As one of the best 4th generation K-Pop girl groups out there, fromis_9 has released banger after banger and been supported fairly well by their company. Much to the shock of Flovers (fandom name) though, it was recently revealed that the group's management would be transferred to Pledis Entertainment, a company infamous for their poor group management. Understandably, us fans feared for our girls' future, thinking that they would be stuck in the dungeon and never resurface ever again. This would be a disaster situation especially after the awesome May title track that was WE GO but thankfully, Pledis is now a subsidiary of Hybe Labels and the company seems to have gotten their act together. Ladies and gentlemen, after less than 4 months fromis_9 are back with their 4th single album "Talk & Talk". Without further ado, let's take a look at their latest title track of the same name.
Meaning: Talk & Talk is a continuation of the events from WE GO's MV, which saw the girls having "socially distant fun" with one another in the current COVID-19 climate, and while this will be expanded on in the later segment, the two titles' MVs are also connected to each other. While WE GO was about being able to have fun with friends even if you aren't able to meet up in person, Talk & Talk more specifically is about having someone that you can talk to about anything under the Sun. Lyrics like "through the phone in my hand/I hear your laughter tonight" or the chorus going "just you and me, all night, Talk & Talk" confirm the idea that this title is about being able to have meaningful conversations over the phone with your close friends and feeling like you're right beside them (hence the song's name). It's a heartwarming message brought across by the softer tone of the song, a nice change of pace when compared to fromis_9's older and much-faster paced title tracks.
MV: WE GO's MV had scenes with the girls in a group video call and at one point, an incoming call from "flover" interrupts the song only to get declined by Gyuri in favour of uploading WE GO's fully edited MV (can't believe she did us dirty like that but I don't blame her). The story continues in Talk & Talk's MV, where we pick up from Gyuri right after she uploads said MV and now that it's time to relax, she calls one of her members on the phone and as it turns out, all 9 girls stay in the same "Flover Apartment" (nice). The bulk of the MV has the girls engaging in various activities in their own apartments like doing the laundry, taking a bubble bath or even getting a hair treatment. Shenanigans ensue throughout the MV, such as Chaeyoung falling through the ceiling into Jisun's room, a burning pot in Seoyeon's kitchen sending smoke into Gyuri's unit and a ping-pong ball from Jiheon's study flying 3 units into Nagyung's room.
At some point, an apartment-wide blackout forces the girls to rush to the rooftop, where they gather as a whole group and enjoy the bright Moon above, only to rush back to their homes once the lights come back on and resume their phone conversations with one another. Questionable decisions aside (why not just talk to each other in person), the MV perfectly brings across the innocence and heartwarming vibe that the song adopts by having bright colours everywhere. All the members are dressed in different bright shades (more on this later) and their room wallpapers correspond to their dress colours, matching beautifully and making everything seem that much more fun and happier.
Interestingly enough, while most of the MV shots are really well-designed and full of colour, the dance sequences are all shot against a blank white background, further emphasising their amazingly colourful outfits. Overall, Talk & Talk's MV is a wonderful attempt at capturing the innocent and cutesy nature of the song while maintaining a certain whimsical element that we've come to know from fromis_9's MVs.
Styling: As a "sequel" to WE GO, fromis_9's Talk & Talk outfits follow a similar concept, with comfortable clothing for the storyline shots and of course, more vibrant styling for the dance shots. Storyline shot-wise, we generally see the girls in chill outfits, the kind that you would wear for like a simple engagement with friends at home. Coupled with the unique colours of each member's dresses, we get a very nice relaxed vibe from seeing the girls just lounging around in their own apartments, something that I'm sure many of us can relate to in the current COVID-19 climate.
The dance sequences have our members dressed in two separate outfits, one that feels a little more mature chic and another with a more cheerleader aesthetic. The first dance outfit has the girls dressed in crop tops, short skirts and jackets in different shades of pink, blue, purple and yellow. Like I said, very mature chic and yet gives off a very retro vibe while also having each member maintain a uniqueness. This is in contrast to the second outfit, which opts for reds, oranges and whites, very cheerleader-like. These outfits feel a lot cuter and fit into the summer theme more than the previous ones. Taking all this into account, I think it's quite clear that the styling for Talk & Talk is deliberately meant to be a lot brighter and cuter, perfectly in line with the song's innocent vibe.
I also want to take a moment to talk about our girls' hair because there're some changes here of note. In WE GO's MV, most of the members stayed with natural colours like blacks and browns, with some exceptions like Jiheon's pink hair, Saerom's bright blue ends or Seoyeon's blonde bob. For the most part, there aren't many changes in Talk & Talk but for those that did undergo hairstyle/colour changes, they're pretty big. For example, Gyuri has gone from her previous dirty-blonde hair to a greyish-silver colour, Jiheon has reverted from pink to platinum blonde and Saerom's blue ends have disappeared in favour for blonde highlights. Perhaps the most amazing change though is with Seoyeon, who has cut her hair even shorter and gone orange. It's a pretty big switch-up that suits her very well and works for the song's concept.
Song: In my humble opinion, fromis_9 is one of the few K-Pop groups that have yet to release a bad title. I didn't plan on changing my stance anytime soon and thankfully I didn't have to because Talk & Talk is a certified bop. The biggest difference of this title from their previous ones is the tempo because by far and away, this is their slowest title track. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very fun song to listen to that infects you with contagious happiness but it also adopts a much groovier rhythm than older titles. The catchy "duduru dudu duru" hook present throughout the song is insanely addictive and was what I expected to be the main point of the chorus but instead, it was used more as a refrain in favour of a relaxed lyrical verse. It works out though because that verse is very chill and properly invokes the concept they were going for.
That said, I do have just one gripe about the chorus. Right before whichever member starts the chorus, there's a pretty strange instrumental beat skip of sorts that's a little disorienting and doesn't flow super well. Once the lyrics start coming in though, things go back to normal and we're once again left with the calming nature of Talk & Talk. This song is nothing revolutionary, with chill beats having been commonplace in K-Pop for a while now but it's a testament to what fromis_9 does best, releasing hit after hit while maintaining their bright and happy sound.
Line distribution: Unfortunately, just like with WE GO, Talk & Talk suffers from a pretty bad line distribution, with a more than 17% difference between 1st and last place. As usual, main vocal Jiwon takes top honours with just over 21.4%, which is the norm for most K-Pop groups anyway. Percentage-wise this is around the same as her lines in WE GO but unlike their previous title track, the runners-up now has more lines, with lead vocal Hayoung coming in at a slightly over 17.9%. Often considered the group's second main vocal, it's great to see her get more lines this comeback since she got diddly squat the last time, especially since she now gets to show off her power vocals with high notes, whistles and adlibs abound. Coming in 3rd place is Nagyung with just over 12.2% and although it's only a little over half of Jiwon's lines, our lead dancer actually gets quite a lot of killing points throughout the song. Apart from a ton of center time (as expected of one of fromis_9's visuals) and opening the song, the sub-vocal also gets half of the rap verse all to herself and serenades us with her sweet vocals in the second chorus.
In 4th place we have main rapper Seoyeon at a little more than 10.6%, a little more than what she got in WE GO. Interestingly, she doesn't actually rap all that much in their titles and Talk & Talk continues this trend, with other members rapping. As mentioned in previous posts, the group's so-called baby panda often doubles as almost a lead vocal (despite only being a sub-vocal) and this time round, she gets chorus lines, in fact getting half of the first chorus to herself. Seoyeon also gets some other lines here and there which doesn't add much but overall still pretty good. Right behind her is lead vocal Gyuri at just under 10.6%, not really her best showing. Most of her lines actually mirror that of Seoyeon's, with the two girls sharing the first chorus and the second pre-chorus. Personally, I've always thought of Gyuri as one of the group's standouts, primarily because her lower voice contrasts nicely with the other members of the vocal line who are known for hitting crazy high notes and though she doesn't get many lines here, I still think she's able to shine through.
Of course, there's always disappointing territory with line distributions and we're starting that off with 6th place Chaeyoung at slightly over 8.7%. Just by ear, it was pretty obvious that she didn't get all that many lines, none of which are really of note. Close behind is team captain Saerom at slightly under 8.4%. This was a pretty big surprise for me because the lead dancer and oldest member tends to get a good amount of lines in fromis_9's titles and considering the vibe the song was going for, I really thought she would get more. Thankfully, she delivered whatever lines she did have amazingly, making use of her cutesy voice.
In my WE GO review, I lamented about Jisun and Jiheon's lack of lines, especially the former considering she's the group's official center. It's to my great regret that nothing much seems to have changed for Talk & Talk, if anything it's gotten worse because the sub-vocals now have a little over 5.8% and 4.3% respectively, lower (percentage-wise) than in WE GO. The most tilting part about this is that Jisun has been pushed in the past but with this comeback, all she has are peanuts, with some short spoken, almost rap-like lines peppered throughout the song. I don't even know if they can be considered sung lines at this point because she's basically just talking, absolutely nonsensical. In contrast I'm actually not too unhappy with Jiheon's lines this comeback, even though her only lines were found in the rap verse that she shared with Nagyung. Jiheon got a good amount of center screen time this comeback and has become increasingly popular of late because of her short videos where she promotes her songs with her schoolmates so I can close one eye to her having fewer lines here.
Overall, I'm not super vexed with Talk & Talk's line distribution. Could it be a lot better? Definitely, especially when it comes to Jisun (she don't deserve this disrespect). While I continue to hope that their line distributions will improve in future, my low confidence in Pledis' management tells me otherwise.
Final thoughts: By this point, I'm uploading this review more than a week after Talk & Talk's release, which also means that I can include the fact that fromis_9 have finally gotten their 1st win! That's right folks, our girls have attained that long-awaited trophy in their 4th year of debut and I can't be happier. They've worked hard and certainly more than deserve this win. I'm not going to kid myself, a larger part of me doesn't believe that Pledis will do the group right and continue to support them, especially with the company's lousy track record. At the same time though, Pledis now being a subsidiary of Hybe Labels (BTS anyone?) gives me a little bit more confidence in them so here's to hoping that fromis_9 will soar to greater heights and continue to wow us with the bright, happy and fun titles they've become known for. Thanks for reading.
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