birthday; red velvet

dec 4 2022 (posted june 5 2023)

After a pretty strong comeback with Feel My Rhythm, I was excited to see what Red Velvet produced next. I really loved the “Birthday” visual teasers, but I’ve given up on any kind of consistency from SM teasers (born from the Seulgi “28 Reasons” MV Fiasco). Then when we did get the music video teaser, I knew almost immediately I probably wasn’t going to like the song. The music video reminded me a lot of “Queendom,” which I didn’t love either. It’s got a cheap quality, which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it also just feels... phoned in. I think a cheap music video or song can work really well if they lean into it and go hard with the campiness, but both “Queendom” and “Birthday” just don’t go hard enough.

I think for “Birthday” they tried to blend the elegant yet creepy visuals of “Feel My Rhythm” with the lightheartedness and goofiness of “Queendom” and they just don’t blend well. They needed to either lean harder into the goofiness and go full camp or pull back on it and go for a truly darker concept. The verses are not that bad (though the whole sampling trend is starting to wear on me) but the song just falls apart on the chorus, which is somehow overwhelming and forgettable simultaneously. There are so many melodic elements that it’s difficult to follow any of them. I had to re-listen to “Birthday” while writing this review because frankly, I forgot what the song sounded like. It’s forgettable because my mind doesn’t have a strong and memorable chorus/melody to grasp onto.

However, I do like the bsides and think that, unlike “Birthday,” they do a good job at balancing quirk and edge. “Bye Bye” leans into the darker sound, whereas “On a Ride” goes full goofy, and both end up being great and enjoyable songs because of it. “Zoom” is just a little speak-singy for me, which just makes it a little boring, and I can’t make up my mind on “Celebrate” yet. Sometimes I love that song and sometimes I hate it. I waffle between thinking it’s sweet and emotional and thinking it’s ridiculously saccharine and boring.

I’m a little sad for Red Velvet. Conceptually, SM just has no idea what to do with them. They want to give them a rich lore universe to mimic (and hopefully recapture) the unexpected success of Aespa and Kwangya, but Red Velvet has never been the kind of group that needs or wants lore or an extended universe. Red Velvet are not AEs fighting the Black Mamba. They’re pretty girls who sing and dance, and what I think SM doesn’t get is that Aespa’s lore is only so special because it is unique and tailored to their group. It wasn’t like Aespa debuted with... I don’t know, “Life’s Too Short,” and then decided they were going to do the Kwangya thing. Aespa's concept and lore feel planned and natural, which is what makes it work so well. Whereas Red Velvet have been stuck in this damn Reve Festival, pretending to care about Reve, for far too long.

The deeper problem is that Red Velvet’s underlying/debut “concept” is no longer unique. When Red Velvet debuted in 2014, it was genuinely unique for a girl group to alternate between cute and sexy releases. But now? Well, almost every group does that. Concepts, as we understand them now, are much more fleshed out, fluid, and usually connected to lore (my Orbit self wants to contribute this to Loona, and I think they did set the blueprint for 4th gen girl groups, but it would be a mistake of me not to at least acknowledge the huge popularity of BTS’ The Most Beautiful Moment in Life trilogy as a big moment for lore-driven Kpop), not simply “cute,” “sexy,” or “innocent” like they were in the 2nd and 3rd gen.

SM attempted to find them a marketable niche with the Reve Festival concept, but it's like fitting a square peg in a round hole. The Reve Festival was clearly only planned to be a three album trilogy, a fun little thing, before moving on. Red Velvet have always been a group that have never stuck to one concept for too long, and made their identity off of being versatile. Sticking them to the Reve Festival makes them feel stagnant, despite their music still experimenting and changing.

Ultimately, there's nothing I can do but pray SM gets their heads out of their asses. But I'm not optimistic. We'll still get good music, but it's frustrating and sad not to see Red Velvet live up to their incredibly high potential.