eh.

10.Summer Love

Summer song! A lesser girl group would have this as their summer song, but it’s just so bland and forgettable that yeah, I’m glad that this is relegated to the end of the album.

11.Paper Heart(종이 심장)

Another summer song! But this is a nice ballad, and it rounds off the album nicely.

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Overall while I like this album, I still think Pink Tape was better because I liked the title track (RumPumPum) the best and I wasn’t disappointed with the filler tracks. Most of the time I’m able to explain a song’s inclusion in an album with, either it isn’t my personal taste, or it serves a purpose like to show off vocal range. But tracks 8-10 of Red Light were just so.. meh. I think f(x) deserved a better album than this and those three songs shouldn’t have been included. Quality felt like it just dropped off for me by track 8.

Stand out tracks Milk & All Night are really good, they’re clearly the stronger two tracks on the album and part of me wishes they had their own separate promotion cycle but that won’t happen! So here’s hoping for more live stages!

What songs do you like best from the album?