On 23 December 2019, they released the massively popular and critically acclaimed Psycho. Two days later, on Christmas no less, a freak accident sent their main vocal into a year-long hiatus. Not only that, the group's leader would be embroiled in a scandal that threatened to mar her career. Throughout all these ordeals, fans and detractors alike wondered if they would ever make a proper return as a full group, although different members would have sub-group or solo debuts. Even after the dust settled on all their issues, there was almost no news of a comeback but finally, after a wait that lasted more than a year, Red Velvet has finally made their triumphant return with their sixth EP "Queendom" and their title track of the same name. It's been too long so let's not delay any longer and dive right in.
Meaning: At its core, Queendom is a message of (mostly female-centric) positivity (makes sense, they're a girl group). The chorus has various members singing about how "the more [we gather], the more beautiful [the world becomes]" and how "even if it rains, [a] strong and beautiful [rainbow will be completed] in all different colours". I paraphrased the chorus a little bit but the general understanding is that every individual is unique and that uniqueness is what makes them "strong and beautiful". Not only that, when different individuals come together, they become even stronger and the world becomes that much brighter. Most importantly, Queendom is about encouraging people to embrace their differences, to "spread their wings and be [themselves]". Although I did say the lyrics are more relevant to women, the group did us a service by including "Kings" into the chorus just so we don't feel left out. Thanks girls.
Apart from this idea though, I believe that Queendom can also be interpreted as a celebration of Red Velvet's comeback as a full quintet. Not only did they have to perform for some time as 4 people because of Wendy's injury but there was also Irene's scandal, which caused a pretty big hoo-hah to say the least. If we look at the lyrics another way, we can see that they're really singing about carrying on their journey together and that they've "got forever". They've embraced their differences as people and come together to move forward, facing any trials and tribulations together. It's an uplifting message that's something we sorely need to hear in today's context and I'm very glad Red Velvet has gone with this for their long-awaited comeback.
MV: Complementing the positive vibe of the song, the MV is really bright and vibrant, adopting a very magical atmosphere and setting. The MV has a very basic storyline which takes us to another world, where the four older members of Red Velvet run what I can only assume to be a magical post office of sorts and each of them take on a different role. Seulgi is a lost & found mail carrier, Wendy is a postmistress, Joy is a delivery rider and Irene is a distribution director. Maknae Yeri on the other hand, comes knocking on their door as a trainee witch and she'll be taught magic by the older members. The set piece here is beautiful, with pinks and purples everywhere, capturing the MV's magical aspect.
As the group fly off in a winged buggy to deliver their packages, they transition to a nice grassy garden set which is extremely calming to look at, and the girls have a tea party there. This gives off strong Alice in Wonderland vibes and I think many people will agree with this, especially considering the MV's magical nature. The last few scenes sees the girls dancing in a very futuristic set piece, complete with stars in the background and something that seems like an alien spaceship floating overhead. In short, it would be quite accurate to label this MV as whimsical and the added magic special effects make everything very fun. My personal favourite has to be the teleportation effect that we see applied to Wendy and Joy, it's awesome and super well done, extremely reminiscent of Nightcrawler from the X-Men or Gordon from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (can't believe I managed to weave a Marvel reference into a K-Pop post, nice).
Queendom's MV is a very colourful affair and really plays into the brighter, happier side of Red Velvet that we so often see. As I said in the previous segment, it's very fitting that the girls are going with their "Red" side (more on this later) after their last title adopted "Velvet" tones and the MV perfectly pairs with the song's uplifting message.
Styling: I can't stress enough just how much I love Red Velvet's styling this comeback because they look absolutely gorgeous. Just like with most K-Pop MVs, the girls have visual and dance outfits, all of which they wear so beautifully. The first visual outfits are the only ones that don't double as dance outfits and are instead more representative of the members' characters in the MV's storyline. As a mail carrier, Seulgi is dressed in a dark blue uniform with a professional black peak cap (I'm sorry I can't think of the exact term for the hat she's wearing, fashionistas please let me know), likewise postmistress Wendy is dressed in what I'll refer to as a very "working lady" outfit, with a jacket draped over a plain checkered dress.
Irene and Joy on the other hand are dressed far more provocatively and look awesome in black, the latter being a badass biker chick while the former is decked out in more magical threads, complete with a frilly skirt and a feather boa over her shoulder. Finally, Yeri the trainee witch is dressed exactly like a student, school uniform with blazer and all. All 5 girls look like their roles and are styled beautifully. The other 2 storyline outfits are also dance outfits so we'll talk about them in tandem. Moving on to their dance outfits, what I find extremely interesting is that they actually expand on Queendom's central idea of embracing uniqueness, because none of the girls' outfits are the same.
You might be wondering, (generally speaking) most K-Pop groups won't have their members in totally matching outfits unless the concept calls for it but they'll be styled to follow a certain pattern or theme, even if their outfits are different from one another so what's the big deal about Red Velvet this time round? Well, for starters, NONE of their dance outfits share a theme with one another. Their first dance outfit sees the girls dressed in various shades of blue denim with totally different styles. For example, Joy is dressed in a far more "hipster" style, complete with a tube crop top and flannel around her waist, while Irene goes a lot more retro with a white hairband.
This continues for the second and third dance outfits, where the girls don't even share a similar colour scheme and just go ham with the colours. The second outfit brings across a summery vibe, especially because this is a summer comeback with a nice garden backdrop, while the third outfit adopts far more mature tones, with sparkling purple, black and silver dresses. This stylistic choice is a definite representation of Queendom's message and Red Velvet pull these outfits off wonderfully.
I also want to take a moment to appreciate the girls' visuals because they look a-freaking-mazing this comeback. It's been a long time since I've seen Wendy perform (I didn't check out her solo debut) so it was great to see looking better than ever and really glowing this time around. Irene continues to look ageless and was so stunning to lay eyes on, it's hard to remember that she's 30 years old, and Joy, oh boy, need I say more? Joy is often considered one of the greatest visuals in recent years and her megawatt smile really comes through this MV. Seulgi's fiery orange hair is a huge standout, perfectly complementing Queendom's bright sound while contrasting nicely with the MV's colours and let's not forget Yeri, who's really blossomed ever since she joined the group 6 years ago. Overall, great visuals this comeback and they (fittingly) look like queens.
Song: If you're familiar with Red Velvet you'll know that their songs are mostly split into two categories based off their group name, "Red" and "Velvet". "Red" songs are a lot brighter and happier, giving us addictive instrumentals that occasionally venture into cute territory, with some examples being Red Flavor, Power Up and debut title Happiness. "Velvet" songs are the exact opposite, opting for a softer and more mature sound, with titles like Bad Boy, RBB (Really Bad Boy) and Psycho falling into this category. Of course, Red Velvet's discography isn't binary as songs like Peek-a-Boo take on characteristics of both concepts. Queendom is without a doubt a "Red" song, taking on the bubbly nature of a summer hit.
Queendom's instrumental heavily uses synths and because of the twangy synth sound, the chorus reminds me a lot of songs like Clean Bandit's Rather Be, which of course made use of string instruments to the same effect. In the same vein, I would say that the chorus does feel a little more Western while also giving me similar vibes to one of their earlier title tracks in Umpah Umpah, which works pretty well for the vibe the song was going for. There's also a really addictive post-chorus with the "Ladida-do Ba-badida" lines and although the song doesn't really let the girls show off much power vocals (with the exception of Wendy's high notes), we're still able to get a taste of their awesome voices. In general, Queendom is a pretty unique song that, while sounding somewhat familiar, maintains a fresh sound that represents a great comeback for the girls.
Line distribution: When it comes to Red Velvet's line distributions, the bulk of it goes to Wendy, Seulgi and Joy, and for good reason too since they're the group's strongest vocalists. Queendom is no different but unlike previous title tracks, I would say that we get a relatively fairer distribution this time round. As expected, Wendy comes in 1st with slightly over 24.6%, a real return to form for Red Velvet's main vocal since she got a good amount of adlibs and high notes as well. Right behind her is Joy at around 23.9%, pretty good considering she's not part of the vocal line and is actually a lead rapper. She gets parts of the first verse, second pre-chorus and the final chorus, and some adlibs to boot, testament to her star power and likely why she was given as many lines as this.
In 3rd place we have Seulgi at a little under 20.3%, definitely fitting for the group's lead vocal and the member with the second strongest vocals. She basically gets an entire chorus to herself and as main dancer, she also shines through in the choreography. That brings us to leader Irene at slightly under 18.6%, actually quite a good amount of lines when compared to the rest. As main rapper she of course gets the most rap lines in the song and on top of that, she even gets half a chorus to herself. Irene also ends the song and let me just say, that has to be an absolute killing part. That only leaves us with maknae Yeri, who comes in last with around 12.5%. It sounds bad initially, especially since it's about half of what Wendy has but it's already more than what Yeri gets on average in her past titles.
Yeri is both a sub-vocal and rapper, although she primarily takes on rapping duties within the group, something she continues to do in Queendom. She even gets an entire rap verse to herself as well as some other legit lines here and there, along with the occasional adlib. Despite her apparent lack of lines, she has a good amount of center positions during the choreography, which more than makes up for it so I'm pretty happy about that. As I mentioned earlier, Red Velvet's line distributions (as far as their titles go) have always followed a trend and Queendom doesn't deviate from that. Regardless, it's still pretty fair and each member gets their chance to shine. The vocals get to show off their awesome vocals, rappers do their thing and of course, the visuals get a ton of screen time so overall, everything worked out well.
Final thoughts: Red Velvet is by no means a rookie group, currently entering their 7th year, but that doesn't mean they don't have their own problems to handle. The girls have suffered quite a bit in recent years especially with the separate Wendy and Irene situations, and it's safe to say that ReVeluvs (fandom name) were overjoyed to see the quintet finally returning as a whole and looking better than ever. To add on to this happiness, I think it was really great that they decided to go with such a heartwarming message for their comeback, especially because many people have struggled because of their differences. Just like the girls sing in their latest title though, let's embrace our uniqueness and move forward, overcoming our challenges and becoming stronger together, making the world our Queendom (or kingdom, guess I'll add that in too). Thanks for reading.
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