1. Taeyeon - Make Me Love You
Make Me Love You is a pop ballad from Taeyeon's first repackaged album. It explores a genre and a style, unlike her other projects. The music video, which is a perfect welcoming for spring, features delicate pastels, roses, and dainty pleated dresses. Taeyeon was filmed in a dim lighting which gives her an ethereal look and makes the film look dated. It's not just for show though, all of this beauty has metaphorical purposes and reflects the apprehension, but willingness in the lyrics. Seoulbeats puts it,"[Taeyeon] is a reluctant spring blossom who has to be nurtured by the light she shies away from before she can truly grow."
These delicate visuals don't undermine the song itself though, as the sound is just as delicate. So much so that the track lacks a significant point of intensity. Taeyeon sings the verses with substantial emotion, but the actual chorus is monotonous and robotic.
Positives: The music video is very beautiful: from the styling to the sets and the flowerbed!Negatives: I don't like the lack of emotion, even if it was intended the be that way.
2. Nu'est - Love Paint (Every Afternoon)
In 2016, Nu'est released their 5th mini-album, 'Canvas'. True to the title, the album is laced with references to painting, colors, and drawings. The lyrics compare imagining an ideal relationship to sketching and compare getting to know someone to painting a picture. Each song on 'Canvas' represents a time of the day, Love Paint being "every afternoon". It is a serenade to a girl who "paints color" into his monochromatic life. The music video looks sunny, but not overwhelmingly bright, and has soft notes of color. Ironically, the sound of the song is random and takes an unexpected path, just like an abstract painting.
Positives: The art concept is fresh.Negatives: The styling could've have been better. I'm not a fan of the pajama-looking clothes or Ren's pink hair.
3. Laboum - What About You
What About You is about a girl dealing with the pain after her man breaks her heart. She is stuck wondering what to do with him and is left lifeless from the relationship. This is reflected in the doll-like choreography: with glassy eyes and faces void of emotion, the girls of Laboum teeter and bend like mannequins. The concept is completed by the winding and music box sounds that open and close the track. Really, there's a slight bounce in the sound, but the 'What About You' still has a melancholy vibe that is true to the feeling of heartbreak.
Positives: The mannequin dance is done really well and is very realistic. Also, the vintage outfits add a feminine and delicate touch to the music video visuals.Negatives: None.
4. BTS (Bangtan Boys) - I Need U
Like many k-pop acts, BTS release Japanese versions of their songs. I Need U is an angsty song in which the singers experience emotional turmoil without the one that they love. Apparently, that emotional turmoil leads to burning things, taking pills and drowning in a tub as shown is the Korean music video. The Japanese version, though retaining the same lamentations as the original, has a music video that is much less dark and gritty. In fact, the bright floral arrangements may even seem like an oxymoron when paired with such a depressing song. Perhaps though, the flowers that are ever present represent how BTS are constantly reminded of the girl that they are missing. I also noticed some scenes with white lilies, which represent death in some Asian cultures. It's as if the BTS is saying, "I'm dying without you."
Positives: I prefer this music video over the original because of the bright visuals.Negatives: None.
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