Irene and Seulgi Reclaim Their Place in Pop with “Monster”
Irene and Seulgi of the K-Pop girl group, Red Velvet, have finally debuted their sub unit. The duo’s new EP, a 6-track project called “Monster” sees the girls donning new feathers in their music caps, reclaiming their place in pop music.
The pair’s lyrical exploration goes further than just cliche love songs. While Irene and Seulgi continue to talk about love and life, they do it differently from their work as part of pop girl group, Red Velvet.
Red Velvet have never fit into the bubblegum pop standards of K-Pop. Releasing tracks like ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘Psycho’, they have experimented with R&B and bedroom pop sounds. Irene and Seulgi take that direction one step further with the new EP. “Monster”, which features songs like ‘Diamond’, ‘Feel Good’ and ‘Uncover’, a solo piece by Seulgi, showcases the pair’s talent in a new light.
Seulgi’s otherwise breathy vocals shine strong on the EP. The pair compliment each other’s voices with ease. What Seulgi achieves with consistency, Irene delivers in style. A change in vocal style isn’t all that this project offers. “Monster” offers a balance between the familiar and the new, exploring synth-pop production, peppered with jazz elements.
The release, however, stands incomplete much to fans’ dismay. The release of the EP was to be accompanied by a music video for the title track, “Monster”. The release time was first delayed from 6 PM KST to 8 PM KST. However, as it stands now, the video is yet to be released.
While fans of Irene and Seulgi demand for an update from SM Entertainment (the pair’s entertainment agency), they continue to celebrate the release on Twitter. The hashtags #MonsterISHere and #RedVelvet_IRENE_SEULGI_Monster trend with over 1 million tweets and counting.
Upon release, the title track “Monster” climbed to the top of the charts, occupying the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Bugs Chart and Melon Music chart in South Korea, respectively.
Stick around for an update about the music video.
By: Ahalya Narayanan
