The lovely ladies of Red Velvet have returned for their usual summer comeback. As expected, this is a huge contrast from Bad Boy that came out in January (unboxing of that one here). Red Velvet Summer Magic is a much happier, shiny, fun concept that you would expect from a summer comeback. No lady killer this time!
I did pre-order a copy of this off of Choice Music. There are 6 versions of this album, 5 limited edition, member versions, which cost $18.99 plus shipping. You can get those here. There is also a regular, slightly more vanilla version, which cost $16.99 plus shipping. On Amazon, the Limited version costs $25.89, and it looks to be random. You can get that here. The regular version cost $23.80. That can be purchased here. If you have Prime you should also be able to get free shipping. The price may drop as more sellers get the album up on Amazon.
If you don’t have Amazon Prime, you can get a 30 day free trial using this link here. I will not lie, the free 2 day shipping, plus all of the free music and videos are totally worth it. I also now use it for books for my Kindle paper white too, and it is honestly a life saver. They have a program called Kindle Unlimited where you can check out 10 books at a time, read them, and put them back in the kindle library. The program cost $7.99 a month, and you get the first 30 days for free with this link.
Red Velvet Summer Magic Track by Track:
Power Up
We’ve got an 8-bit track today. I feel like I’ve been hearing a number of these recently, but I will point out, this is the only 8-bit track that has gotten stuck in my head. 춧하합니다, 레드벨벳. I don’t know how they managed to do it, but I actually enjoyed this 8-bit track, quite a bit. Their harmonies are also on point through the whole track. Those harmonies they are singing are also not easy patterns and intervals either. I am extremely impressed and interested in hearing it live. Clearly this song made it into my playlist. It’s not my summer song. iKON took that title last week with Continue.
With You
Taking the tempo down a little bit, with a slightly tropical, swing-like song. Yet again, I really approve of Red Velvet’s harmonies in this track. I think the ladies did a stellar job. Per usual, their runs are on point. As for the tropical feel to the song, it’s typical for the month. If they wanted to surprise me, they should do this sound in October! Not my favorite song on the mini-album and it isn’t in my playlist, but I will 100% praise the crap out of their vocals.
Mr. E
The track started with a jungle sound to it. I though we were going back to their Happiness days for a second there! Things I really like: when they add the electronic and modern feel to the track during the first chorus. It’s like an oh, this is interesting moment. This track is basically like if The Lion King met Zedd and had a love child in Korea. I think that’s the perfect way to describe this track. I also love how the title is a play on words. It’s clever and cute. One final note: Wendy kills the descants. She voice is amazing. I love her. This song did make my playlist, but I’m not sure how long it is going to stay there.
Mosquito
This song sounds so retro. I feel like it popped out of the early 2000s and would have been performed by Christina Milian or like a B-Side Destiny’s Child track. I really enjoy how they are giving us a lot of different sounds on this mini-album. Despite that, I am really not a fan of this track. I don’t like the flow of it, I don’t really like the lyrics. I’m not feeling it.
Hit That Drum
This song is fun when it starts out. We’ve got a fast beat that immediately had my head bopping. I do think that the Red Velvet girls started off a little bit high vocally. Also, once you hit the chorus, I cannot help but be reminded of Bonamana. I love Bonamana, but I’m not a huge fan of this song. It doesn’t really stand out to me as something I would consistently want to listen to. I really want to hear more of that nice, rich warm tone that you get on their vocals when they sing lower, and I haven’t gotten that thus far on this mini-album
Blue Lemonade
The opening run had me thinking I was going to get my low, soulful notes that I want from Red Velvet, and then they took that away from me in 2 seconds. Red Velvet has the vocal skill and talent to do power tracks, but they haven’t given me what I want. I know it is summer, but every track on the album doesn’t have to be written exclusively to fit the season. Besides the fact that I’m disappointed in the variety of vocal stylings, per usual Red Velvet kills the vocal harmonies.
Bad Boy (English Version)
So I actually heard this version before it was released, as the ladies performed it at KCON NY when they were there. I must say, I was EXTREMELY confused. I was trying to sing the Korean Lyrics, and they just weren’t singing them! Besides that, we all know and love this track. I think the ladies did a decent job, but I like the Korean version better. No matter what, I love Wendy though. She’s spunky. In person, on TV, she just has spunk.
KPoints: 439/5
The only reason that this mini-album is getting lower marks on the musical side of things is mainly because the album didn’t give me the variety I wanted in regards to vocal stylings. The only thing on here that had even a slightly dark-ish feel is the English version of Bad Boy. I know that they have the potential to give me something slightly more soulful, and I love Red Velvet when they give me that. Despite that, I do greatly approve of their harmonies, and I think they are all extremely talented, and this album will totally be amazing on a really happy day.
Should you buy a copy of this album? Well, I saw a picture of the Limited Edition version of this album, and it looks crazy. Just look at this:
That’s crazy, and I love how crazy it is. Can you just stream the album? Absolutely. Unless you are a serious Reveluv, or love to collect fun albums, I don’t think it is absolutely necessary to have a copy of this album.
What did you think of Red Velvet’s comeback? Let me know in the comments below, K-Nuggets!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
