Hello everyone and welcome to my first Rapid Review. This will be a new style of review I will be trying out and I'm sure it will evolve and adapt slightly as I get used to having two styles of reviews on my blog. The first song I'll be applying this new format to is KARD's new song Red Moon off the mini album of the same name. This is KARD's return to the scene since they're previous hit Dumb Litty in September 2019.
For Rapid Reviews I will stick be scoring the overall comeback out of 50 points using 5 main categories scored out of a total of 10 points each. This is no different from my standard review style as to not cause any confusion and to give you all my fairest opinion and rating of each release. The only difference will be a much tighter and shorter discussion.
First up is the music video and I won't be beating around the bush when I say that I think this music video is somewhat lacking compared to their previous releases. I do however think this is no fault of KARD themselves but rather a consequence of the company behind the group, DSP, falling from grace in the last few years. I think it definitely shows in regards to their ability to provide their groups with adequate funding and connections with groups such as KARD and APRIL being left largely underrated and underappreciated. The music for Red Moon while entirely passable and does a good job of making the members of KARD the primary reason to watch the video it does little else to entice the viewer. The things I did appreciate about the music video though are the stylistic elements used with the visual effects, abstract lighting, the members overall aesthetic, and the fact the editing matched the intensity of the song well. All in all it's not a terrible music video it's just not one that's challenging or pushing any boundaries. It's honestly more of a performance video or glamour video that serves to show the aggressiveness and vibe of KARD rather than push the concept further or include a powerful narrative. Sadly I am quite harsh on this video because we have previously seen KARD hit it out of the park with music videos that not only highlight the members but include an interesting narrative and great performance sequences. Also, I didn't feel as if the concept given off during the teasers was truly captured in this music video, I'm left wondering what exactly was the overall concept of the video.
Moving along to the song I sadly have a similar criticism when compared to the music video. While I do think KARD have finally found their identity, which I believe the company struggled with for a little while, and the sound that compliments the members the best, this song doesn't do much to push the boundaries of the group. KARD have always had such an interesting, powerful, and performance driven discography but Red Moon doesn't feel quite in the same league. It is in my personal opinion that I think KARD deserves better than this song. While the overall production quality of Red Moon is adequate it yet again doesn't deliver something overly unique and new to the listeners. The chorus is perhaps the weakest part of the song simply repeating "Oh run baby run, On and on, and on, and on". While not every song needs to be overly meaningful or change the world with it's lyrics I just feel like this song is lacking in overall dynamic quality we have become to expect from KARD. The one major positive I have is the line distribution. This has been a challenging area for KARD in recent years with the group struggling to find a real balance between the unique vocals of each member. I'm happy to say however that within this release they did exceptionally well to keep the song fair and well distributed. The vocals are also top notch for this comeback. With a combination of singing and rap elements the group has always done well to contrast the styles of each member often highlighting both without any one particular section of the song being overshadowed.
The one area where I can finally throw due praise is the dance. As said previously this music video often feels more at home as a performance video that's serving to highlight the dancing talent of KARD. With a flurry of different scenes in which KARD are performing their choreography we can see that this dance captures the typical sexy, powerful, and charismatic vibe KARD have made their own. I very much like the dance of Red Moon and think it matches the intensity of the song well. The various outfits chosen for the video are also effective in matching the power of the choreography. The members of KARD really know who their target audience is and their charisma shines here.
My rating
Music Video: 7
Song: 7
Concept: 7
Style: 8.5
Dance: 7.5
Overall rating: 37/50
Overall I am left a little disappointed in this comeback personally. I definitely think KARD have much stronger releases in their discography and even their most recent release proved that KARD can do wonderful things when given the time, effort, and energy. While I do have plenty of criticism for this release I do think most of the blame can be palmed of onto DSP for not giving the group the resources needed to elevate the group after the success of Dumb Litty.
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