When K-pop does '80s...

Wussup guys! It's been forever since my last post. My GPA is 3.44, which is below the perfect 4.0 I aimed at. Hahahah. But considering how messy the process of my thesis and my defense were, things could've been worse, not just my GPA. So can't really complain there.

I'm currently crazy about Nine Muses, yet another Korean girlband. Not a ridiculous, over the top one this time. Debuting in 2010, its oldest member at the time, Kim Ra Na, was 27 years old, which was probably like 100 years old in Korean girlband age. Now that Ra Na has left, the oldest member now is Moon Hyun Ah, who'll turn 26 in January. Yes, Nine Muses have always been marketed as a mature girlband with real women as members, and these ladies indeed have a modelling background as they're all over 170 cm tall.

Anyway, check out this single.



Overall this single, which was out last year, have won favorable reviews from many K-pop fans out there, but one review particularly has bugged me and eventually inspired this post (I won't post the link of the review out of respect to the website owner). The review actually puts "Figaro" under the same light as Dal Shabet's "Bling Bling" and T-ara's "Roly Poly", just because all three singles are styled in the 1980's fashion. "Roly Poly" and "Bling Bling" sound playful and the videos don't look as sophisticated as "Figaro", so the two formers are definitely aimed at a younger audience. You just can't compare "Roly Poly" and "Bling Bling" to "Figaro" or even put them in the same sentence since '80s pop has a lot of subgenres, just like music of any decade.

And speaking of Nine Muses' mini album "Sweet Rendezvous", which was out earlier this year, the album features four songs that have 1980's sound. This album too has won good reviews, with many concluding that Nine Muses have finally found a niche. Looks like that niche is an older audience with a taste for 1980's music (most likely because they remember the period), and with the ladies' comeback which is rumored to be in December, I wonder how they will do 1980's sound next if they decide to stick to it...