K-Pop Double Take is a weekly review column highlighting recent releases that have yet to receive the attention we feel they deserve.
You would be forgiven for not noticing KARA's last single "Cupid" when it was released on May 26, on the group's seventh EP "In Love."
Though the album did more-than-respectable business, selling over 13,000 copies and reaching number two on South Korea's Gaon weekly pop album chart, "In Love" failed to hold the attention of Hallyu fans in a year stuffed with high-profile releases.
Though interest for the album will hopefully be rekindled as the inevitable year-end roundups commence over the next several months, it is unfortunate, as "Cupid" in particular deserves credit for some of the best pop writing the genre has seen in recent memory.
That's not to say KARA didn't generate some heat. The music video for "Cupid" has surpassed over 5 million views on YouTube. But in an era where bands measure YouTube success in the hundreds of millions (or, if you're Psy, in the billions), the response doesn't seem like all it should be.
Producers e.one and EJ SHOW keep the sound as streamlined as one would expect from a modern girl group, but the song the pair co-wrote with lyricist Nassun is so strong, it gives the members of KARA everything they need to hit a home run.
Possibly because e.one (an industry veteran who has worked with EXO, Rain, Shinhwa and A Pink) and SHOW were responsible for the creation of "Cupid," the two producers, while clearly buffing every sound until it shines, kept the mix uncluttered with unnecessary reverb or deal breakers like Auto Tune or an overly oppressive drum loop. But the song is far from toned-down; if anything "Cupid" comes across, especially at first, as a fun-filled '80s electro romp.
The reason "Cupid" is still worth talking about is the same reason so much of the once-dismissed synthesizer-driven dance music of the era of hairspray still gets played night after night by nearly every generation--the song's core is solidly constructed and the performers give their all to see the songwriters' vision through.
So it just keeps feeling better.
Watch the music video for Kara's single "Cupid" from the K-pop girl group's EP "In Love" RIGHT HERE
