MV Review- Red Velvet Continue To Confuse Everyone With "Automatic"

SM seem to be determined to confuse us as much as possible with Red Velvet, first they announced Yeri would be joining the group and now out of NOWHERE SM have decided to release an MV for "Automatic", which is an album track on their upcoming first album, "Ice Cream Cake". So far it's been rather ambiguous as to what Red Velvet's overall image would become as their previous singles "Happiness" and "Be Natural" were worlds apart in both sound and style. It's a good thing this is just a pre-release though, because "Automatic" does nothing to show what Red Velvet are really about.

Having a blast, I see

Musically and stylistically, the song is quite similar to "Be Natural"; effortlessly smooth, it glides from start to finish like, well, velvet. Many have expressed frustration at Red Velvet not yet having a solid concept, but I'm not even sure if they'll stick to one type of sound (I'm assuming their name hints at this, with "Red" having connotations of vibrancy, energy, and passion, whilst "Velvet" connotes softness, elegance, and luxury). Still, the song is actually really good, and for an album track to be of this quality I'm pretty excited for the title track and the rest of the album.

Good lord that mirror needs a good scrub

The MV is equally stylish but, unfortunately, for an SM video it's pretty sub-par: it has some interesting ideas but really nothing particularly exciting or visually outstanding (which is the biggest draw of any SM music video). The quintuplet have been styled similarly throughout, which kind of makes sense as first and foremost SM probably want to sell Red Velvet as a uniform group before selling the individual members (kind of like early SNSD) but at the moment Red Velvet's biggest weakness is their lack of identity; not just because of their sound but also because the members really do look similar. I'm not sure why RV fans get so angry when people say this because whilst it's true that they're new and if everyone followed them properly they'd easily be able to tell who's who (though if one has to stan a group just to identify a single member that's not really a good sign), but the fact that they're so similarly styled all the time doesn't really help. I'd like to think I can tell them apart pretty well but alas, I always seem to trip up with Irene (she just seems to somehow blend in with every other member? It's kind of odd).

Food shots?? WOW THESE SLUTS COPIED FIESTAR >:((

Ultimately whilst "Automatic" is a pretty solid song it does absolutely nothing to solidify either Red Velvet's image or sound. Whilst it's commendable that SM are trying to get them to stand out from SNSD and f(x) (and in turn just about every other girl group out there), the strategy they're currently using will most likely take a while to pay off. We have seen that Red Velvet can be versatile, and the balance between the members is very impressive, but we'll have to wait for "Ice Cream Cake" to see if the girls can really make a lasting impression.