Album Review: Lovelyz Take The Helm With 'A New Trilogy'

I made it pretty clear in my review of The Velvet last month that I think Red Velvet are the best rookie group in K-pop, but Lovelyz definitely aren't far behind: cute but not cloying, breezy but not shallow, bright but with a melancholic twist — the group have established a charming sound that lets them stand out from other girl groups musically, and despite its title suggesting otherwise A New Trilogy continues with the sound that Lovelyz have built-up so far.

Lovelyz have production team OnePiece to thank for the construction of their signature style, which the majority of K-Pop fans say is very similar to J-pop but I don't really listen to J-Pop outside of Perfume so can't comment there; instead — as I said in my Top 20 list on New Year's Day — Lovelyz' singles remind me of '80s/early '90s Britpop bands like New Order and other artists that my parents sometimes listens to from that era, where a lot of the hits were similar in terms of mood and sound to OnePiece's works (I've seen another blogger mention this before so I don't think my ears are wildly off-track here). Regardless it's a sound I completely dig and it works a charm here; the intro track "Moonrise" winds up elastic energy before springing into the lead track "Destiny": a whirling dervish of twinkling synths propelled by flourishing bursts of strings and bubbly vocals. Bouncing along with the energy of an excitable ARMY who's just found an opportunity to reference BTS, it's a wonderful slice of sprightly disco-pop that nearly rivals their previous best: "Ah-Choo".

Arguably the biggest strength to the group's music is that there's a softness that counters but works with the cutesy zeal — their tracks neither overwhelm nor lull the listener as is so common of K-pop music, an industry full of extremes. It's this sense of balance that lets the softer tracks in "A New Trilogy" work so well: the sedate "Bookmark" is given some welcome lift by an instrumental with just enough fizz to maintain that perfect equilibrium. Of course it also means the songs are all absolutely adorable — "1cm" sees Lovelyz float into space, arms outstretched and inviting you to step just a centimetre closer ("little by little to my heart"), with cosmic whoops and bleeps straight out of a Kirby game. All of the album cuts here are enjoyable, but it's the closing track that's the highlight: the dreamy "Doll"; drifting along in a warm, frothy haze and driven by a quaint music-box melody, it's beautiful in its simplicity and is one of the most charming tracks the group have ever had.

"A New Trilogy" is definitely a step forward for Lovelyz; individually the tracks may not be outstanding but together they complement each other to create a cohesive and strong mini album — one that really shows Lovelyz to be a stand-out act in K-pop.

Score: 8/10 [Great]
Highlights: "Destiny", "Doll"

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