⬡ tripleS
- Thread starter askew
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Over the past years, I've grown increasingly jaded by the self-love/self-empowerment anthems of k-pop because the delivery often comes across antagonistic or reeks of a cynical calculation that I find hard to stomach. I don't believe it, I don't buy it. Girls' Capitalism somehow carves its own voice by rejecting grandiose declarations in favor of candid earnestness. The mantra "Inner beauty / Gonna cherish my inner heart," simple as it is, feels less like armor donned and more like cupping your hands around something small and precious. It doesn't feel like tripleS are embodying archetypes for their viewers to mimic, but rather holding a mirror up, tapping into a universal sentiment, giving ephemeral shape to an internal world.
In a way, tripleS picks up right where we left jj!LOOΠΔ. The DNA of "For all LOOΠΔ's around the world" lives on in the fabric of tripleS. There's this subtle decentering of tripleS as the Idol symbol with how their video extras are framed; it implies an equivalence, that these periphery characters possess their own vibrant stories beyond set dressing. Moments like the sight gag @2:50 reaffirm that tripleS exists in their world as much as they exist in tripleS's, a symbiosis analogous to our experience as viewers. I was strangely moved by the shots of them blending into a sea of white tees and jeans, indistinguishable from the girls that surround them.
So much of tripleS's mythos is circumambulating the dichotomy between The Idol vs. The Normal Girl. How does one inform the other? How are they intertwined? Are they one and the same? Nothing encapsulates this more than MODHAUS signing SeoYeon as S1, ostensibly the normalest of normal girls coming from zero training experience, inviting us to follow her journey of becoming an idol. Maybe that's why it feels futile to measure them by the usual performance metrics because that's explicitly not the point. The imperfection is the experience, the human on stage is the thesis—the magic is the diamond in the rough.
So what about Capitalism, hmmm? The ~chase bags not boys, money can buy happiness~ maxim maybe holds surface-level truth. Something something self-care goes hand in hand with self-actualization. But is Jaden trying to suggest that our worth be derived from material wealth and productivity? Um that's not very woke of you, Jeong Byunggi! What exactly is being said here then? Let's review the 10 Rules of the Mad Money Club. Rule No.1 Don't Cry Be Rich. Saur trew, bestie. Rule No.2 Read More. Mmmmgggghhhh leave me alone, mom! Are we still talking about fat stacks? What are the girls even doing with all that money besides throwing it around? Is the money some kind of metaphor? Maybe the real capital is the friends we made along the way.
Siri, give me the definition for circumambulating
I still think Rising mini is the best but the whole atmosphere LOVElution is so fresh and comfy. And that also reflects onto the video which I loved so much, it resonated with my sappy self dd.
B-sides are quite strong, some of them even basement New Jeans vibes which I’m here for. Seul Sonyo Sound is just the vibe.
B-sides are quite strong, some of them even basement New Jeans vibes which I’m here for. Seul Sonyo Sound is just the vibe.
Their tour started and they look cute and like they're having fun. The NYC show is still like 85% available which kind of saddens me, but it'll be easy on the wallet with day of tickets, i'm sure.
So! Huh. Well. Hm. My ambivalence towards 'Invincible' feels strange after being an ardent Song F truther, but several things just aren't working for me. First, the lyrics are distractingly clunky here, like not even clunky in a fun k-pop way, clunky in a clunky way. "Just like Tiffany and 꿈"? "Let's fly high through sky like Rising"? I don't want to sing along to this! Maybe the la-la-la da-ra-da-das made some points. Another big one is the amount of indiscriminate reverb slathered across the song, especially in the percussive elements. It comes across like a cheap shorthand for ~dreamy vibe~ that flattens the texture into a one-dimensional puddle. The punchy, kinetic quality of the demo I fell in love with is lost in translation. A classic case of demoitis? Who can never be sure.
The music video is kinda boring, kinda pedestrian—kinda, dare I say, nugu? Yinyang. Gems. She's meditating. She's died. If you squint, there's a taekwondo concept they should have leaned into more overtly. Something something honing your skills like cutting a diamond. There's also a severe lack of heart that I associate with tripleS. Their strength lies in their chemistry and how well they play off each other which was sorely missed here. If it was an artistic choice, it was the wrong one. My gut reaction is to attribute this to them working with a new production company. Maybe I'm too attached to the distinct visual language tripleS x UNDERMOOD FILM have crafted together. Was there a scheduling conflict? Is there no budget this time around? While 'Invincible' might technically be the more interesting song, her sister 'Girls' Capitalism' is the better executed and emotionally resonant package to me.
The album is on par with their previous works in terms of quality. 'Rhodanthe' is pretty but so obviously a first draft Fiesta cut-and-paste job that I cannot look her in the eye. 'Heavy Metal Wings' is gorgeous. 'Moto Princess' is cool. 'Enhanced Flower' another addition to their stunner outros. While <⟡> has a more consistent sound and flow, <ↀ> ultimately has higher highs; track to track, LOVElution pulls slightly ahead. My instant classic is 37.5 Celsius:
Shades of Red Velvet with a sprinkle of LOOΠΔ 1/3. GDLO we love yew!
PS. They're sick for ending the album on a loud fart.
TL;DW: The next vote will be for a five-member Ballad unit. S10 DaHyun is automatically locked in (of course dd) and the other members will be decided from seven randomly drawn combinations of four. Judging by the format and theme, I expect this to be a one-off single with a b-side or two. If they intend to promote it, it would probably land in the new year maybe late January? The timing makes me think balladS is meant to be a low stakes snack to tide us over until the next full group album that they're surely saving for ot24.
The imminent S17-S20 have been "practicing something together", which is speculated to be a dance performance video (@jaden we demand justice for Speed Love!!)
RUNAWAY
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Hell yesssss I love Dahyun and ballads, so this is a win for me. Watch Jaden re-use all of the Loona Maison songs dddddd.
NXT is releasing a digital single with a performance video right before the end of the year. This schedule is a bit all over the place nn; I was expecting them to drop the performance first before the individual member teasers for maximum impact. Them deciding to even name this li'l member reveal unit makes me think they will use NXT again for S21-S24.
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