PHOTO CREDIT: sportskeeda.com
Red Velvet released their first Japanese studio album, third overall, “Bloom,” on April 6, 2022. This Japanese album is one of my favorite Japanese releases from any K-Pop group.
This was their first studio album release in four years since the release of their album “Perfect Velvet” in 2017. This album features 11 tracks with five of them being new ones, including the lead single “Wildside.”
“Sappy,” “#Cookie Jar,” “Sayonara,” “Aitai-tai,” “Swimming Pool” and “Cause It’s You” are the already existing tracks from other albums that were added to this album. I’ve listened to all of them before the release of this album, and I really like them all.
Red Velvet had not released any Japanese content since May of 2019, so this album coming out was a huge surprise for the fans. I was particularly excited to listen to “Marionette” and “Colors of Love” because the titles sounded interesting to me.
Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri all sound like angels on this album, which is what I expected because they are all so vocally talented. All five of them made this album so iconic and so unique in their own ways.
Now, there are 11 tracks on this album, let’s get into them all.
“Wildside” is the most amazing Japanese song I have ever listened to, along with TWICE’s “Perfect World.” “Wildside” is just so perfect in every way shape and form. The music video is so visually pleasing as well. The different sets going from a bank vault filled with diamonds to a pastel colored stage dressed with flowers was so beautiful, I loved it so much.
The choreography was really unique and the vocals…oh my god the vocals. Yeri’s voice was so smooth and rich, she sounded regal and soft when she sang. Wendy, Joy and Seulgi brought it home with their adlibs in the background which made me ascend into heaven. Irene’s rap may have been less than 10 seconds, but it was one of her most iconic rap verses. I also cannot move one without mentioning the bridge of this song, which was the part of the song that made me ascend into heaven because of how angelic and elegant all the members’ voices sounded.
“Marionette,” is so good and so unique, it’s my second favorite off of the album. When I first listened to it I thought about how it could be in a horror movie because of the music box sound at the beginning. This song actually samples a xylophone signature line from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” and it was so perfect for this song. Irene and Joy’s back-to-back rap verses hit so hard and flowed so smoothly in the song it made me headbang viciously for the span of their raps.
“Snap Snap” was really distinctive and showed more of Red Velvet’s “Velvet” side as they and their fans like to describe some of the songs on their albums. This song was another one of my favorites from the album because of how bold and groovy it is. This song is a really good dance song that I most definitely did dance to while driving and almost rear-ended someone. I like the message of this song about how the camera loves them and how they live for having their pictures taken on either a red carpet or runway.
“Jackpot” was also a very upbeat song, and it was a really fast-paced song too. There was a lot going on in the song in terms of vocals and background music, but I really liked it. It’s like a shot of pure adrenaline, and Irene’s rap verse made the song so much better.
“Swimming Pool” was a really sweet and happy song that I liked a lot. This song is the type of song you listen to at a beach party or, better yet, at a pool party and dance along to. It was so upbeat and summery and it made me feel so happy when I was listening to it. Wendy and Seulgi’s vocals on this song were so amazing and powerful, they just work so well together.
“Colors of Love” was a really lovely slow ballad song that I enjoyed listening to a lot. I know I keep repeating myself, but that’s because it’s the truth. But when I say that all five of the members’ voices were so beautiful and angelic, I mean it every single time. This song is a song that you would slow dance to with someone you love under the starry night sky, or on the dancefloor.
“Sappy,” “#Cookie Jar” and “Aitai-tai” were very upbeat and happy songs. They both had sort of that bubble-gum pop vibe which I like, but I prefer just normal pop. All of them sounded amazing as always on both of these songs, and I really enjoyed Wendy’s vocals on “Sappy.” I also loved the bridge for “#Cookie Jar” and how the pace of the song slowed down during it making the members sing slower and in a deeper tone. My favorite part of “Aitai-tai” was the chorus and how it kind of sounded like a Mario Kart song a little bit. Again, all of their voices were so heavenly and strong that it made the song really good.
“Sayonara” and “Cause It’s You” were very good songs vocally, but they weren’t one of my favorites. I will not sit here and say I disliked any Red Velvet song, because I don’t. However, I will instead say that I just didn’t enjoy them as much as the others.
Red Velvet’s Japanese songs are so amazing, and they definitely don’t get the recognition that they deserve. I love all of their Korean and Japanese songs, and that goes for all K-Pop groups that I stan. I believe that if you like a K-Pop group and all of their Korean songs, you need to listen to their Japanese songs because they are just as good, and sometimes even better.