After School doesn’t really go for the whole cute concept. They’re good at zig-zag snaps and fierce attitude, but this summer, Pledis Entertainment has decided to split the girl group into sub units and the first bundle comes to us in the form of Orange Caramel. Anyone hungry?
Orange Caramel consists of Raina, Nana and Lizzi. Raina is one of the stronger vocalists in After School, while the other two are, well, nice to look at.
Their EP dropped today with two songs, ‘Magic Girl‘ and ‘Love Does not Wait‘. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to a girl group and reviewed their material. The recent influx of boybands has me convinced that all Kpop females are taking their annual vacay, poolside.
Here’s something interesting about their title song - it’s a sound I was not expecting at all. It’s an obscure blend of pop, trot, and a familiar 90′s anime sound a la – Sailor Moon.
I don’t know if I like it or if it feels too much like I’m relapsing to my secret Sailor Moon addiction of my childhood. Emphasis on ‘secret’.
Anyway, ‘Magic Girl’ integrates sounds and effects that, for me at least, are refreshing to hear. I have to give it to them for being really cute but some how managing to keep me interested. I can only listen to SNSD’s cute phase for so long (not dissing them or anything), but this is a distinct cuteness that is tolerable to everyone, myself included, who can’t stand those high pitched acid-trips.
‘Magic Girl’ feels comfortable to listen to because it’s embracing an old school instrumentation and an array of Jpop melodies that we’ve all heard before and grew up listening to (that is, if you remember all those cartoons and animes from the late 80s to 90s).
From the bubbly hook to the chimes of the piano to the key it’s in – ‘Magic Girl’ a pleasant experience, to say the least.
And the MV is just the icing on the cake. I mean, NANA! Girl, you’re stepping your game up. I would have placed Raina as a leader, but Nana seems to be owning it.
For some reason, I’m not in love with it. It’s cute, it works for them, but I don’t want it in my iTunes. The video’s cool though – Nana’s not singing solo much in this, but her personality comes out, which I like. Raina is adorable here, too – my fave out of the three, I think.
I think it was a valiant effort. They pulled off the cuteness concept pretty well. I would have liked Raina taking on something else, though.
By the way, the outfits for their debut stages look nasty. I don’t know what their stylists are thinking.
Very old school J-Pop but I don’t think I can listen to it, that period in my life has passed and unfortunately is not coming back, but I do think the song isn’t bad.
Also, I knew someone besides me would be reminded of Sailor Moon! ^-^
Yeah, it’s SO Sailor Moon. The song itself is good, in my opinion, but I’m with you. It’s weird listening to something that sounds like I’ve traveled back to elementary school when Cartoon Network used to rock my world.