Falling under the umbrella of the “Big 4” entertainment management in the K-Pop industry, LE SSERAFIM will always be guaranteed moderate success, regardless of their new releases’ mediocrity and the prolonged backlash that followed their unremarkable Coachella performance. Though I agree this was not their best live performance, I believe the resulting hate campaign was unwarranted. LE SSERAFIM’s latest comeback EP, CRAZY, could persuade other listeners to stifle lingering criticism.
The EP is quick: barely reaching the 15-minute mark. Due to the demand of stream-hungry record label executives with short attention spans, only one of five songs extends past three minutes. Yet, the record manages to overcome this hurdle. The star of the show, the title track, is an ode to ballroom culture: the choreography includes waacking and voguing, two dance styles prominent in queer spaces, and the music video features several drag queens. For what it is worth, this song is fun and catchy; the girls are indeed Girling. While this song is not ruined by its length, it would have been stronger had LE SSERAFIM and their executives taken the risk of extending the song. It is missing a certain something, perhaps a bridge. Unfortunately, it seems that artists today are not keen on full tracks longer than three minutes; anything for TikTok virality, I suppose.
The EP’s introductory song, D&B-inspired “Chasing Lightning”, is three minutes and twenty-five seconds of club beats under speak-singing in English, Japanese, and Korean, highlighting the different backgrounds of each member of the group. In all honesty, there is not much replay value, and there is no reason for this to be longer than the title track. Other tracks include “Pierrot” — a personal favorite of mine — a pop-rap tune that almost matches the compact, bubbly energy of the title track. The record is summed up with the aforementioned phrase, “fun and catchy,” which makes sense, considering these songs are mostly intended for the clubs.
However, this brings up the question: why is the closing song a lovestruck ballad? If the song were more in line with the EDM themes of the rest of the EP, I would not complain about the presence of “Crazier”, but its inclusion creates such a jarring transition from vivacious and sultry “1-800-hot-n-fun.”
Despite the flaws, it would be dishonest of me to say that this EP is awful or unlistenable. If anything, I think it fulfills its purpose of being a crazy mix of earworms and punchy tunes. Of course, not every new record is going to be revolutionary, particularly in K-Pop, which as an industry places heavy emphasis on the ‘pump-and-dump’ of releasing new music and content. Consequently, this leaves little room for artists and producers to consistently put out quality art, which explains the existence of acceptably catchy CRAZY. That being said, I still believe LE SSERAFIM has a lot of potential; you and I should look forward to their releases from here on out.
