Red Velvet has returned to bless the KPop scene with their musical presence once again, after almost a year since their last album. More specifically, 11 months and 16 days or 350 days since the previous album, “Birthday.”
Rumors began in mid-September about Red Velvet settling down to prepare for a new comeback, and hyped up RevLuvs even more after hearing it would be a full-album! This would be only their third full album since their 2014 debut. Which is pretty sad in comparison to other groups like Twice who has seven full-albums since 2015. Nonetheless, fans were very excited about new music from the cake girlies.
The second I saw the elegant and sophisticated teaser photos and videos, I knew it had to be good, and it was. It only took four years for another ‘Velvet’ (a mature concept) from the cake girlies, but they did it with their new album, “Chill Kill.”
A song I want to talk about first since it caught my attention before the other, is “Knock Knock (Who’s There?).” This song stuck out to me the most when I first heard the highlight medley, which is a teaser of all the songs on the album, except the title-track. The vibes felt different compared to the other songs, this one felt a little spooky or fantasy-ish – like a Halloween song, which I guess could fit onto an album titled “Chill Kill.” You can really feel that vibe when you listen to the instrumentals and can hear the constant sharp strings during the chorus, really feeding into the ‘chill’-ing feel. Honestly, if this played during the end-credit scenes of a movie like “Coraline” or maybe even the new “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” I wouldn’t think twice about it not fitting. I’ve heard worse songs for end-credits.
“Ice Coffee” is probably one of my top three favorite songs on this album. I really missed their more velvet-y concept-heavy albums. This song is more of a ballad mix with R&B elements, which really suits the cake girlies vocals – especially Wendy and Joy. It is a lot more minimalist (instrumentally-wise) than the other songs which makes it stand out from the others. The subtle guitar in the background really adds into that slightly softer love song, it is very calming in comparison to the more dance-pop songs on the album. After reading the English translation of this song, I believe that this song is more about being endlessly in love with somebody, despite it hurting a little bit.
Now for my favorite song on this entire album, and it’s also probably up there for one of my favorite Red Velvet songs of all time – “One Kiss.” This song is SO addicting, it is absolutely bonkers how good it is that I can’t stop listening to it. The beginning just immediately hooks me. It kinda has this witchy-seductive vibe – it hypnotizes me and I can’t escape their voices, like a siren. The best part in this song has to be the bridge, where the song slows down for a while, and then Joy whips out her vocals that get me everytime. It is so addicting to listen to, it is driving me mad. Songs like these really suit Joy’s velvety smooth vocals, and it makes me so happy that SM Entertainment decided to give them this concept again.
Finally, for the main attraction, is the title-track, “Chill Kill.” Now, sadly, this isn’t my favorite title-track of theirs, but that doesn’t make it horrible. It is very catchy, similar to their last release “Birthday,” giving off the same vibes with the use of synths and base. The verses have that spooky, maybe ominous, vibe that some songs on their last album give off, but the chorus gives the song a complete 180 with a more upbeat, cutesy feel. I had high hopes for this song when I saw the teaser trailers and concept photos with a sophisticated vibe. I felt like this was the Itzy “Sneakers” teasers all over again. However, the girls do a great job at pulling this song off with their insanely versatile vocals.
Overall, this album could be one of my favorites, and it’s definitely up there for sure. Sadly, it doesn’t top the “Perfect Velvet” in terms of musical perfection – but it’s better than some others. This album has some of my favorite b-sides with an okay title-track, which brings it down a tad. In all, I would probably give this album a 4/5 spartan heads.