Album Review: STAYC- YOUNG-LUV.COM
Album review time, let’s get it!
The Music Video
There isn’t much going on in this video in terms of plot or storyline, so I don’t have any comments there, they ditch that entirely and just aim to make a visually interesting experience. They succeeded. VFX always looks kinda silly in kpop but I actually thought that what VFX were used looked good and didn’t really throw off the vibe or pacing of the video, so that’s an upside, the breaking snowglobe could have been awful. I really applaud the staff for how awful some of those shots probably were. Everything in the hanging bead room looks awesome but was probably a logistical nightmare, balance of visual clarity and the visual spectacle can be really difficult. Set designers were also on point, everything feels really cohesive, the well thought out and cohesive color palette does a great job of keeping everything tied together, no shot feels jarring or out of place.
In terms of the styling, everything is actually also really good. They really nailed hair, makeup, and outfit design for everybody, which I’m really not used to seeing these days, usually at least one person seems like they get the overall bad styling, so that was nice. The one pitfall here, at least to me, is Yoon’s outfit where it feels like they just stapled on some American Football padding, that one is weird. We also got a fast dance practice release, so I will actually make a choreo comment for once, which is to say I like that the pacing of the choreo with the song, it always just feels cohesive. Ultimately, the whole video experience is summed up that way, it just all seems to fit together just right, kudos to the team that worked on the song and video, and to the group for doing a good job with what they’ve been given.
M/V Rating: 9/10
I only put it at a 9 because of the fact that I need wiggle room in case I find something to bebetter, but this is almost blameless, especially because they did the no-story music video correctly, I feel it’s often poorly executed.
The Songs
Run2U- This song starts a little shaky, the screechy instrumental and the fact that the Stayc girls never let me know if it’s going down or not is a real questionable move. That said, first verse starts instantly with J into Sumin, the two most unique voices and it’s amazing. Isa has really gone up in stock for me, and her bridge with Seeun is beautiful. Then comes the drop into the chorus, and that’s the magic for me, and not just because Sieun and Yoon kill it. It’s that incredible chorus instrumental that sounds like a horn that’s actually an off-key, out of tune accordion pretending to be a horn, which sounds awful as a description, but somehow, it’s absolute magic. And honestly, so is this song, the second verse rap, the slow down into Sieun’s pop off, Isa’s “little bit, little bit,” I love everything about this song, I expect it to be in my top 5 for the year, and absolutely has #1 potential.
Same Same- This is a very Stayc chill jam. Great to listen to, and Sieun’s big ending note is pretty fantastic, otherwise, not much to say here. Oh, and thank goodness they confirmed that it is in fact going down.
247- Another chill slow jam, less Stayc, more RnB to me though. The energy level on this album really comes down after how energetic Run2U is.
Young Luv- The album’s namesake that didn’t manage to make the cut to being the title track. This is also pretty slow paced, but brings a hint more of energy to me. I really like the vocals that every member brings to the table here though, everybody gets to shine here, which is also one of the highlights of Run2U. I do like the nostalgic tone here too, light retro vibes.
Butterfly- I think I’m going to do an article ranking all the kpop songs called Butterfly, or maybe even just with Butterfly in the title, that would be fun. This is another RnB slow jam, and although all of these feel distinct, they all also feel the same, I would like a little more variation in tracks, not much, just a little. I think compared to Same Same and 247, this is the least interesting.
I Want U Baby- This may come as a surprise, but this is also an RnB chill jam, which came as a surprise to me, I just didn’t think there would be such a strong prevailing theme. On one hand, it’s cool to maintain a theme and identity, but it does feel worn out by the end of the album. The thing that brings it back is that this is probably the best of the RnB songs on the album, so we get to leave off on a good note.
Album Rating: 6.5/10
I honestly wanted to rate this higher because Run2U is a 9+/10 song, but the rest of the album is collectively uninteresting, any of the other songs would have been if not for being next to all the other b-sides. I actually was tempted to just review Run2U because I want to focus on the positives, there’s too much negativity in the world, but I also wanted to keep my review honest. Is this a good album? Yes. Should they have diversified the b-sides more? Absolutely yes. That said, it’s so easy to see how much improvement the members have made as vocalists, they have come a really long way from debut, and I’m super excited to see them grow. And I’m excited to see if Run2U wins for the year, because, for me, it certainly have those vibes.
