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why-so-serious-lucifer · 8 months

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K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Gfriend

A Disclaimer: I was planning, when I first started Tumblr, to be a lurker, but then I began an office job and needed something to listen to to keep myself occupied. And then, I started going through entire K-pop groups’ repertoires, album by album, and jotting down my thoughts. And then, I stumbled into K-pop tumblr and decided, you know what, there’s at least four people on this hell site who would read in depth rants about these discographies and at least five who wouldn’t read it and then get mad because it’s kind of our job as K-pop fans. My lukewarm takes should be taken with an entire silo of salt and the knowledge that this is completely for fun and occupying my very bored, very neurodivergent brain. With that being said, enjoy!

So, let me lay out my credentials for Gfriend: I’ve been a Buddy since I stumbled across MAGO in a compilation in 2020 or so, and needless to say I was crushed to find out that they disbanded. I still consider myself a Buddy, and in the last few years, I’ve listened to all their title tracks and a decent amount of b-sides. So, this deep dive is less of me getting into a new band and more of me seeing…hmm what else can I discover? Obviously, a lot of bias is involved here.

Gfriend debuted in 2015, in the heyday of 3rd generation, with a “schoolgirl” concept not unlike their peers Lovelyz, TWICE, and WJSN. Also, as a side note, their intros are all great, even from the beginning, and I wish that more of the interesting quirks that make them so great carried through into the rest of the songs.

Their first song, Glass Bead, has more of a classical spin than I remembered from their earlier work, and I enjoyed it, Me Gustas Tu, and Rough more on re-listen. Glass Bead is sweet: it’s good, but to someone who’s listened to as much k-pop as I have, it doesn’t stand out as very unique. From the album, Neverland is pretty good too.

Me Gustas Tu’s intro starts with gentle water and the song itself continues the feeling with an overall sunny vibe; it’s another nice one, but another that feels like a lot of others. As a hidden gem, Under The Sky has great drive and payoff, and would’ve made a better title track in my opinion.

I know a lot of people absolutely adore Rough. I’m…not one of them. Don’t get me wrong; Yuju’s belted power notes are always a pleasure, and her voice with the electric guitars makes such an excellent contrast. Eunha’s high voice also stands out, but Umji’s, Yerin’s, SinB’s, and Sowon’s are great too, and their different tones all harmonize well together.

I wish that the energy of the rock guitar or the orchestra carried through more, because there’s something about the song that doesn’t feel fully realized and I can’t say what it is. Rough is less a moment of standing apart from their peers and more a very gentle sidestep—but definitely a marker of what’s to come. Hidden gems from this album are definitely Say My Name and Someday, the second of which uses the classical touches quite well.

Their first few titles are a bit formulaic, but Navillera, despite at first fitting it, has much more drive and heft, and by the time we reach the guitar solo and the accompanying power note, it feels earned. It takes the best parts of the previous songs and melds them together into something great. I confess that I know this song by heart, and all in all, it’s an early highlight that I find myself liking more each time. Hidden gems from this album include Mermaid and Compass (with a special shout out to the harmonica in Distance).

Fingertip picks up where Navillera left off, with a good sense of humor in its 80’s action movie spoofing. It has one of the few dance breaks I adore, and I found myself bopping my head. And the catharsis! One of the things I love most about k-pop is when songs build to a point where everything just lights up, and Fingertip has this in spades. My hidden gem for this EP is definitely Crush.

Next up is a return to form in Love Whisper, which feels very much like Spring, and has a calming energy, but the song itself isn’t anything trailblazing. It’s a bit meandering and the orchestra isn’t used enough for me. It’s also a lot like Me Gustas Tu, which again, doesn’t mean that either is a bad song, but it does mean that both stick out less.

Summer Rain also has a nice opening, but it feels more dramatic and symphonic, which sets it apart from the rest of Gfriend’s songs at this point. It isn’t my favorite either, but I like it more than Love Whisper, Glass Bead, Me Gustas Tu, and Rough, which I classify in the same category. From the album, Rainbow is the definite winner, with Red Umbrella close behind.

Sunny Summer offers a different view of the same season; it’s upbeat and while carrying through the youthful energy of their earlier work, something about it also feels more grown up, as though a goodbye to their younger selves.

I’m probably reading way too much into what should be a fun song, but it reminds me of the feeling of a last summer vacation after high school and before adulthood. Either way, I’d say that my hidden gem from this album is Vacation (for its boundless energy)

With Time For The Moon Night comes the second big shift in Gfriend’s sound and the start of a new era. The intro, Daytime, sounds right out of a Disney movie, and the song delivers. It begins peacefully, and eventually gently glides into an introspective sort-of ballad that toes the line between sad and hopeful. The whole album is honestly great, and my favorite of the EPs so far.

That being said, I’d like to take a moment of your time to discuss Bye, which may be my favorite of Gfriend’s b-sides. It’s a ballad, yes, but so much more. It blends a full orchestra, an electric guitar, and some of Gfriend’s most affecting vocal work to date. All in all, it’s one of those album tracks that could’ve made an excellent single, and I’m so glad I rediscovered it in my deep dive, because I may or may not have replayed it three times.

Sunrise, perhaps appropriately, feels like Time For The Moon Night’s opposite twin, with lyrics that are just as sad combined with a far more hopeful and well…sunny spin on it. It’s many people’s favorite Gfriend song, and while it isn’t mine, I can’t deny that those choruses, especially the final one, is a hell of a knock-out.

Memoria, while technically a b-side, is also a Japanese single, but it’s so ethereal and lovely that it deserves a shout out. Hidden gems from this album include Only 1, and A Starry Night, but the stand-out has to be You Are Not Alone, both for the adorableness that is the title and for the surprisingly poignant follow-through.

Fever is a departure from the sound Gfriend’s been cultivating and seems like a bit of an odd choice. It’s not a bad song but it’s not great either; it’s pleasant, but it slips in and out of the ears, without any staying power. The girls’ voices feel underutilized, which is unusual for them, and I’ll never understand the impulse to have an anti-drop rather than a power note. I don’t have a hidden gem for this album, but I did like the whistling in Smile.

This album also highlighted something I’ve noticed: a lot of Gfriend’s b-sides start out with a really unique or interesting instrumental (like Smile) but don’t carry it through to the rest of the song, and thus leave it sounding like a lot of other songs.

Flower is the one song I really did like from the album, although it’s a Japanese single and so not technically a b-side. It also takes Gfriend’s music in a different direction (in this case, tango) but the gamble pays off! It’s a pretty good song; not their best, but a nice break.

After this, we finally reach the Modern Witch Trilogy, what I would consider their Magnum Opus, and unfortunately, the end of their time as a six-person group. Each part of the trilogy is magical in its own way: Crossroads is classical and grounded in emotion, Apple is ethereal and delightfully entrancing, and MAGO is empowering and warm at the same time.

The first song of the trilogy is Crossroads, which is definitely the most melancholy of their titles, finally giving the orchestra time to shine. The song’s best moment is undoubtedly the short section of a-capella before the last chorus’ soaring take-off, with the girls’ voices absolutely feeling like some sort of desperate plea to the stars.

My hidden gem for this album is definitely Labyrinth, which, in a 2023 world, I could totally see being a pre-release with a music video; not a title track instead of Crossroads, but with it. Here We Are is great too, and the other b-sides hold their own.

Next in the trilogy is Apple, which simply oozes magic and power. At first, I worried that it would be another Fever with a nothing chorus, but it proved me wrong! It doesn’t quite have a climax but it’s still absolutely engaging and unique.

This is another great album, and it was so hard to pick a hidden gem. The trio of the electro Eye of The Storm, the ballroom waltz of Room of Mirrors, and the dance floor of Tarot Cards are pretty neck-and-neck. But if I had to choose, Room of Mirrors is my favorite.

And at last, we reach MAGO! MAGO is, I’ll be honest, one of my all-time favorite k-pop songs (we’re talking Top 10), and I’ve loved it since I first heard it. To say everything I want to say would take forever, but if I had to name a few, here we go. The song has such great drive and heft and never stops moving, even when it slows down a little. It explodes with confidence and self-expression, and it’s a song that stands out because that empowerment doesn’t fall flat.

There are so many good songs from this album too: the rock in Love Spell, the brightness in Three Of Cups, and the R&B in Secret Diary, but my favorite without a doubt is Wheel Of The Year. Look, I’m a total sap, and it’s the exact kind of song that I adore: sad and happy, hopeful, emotional, inspiring, and all about the power of friendship. In the wake of their disbandment, it’s hard not to see this as a lovely farewell, to both the fans and each other.

It’s hard to overstate how much I adore the Modern Witch Trilogy. All three of these titles also feel so…queer to me? Obviously, as a queer woman, everything I view is through a queer lens, but between the found family separated in Crossroads, the forbidden temptation of witches in Apple, and the all-female be-yourself disco club in MAGO, I don’t think I’m reading too much into this. But I’d love to hear other opinions on this.

My top 5 songs are MAGO, Wheel Of The Year, Fingertip, Crossroads, and Bye. But I loved their whole discography, and as much as I ragged on Fever, there weren’t any songs I actually disliked, and it would be a highlight in a less incredible body of work. I’m also Wiccan, and the Wheel Of The Year is such an important thing for us that it felt like it was made just for me. I admit, when I started writing about their later songs, I even got a bit emotional and even more when I found out that the members themselves helped write some of them.

Gfriend, to the surprise of no one, gets a 9.5/10 from me. I can’t really imagine a discography more suited to me personally, although I think that anyone who appreciates great voices, disco, orchestral spins, or witches would find something to love here too. The only reason the score isn’t higher is because I haven’t done that many deep dives yet and I want to leave some room, lol.

So, I’ll see you next time, for a boy group!

#Gfriend #K-pop #K-pop girl groups #eunha #sinb #yerin #umji #yuju #sowon #viviz #disco #vintage #classical #review #k pop deep dive #Spotify

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