It's no secret to those who know me that WJSN (aka Cosmic Girls) is my favourite K-Pop group of all time, I can't stress just how much I love them and their music. The last time the girls had a proper comeback was in June last year, although after that there was the debut of 4-member sub-unit WJSN Chocome, and after a long wait we're finally seeing the "full" (I'll explain why I put these in inverted commas later) group's return. Known for their magical concept and sound that they've adopted for many
of their past titles, WJSN is now breaching into new territory with
their latest title track UNNATURAL from their ninth EP of the same name. Let's dive in.
Meaning: If you're familiar with WJSN's concept you'll know that for many of their previous titles they were carving out a storyline for us to follow. Lots of people have come up with theories trying to tie their MVs together and there's lots of interesting ideas people have for this story. However, the girls have started to leave that magical concept behind as they mature as a group and this was very evident with the release of their previous title track BUTTERFLY, where they started to move away from adding to the previously established storyline. UNNATURAL continues this trend by no longer focusing on the magical aspects of the girls and instead delve into what I'll consider more "typical" K-Pop themes and ideas.
You could be fooled by the upbeat and rhythmic nature of the song but UNNATURAL actually tells a pretty sad story, something that could potentially be plaguing many idols in the industry. The girls sing about not feeling like themselves, putting on a false and awkward front in front of someone, and pretending that nothing's wrong by plastering a smile on their face. They sing about feeling helpless and "out of control", not even being able to breathe and not liking the way they look or speak. Heck, the song's name itself screams that they feel "unnatural" and the whole song is actually really sad. Some parts of the lyrics take away from this idea by making it seem like it's somewhat of a love song, with the girls saying that there's someone who makes them feel this way and you could interpret it as a crush kind of affair but in truth, I think it's more of an idea that the tough standards imposed upon them not just by the industry's professionals but also by the fans are forcing them to be someone else.
MV: Like I mentioned earlier, many of WJSN's earlier MVs revolve around a mystical or magical concept, with lots of imagery and a story to tell. This isn't the case for UNNATURAL because there's no magical elements here, unlike the wormholes present in Dreams Come True or the butterfly wings sprouting in BUTTERFLY, the girls aren't performing any mumbo jumbo here. As someone said in a YouTube comment, UNNATURAL's MV gives off a very "model photoshoot" vibe that's fairly common in many K-Pop MVs, where they're not really telling a story and just focus on the idols' visuals. Yes, that's very much the case for WJSN's latest release but at the same time, there's actually some imagery here that I find contributes a lot to the idea that the girls are trying to bring across for this song.
One of the very first individual shots in the MV shows Eunseo stuck in a lift with a CCTV camera watching her as she looks apprehensively at it. She literally opens the song by singing that she's constantly nervous and all her actions are awkward. If it wasn't clear enough, she's trapped in a small enclosed space with someone watching her the whole time. That's just the tip of the iceberg. At different points in the MV, Seola and Dayoung are trapped in a small room that's bling-ed out in gold and fancy colours. Even if there's the illusion that this is glamorous, they're still just trapped. Soobin and Yeoreum are stuck in a house of mirrors, with no visible path out of there and only staring at themselves. Luda and EXY have multiple cameras trained on them and broadcasting everything they do. Bona's stuck in the same lift as Eunseo was at the start and there're multiple shots of her peeking out from behind thick red curtains as if looking for something, with both Yeonjung and Dawon hidden behind the same curtains in yet another small space. The entire MV is meant to bring across the idea that the girls are trapped in unnatural circumstances and forced to bring across a certain vibe or act a certain way in front of an audience, and basically are like statues or mannequins for us to admire, and we actually see some of the girls weaving through a room full of mannequins.
Of course, the MV is interspersed with the usual dancing group and individual shots, as well as showing us lots of visual shots that really make your jaw drop at how gorgeous the girls look but this is all superficial. If you really take a closer look, all these shots are meant to reinforce the idea that we're just imposing our image of what an idol should be or behave like onto the girls, and that's what they're doing for us in this MV. They're literally acting unnaturally for our enjoyment and that's a very sickening thought to have. I'm not going to deny that this MV is stunning and it looks expensive but even though this isn't adding to the same storyline that WJSN has worked with in the past, it's telling a far more realistic story, one that could almost be interpreted as a cry for help.
Styling: Depressing reality aside, the girls are dressed beautifully for this MV. Like I said before, some viewers have commented on the photoshoot-like aspects of it and I totally agree because the girls are really strutting their stuff here. There're 4 separate outfits used for this MV, a mostly pink one, black-and-white ones, really bling golden ones and then red-and-black ones. By far and away, the best looking ones are the darker coloured ones, the black-and-white and red-and-black outfits. They completely match the song's darker and more mature sound/concept, and accentuate the girls' visuals perfectly. I cannot wax lyrical enough about how good they look in those fits.
If you're familiar with K-Pop you'll know that we often refer to certain comebacks as a certain member's "era" and while I'll elaborate more on this in later segments, I'll touch on this here as well because my gosh, this is undoubtedly Dawon's era. Her scalp might be screaming from having to bleach her hair and then dye it blue but she looks a-freaking-mazing this comeback. This isn't the only reason why this is her era but that's a discussion for the next segment. Special mention to Yeonjung and Eunseo as well because both of them are really rocking their outfits and hair colours. In general, the styling team has really outdone themselves this comeback and I'm really looking forward to seeing these outfits during their live stages, especially the red-and-black ones.
Now, this isn't really about styling but I felt the need to mention it here because it's quite worrying. The K-Pop industry has seen many cases of idols drastically losing weight for their comebacks or just in general and it's a very dangerous trend. This is especially true for the girl groups where they're put to a much stricter standard than boy groups when it comes to physical appearance (boy groups experience this problem too but to a lesser extent) and WJSN is no different. Members like Seola and Yeonjung have struggled with weight for the longest time, with Yeonjung having once been the so-called "largest" member of the group and then losing a lot of weight over time. Thankfully, she's kind of been on a much healthier journey nowadays, having put back on some of the weight and maintaining it well. Unfortunately, this comeback is probably detrimental for the girls' health and this is most evident with Seola.
Seola debuted looking fairly healthy but she might actually be the member who struggles the most with her weight as of now. She lost a lot of weight in the early years of her debut and while she was able to put some back on, she has inevitably lost weight again. This was especially apparent in BUTTERFLY where she looked dangerously thin, even next to thinner members like Luda or Yeoreum and this hasn't changed for UNNATURAL, where she looks just as thin if not thinner. It's quite disconcerting to see and it's not just Seola because most of the girls seem to have lost a considerable amount of weight for this comeback. It's not abnormal for this to happen in the industry but it's still something that pricks at the back of my mind because these girls are human too and if they're being starved or starving themselves to maintain an image then that messes with me. Something just doesn't feel right here and I hope it's just my imagination because at the end of the day, we should want the members to be happy and healthy while continuing to give us great content. I don't know just food for thought.
Song: Well so much for depressing thoughts aside in the earlier segment. This time, it's going to be lighter I promise. UNNATURAL is a vast departure from WJSN's previous style and marks the group's continued maturity and development. As we all know, a magical sound was their bread and butter for a very long time and while BUTTERFLY started to move away from this a little bit, it still very much heavily relied on that aspect. UNNATURAL is totally different and if anything, it sounds a lot darker and more mature than what we've gotten before. Does it really sound like anything I've heard before? Yes actually because this change in their sound is very reminiscent of senior group Apink's change.
Apink was a group that started out with and stuck to cute concepts for a good number of years before making a huge shift with 2018's I'm So Sick. That song was a lot more mature-sounding but not to the extent of the girl crush concept that populates a good portion of the industry nowadays. Following that, Apink stuck to much more mature sounds that showcased their status as a veteran group and I think it was a very good move on their part. Similarly, this seems to be the path that WJSN is taking and while it's a fairly drastic change, I think it works quite well in easing existing fans and new listeners into their fanbase.
I mentioned this earlier but UNNATURAL is undoubtedly Dawon's era. Dawon is one of WJSN's 3 main vocalists but is often treated as a lead or even just a sub-vocal. It's terrible for her because she's the whole idol package, an excellent singer, a fairly good dancer and gorgeous to boot. This got really bad in previous comebacks like Dreams Come True or Save Me, Save You where she got peanuts for lines and while it's definitely gotten better over the years, UNNATURAL is by far and away the most respectful song for her thus far because she's actually treated like a main vocal here. Not only does she get a lot of lines, she's actually given the adlibs in the final chorus. Now, with most of WJSN's previous comebacks, the other two main vocals Soobin and Yeonjung are usually the ones who belt out the adlibs, with the latter being the more common one but Dawon has never been given that distinction, which is what makes me so happy to see her finally getting the lines she deserves.
In general, all the girls shine in their own aspects, with everyone getting the respect they deserve and there're some members I just want to compliment specifically. As main rapper EXY is obviously given most if not all the rap lines in any WJSN song so it's very refreshing to hear her actually singing. This happened with BUTTERFLY, where she got a sick showing before breaking into her rap. The same happens this time, where she got more "singing lines" before her rap and it just really adds to her prowess as a performer. Her lower huskier voice really makes the song just that much better. Also, can we talk about Bona? She only has one line in this song that's repeated three times and that's half of the pre-chorus (a part of the song that she shares with Seola) but it's easily the best part of the song.
Listen to the song for yourself and you'll probably come to the same conclusion. Bona's lines are soooooo addictive to listen to, partially because at that point the instrumental gets a lot lower and only comes in with a very impactful backing rhythm, somewhat reminiscent of club music. I can't get enough of that pre-chorus and yes the same thing applies to Seola because she got the other half of it but Bona really captures your attention with her charisma. It's one of those moments that put a disgusted look on your voice just from how good it sounds. All in all, UNNATURAL has a far more mature sound that's a drastic departure from anything WJSN has done in the past (even with the girl crush title Catch Me) and I'm looking forward to more of this in future.
Line distribution: In the past, WJSN had huge problems with line distributions, owing to their 13-member size, the biggest for a girl group at the time. Even after their 3 Chinese members went on hiatus for various reasons and the group became 10, the members still suffered from an unfair line distribution. It would often be the case where Yeonjung would get the most lines by a huge margin, followed closely by more popular members like Seola or Bona, and then the rest would get peanuts. Again, it's gotten better over time but UNNATURAL might be their fairest line distribution yet.
For 10 members, the difference between first and last place isn't all that big, with main vocal Soobin getting the most at 14.8% and sub-vocal Yeoreum ending at 6.8%. It's a pretty small difference when you look at their positions in the group because like I mentioned earlier, everyone shines in their own ways. Those with fewer lines like Eunseo, Dayoung, Bona and Yeoreum (who make up the bottom 4) all have super addictive lines, with Bona obviously having the most memorable one. Something interesting about Dayoung is that despite being a lead vocal, her distribution is usually all over the place. Sometimes she gets a crazy amount of lines like in debut title MoMoMo or Save Me, Save You but other times, the number of lines she gets is almost like a sub-vocal's, like in La La Love (where she was at the bottom) or now with UNNATURAL. Again, it's fine because she still does really well but it's just a pretty strange trend.
Probably one of the more shocking things about this comeback is that main vocal Yeonjung who is usually in the top 3 in terms of line distribution is now in the bottom 5. That's not to say she has few lines because 9.6% is still a lot but it's a huge step for WJSN because a lot of times, Yeonjung would be smacked with an insane amount of lines for most of their titles. Couple that with usually being the one who has to do high notes and you'll inevitably get a tired out idol. It's good that some of the load is being lifted off her shoulders while still leaving her with a good amount of impactful lines. I'm not surprised that Soobin, Seola and EXY all have a lot of lines because it's a trend from previous songs (except Soobin). Soobin now has the most lines deserving of being a main vocal while Seola has always been pushed to the forefront, being one of the stronger vocals (as well as a lead vocal). Being functionally the only rapper, EXY is also front and center. What's most amazing is that Dawon is finally being treated like a main vocal. I've mentioned this a lot in earlier segments but I'm just going to say it again. Taking third place is a mean feat for her, especially with the disrespect Starship Entertainment has given her in the past and I can't believe that she's actually the one singing the adlibs in the final chorus. It's amazing.
There's one member who's missing from my above analysis and that's sub-vocal Luda. She's usually given the shorter end of the stick (no pun intended) because of her nature as a sub-vocal and she really doesn't get all that many lines. This is why it's a huge surprise for me that she actually is in the top 5 for number of lines in UNNATURAL, even more than Yeonjung got. Luda is one of my WJSN biases and so I'm really happy to see her getting pushed even more after having the fewest lines in BUTTERFLY. Another thing I really liked is that the chorus is evenly split among the three main vocals, in fact, they actually share it equally. Yes, some of the other sub-vocals get some of the chorus lines and Seola also got part of the final chorus but still, it's really nice to see the other main vocals treated as such without all the focus on Yeonjung.
Final thoughts: WJSN has a fair amount of popularity in South Korea but they really only started gaining traction in 2018 after the C-line participated in various projects. This is actually a double-edged sword for me. For all intents and purposes, I think both Ujungs (fandom name) and casual viewers have gotten used to seeing the group with 10 members, and frankly speaking I think they're better for it. Fewer members means each girl gets more time to shine and at the same time, the Chinese members are enjoying far more popularity in their home country as compared to when they were mostly hidden in the background as foreigners. It's still a huge shame because my other bias in the group is main dancer Mei Qi and I want nothing more than to see her rejoin the group with the C-line but I know this would be unfair because having tasted success as soloists, they probably don't really want to rejoin the group and lose their newfound standing, even if that means being apart from the other girls.
Even though we've gotten used to it, us Ujungs always hold out hope that we'll see the return of OT13 and I can confirm this as the writer of the most-liked comment on one of WJSN's recent OT10 teaser photos on Instagram. Weird flex on my part but the point is that while many people want OT13 back, just as many people realise it's better for them to stay separate. It hurts to admit that but it's the truth.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this latest comeback by WJSN and it marks the next step in their evolution as idols. That said, UNNATURAL has a really sad message and I hope the girls are able to find their fame and be loved by everyone, all while being able to stay true to themselves, and being happy and healthy. It might just be wishful thinking on my part but I truly wish them all the best in their futures, with a more mature and well-developed sound cementing their place as legends in the industry. Thanks for reading and please remember to stan WJSN, giving them all the support they deserve.
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