IVE - ELEVEN

IZ*ONE was the massively popular product of Produce 48, popular but temporary. After 2.5 years of promotion, the group disbanded to huge disappointment from fans and the members went their separate ways. Of course, with some of the younger members, it was inevitable that they would be debuting in groups in order to maximise their potential and star power. That's exactly what has happened with Starship Entertainment's latest girl group IVE, with ex-IZ*ONE members Yujin and Wonyoung re-debuting. So without further ado, let's take a look at what this group has to offer with their debut single album "ELEVEN" and title track of the same name.

Meaning: On a surface level, ELEVEN doesn't make its meaning very clear but upon closer inspection, this is actually a love song. The girls sing about how their "boring eyes [and] expressionless face [shine] by looking at" someone and how this love makes them feel like their "room is a small heaven". Perhaps a little on the nose but each chorus also ends with how the person the girls are fawning over "makes them feel like eleven". I couldn't begin to tell you what this is supposed to mean but I'm guessing its about how their feelings are through the roof and off the charts. To further cement that ELEVEN is a love song, the literal final line is "I fell in love". That should be obvious enough. 

MV: This MV is gorgeous and it's clear that Starship Entertainment didn't stinge on the budget. Set pieces are well designed and everything is shot beautifully. The entire MV focuses on visual and dance shots so there's no storyline to break down here. That said, there is one recurring image in the MV, specifically a gold-rimmed vase set on a pedestal. It appears at the start and based off camerawork, it's heavily implied that the members of IVE are inside the vase. Just before the final chorus, we also get a shot of the vase toppling off its pedestal and shattering once it hits rapper Rei's head. There's no development beyond that though so I'm just going to put it down to aesthetic. 

Most of the MV is shot indoors, alternating between dark and bright backgrounds, coupled with a lot of lighting effects. This definitely plays into the expensive vibe of the MV and also adds an air of mystery, something ELEVEN invokes with its instrumental (see Song). Apart from the indoors sets, some of the MV is shot outdoors, which personally I think looks way better because it makes good use of natural lighting. Something else I really liked about this MV is that near the end, we get shots that almost seem like they're out of a blooper reel, with the girls just having fun and being themselves. This is in stark contrast to everything else in the MV, which is shot professionally and very much like a typical K-Pop MV. I think it's good to see the girls let their hair down and at least look as if they're having fun, it's a breath of fresh air. 

Styling: As I've done with previous reviews, I'll be more careful with this segment as most of IVE's members are minors (Gaeul being the only one considered an adult in South Korea). Right off the bat, the styling team deserves much praise because everything the girls are dressed in is stunning. The girls have 3 specific outfits for dance sequences and their own unique ones for individual shots. The MV opens with the girls decked in identical outfits with white as the predominant colour. White tube tops, white jackets, white pants and white heels, coupled with a black choker and a singular long blue glove worn on the right hand. A variation of this outfit is worn midway through the MV, minus the jacket and with the glove swapping hands. This isn't my personal favourite of the outfits because it's quite plain and formulaic, really nothing to shout about.

Jumping to the third dance outfit first, while it's the one we see the least of in the MV, I prefer it to the white outfits. On top of being black, which I find suits this concept better, each member also has a different dress styles, with only the colour being constant. Uniqueness is something that's super important for a group to stand out and this is even more imperative for a group like IVE (see Final thoughts). That's why the second dance outfit is my most favourite because each member is dressed almost completely differently from one another. It also helps that they look amazing in those outfits. From Wonyoung's hot pink dress to Gaeul's porcelain-designed skirt, everyone has their own flair and it works very well for them. I won't talk too much about their styling in individual shots because it's nothing groundbreaking but once again, definitely plays into the uniqueness that I hold in such high regard.

Out of all the members, I think Yujin embodies this concept very well and her styling is excellent. Huge props to the hairstyling department because Yujin has the best hairstyle in the entire group. I do think that IVE is packing some visuals but that's as much as I'll say about that topic for legal reasons. 

Song: To me, ELEVEN is one of the great tragedies of this world, the reason for which I'll cover later. This song adopts Arabian-inspired beats with a heavy focus on percussion and combine that with a chorus that feels full, ELEVEN is powerful and fresh, not something I expected from a debut. The Arabian inspiration really comes through in the first part of the chorus and it actually works very well with the members' powerful vocals. A lot of new K-Pop tracks end very abruptly as well but this is thankfully not a problem for this song because the final post-chorus leads very nicely into a final line that ties a neat bow. I also want to praise the fact that Wonyoung is really given a chance to showcase her vocals since she was never really given that opportunity in IZ*ONE (since they had stronger vocalists). In general, the girls' vocals play off one another very well and it makes the song sound more cohesive. 

So if I'm praising this song so much, why is it a tragedy? It's exactly because I wanted to like this song so much and I thought it was going in the right direction until I hit the pre-chorus. Don't get me wrong, the bulk of the pre-chorus is fine but the moment I hit that weird slowed down transition between the final lines and the chorus proper, the rug was totally pulled out from under me. I'm no composer but that has to be one of the strangest creative choices I've ever come across in K-Pop. It's really annoying because when you're as engaged in a song as I was with ELEVEN, the last thing you want is to be taken out of immersion, and that's exactly what the slowdown does. I can't for the life of me wrap my head around why the creative team decided to go with that but I truly think ELEVEN could've been THAT debut if they didn't make this baffling composing decision. 

Line distribution: Considering IVE's group size, ELEVEN's line distribution is pretty fair, which the difference between each members' amount of lines being not all that drastic. I do want to mention that there're no official positions yet so everything is speculation at best. Liz leads the pack with 20.9% and is likely the group's main vocal. Opening the song as well as getting half of the second pre-chorus and post-chorus plus half of the final chorus, it was pretty clear that Liz had the most lines in the song. Our first runners-up is leader Yujin, undoubtedly one of the more popular members at just under 18.4%. Having once been a lead vocal in IZ*ONE, she definitely shows off her vocals here, getting a similar distribution of lines to Liz. Fans project her to be one of IVE's lead vocals and coupled with her popularity, she's bound to get more lines. 

Close behind is Wonyoung at slightly under 18.1%. As not just an ex-IZ*ONE member but their center to boot, I fully expected her to get a ton of lines so no surprises here. Like I mentioned above though, Wonyoung was never really known for her vocals in her previous group so it's refreshing to hear her really sing in ELEVEN. Many expect her to be IVE's center so she's also bound to be pushed front and center in future titles. In fourth place we have maknae Leeseo at slightly over 17.7%. With half of the first verse as well as lines in pre-choruses, choruses and post-choruses, she was always going to get a ton of lines. Again, no official position yet but she could always end up as a lead vocal. 

Second from the bottom is Japanese member Rei at just over 14.3%. As the only foreigner in the group, she was almost certainly going to get fewer lines than the rest, which is exactly what happened here for the most part. However, she introduced herself as a rapper and with no rap lines in ELEVEN, I guess that explains her lack of lines. In future titles, I'm sure she'll get her deserved amount of lines, especially because her Korean is pretty good. Last but not least, oldest member Gaeul comes in with just under 10.6%, which is a little over half of first place Liz's lines. It's a shame because most of her lines in the song are just repeats of the same thing so I'm really hoping she gets more in future. All that said, the distribution for this song is pretty fair and I hope that it stays this way or even improve down the line. 

Final thoughts: I'm not going to lie, I worried about this group prior to their debut. I feared that they would end up like gugudan, where the members who debuted after a Produce series would end up massively more popular than the others. The last thing I wanted was for IVE to become Yujin, Wonyoung and friends, but I think my fears are unfounded as of right now. Based off fan reception thus far, I think people are giving an equal amount of love and support to each member, at least in the international community. Of course, looking at their showcase stage performance and MV, it's quite obvious who are the ones who have experience because Yujin absolutely killed it with her stage presence. Wonyoung's not bad too but the others are definitely more lacking in that department, being newly debuted rookies and all. 

I hope that as time goes by, IVE will be able to gain more fans and become stronger as a group, with the newer members learning from the more experienced ones. The girls have a good thing going with ELEVEN, so with a strong debut and pre-established fanbase, here's to the success of Starship Entertainment's latest girl group. Thanks for reading.