Two weeks ago, I fell into a Super Junior sized hole in the shape of their latest single: Devil.
I’ve never really listened to K-Pop (Korean Pop music) prior to this and have only had limited contact with it through the reaction videos of popular youtubers or Emma Stone talking about it on Conan. Super Junior is one of the most popular groups in K-Pop and the first group to have such a large membership (currently at eleven with two of its members participating in mandatory military service). Their 2009 track, Sorry Sorry, pushed them as well as K-Pop onto the international stage and they’ve been feeling the love ever since.
Now Devil has two videos: the performance video above and the actual music video. I saw the performance video first by accident, in the wee hours of the morning as I got ready to attend Fan Expo Canada. The video had everything I loved: a catchy song, attractive guys in suits, and great dance choreography. When I say catchy, I don’t mean it in a throwaway sense when a song is all fluff and no substance but we still like it (sometimes begrudgingly). Devil is a really great song. It sucks you in right away with that guitar riff at the beginning and sets the tone with the cool, suave vibe of that opening — “hey hey well” — before we even dive in. It’s a dance song that’s laid back with choreography that you could synchronize with your friends at a wedding.
I was so obsessed with the song that I decided to purchase the ten track album of the same name which was released not too long ago (July 16, 2015). Pretty risky, I know, but the risk paid off. It was such an enjoyable experience. Almost every song fit the album so well with the only exception being Rock’n Shine (it sounds like a theme song that would be used in Power Rangers, as one friend put it). My second favourite track would have to be Good Love which has a smooth funk vibe about it.
Of course, an obstacle some would face when venturing into new music territory like this is the language barrier but with popular English music making the rounds internationally for decades, what’s the big deal when reciprocated? Great music is great music and Devil is a great album as well as a killer track. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re a K-Pop newbie since it acts as a great gateway to the genre. Isn’t that right, Donghae?
