Red Velvet welcomes spring with ‘Air on the G String’ in ‘Feel My Rhythm’

As the warming weather nears and the flames of love have arrived, K-pop sensation Red Velvet welcomed the spring season and scents of cherry blossoms by dropping the new mini album, “The ReVe Festival 2022 - Feel My Rhythm,” Monday evening. The group marks a return nearly seven months after the previous work.

The band’s “The ReVe Festival 2022” is the latest addition of “The ReVe Festival” series. In 2019, the quintet dropped three parts of its “The ReVe Festival” series: “The ReVe Festival Day 1,” “The ReVe Festival Day 2” and “The ReVe Festival Finale.”

This time, traveling through imagination is the main theme that takes center stage on the album. “ReVe” is the abbreviated version of the K-pop act’s name, Red Velvet, while at the same time meaning “dream” or “fantasy” in French.

In a press conference Monday, the quintet described their album as, “just like how the cherry blossom season is a time of new beginnings, we, Red Velvet, are ready for a fresh start.”

“Since summer is scorching hot, we’ve always dropped summer songs that are exciting and powerful like ‘Red Flavor.’ But the spring season reminded us of something new, a new start, so this time, we thought it could be a season with heart-fluttering emotions,” Wendy said.

Irene also said that all the bandmates wanted to meet and greet fans in the first place, and added to what Wendy said.

“We wanted to show and branch out to a different side of us through dropping an album in spring. We focused on inviting people to Red Velvet’s spring by expressing how we came to spring from the winter season. It’s an album that melds in winter’s coldness and the warmth of spring,” she said.

With the new album, the quintet joins the ranks of “half-million-sellers,” as preorders for the album had surpassed the 500,000 million mark as of Sunday.

Going back to springtime, Wendy said she thinks the senses of smell and sight are essential during the season. She added that fans and listeners would be able to enjoy the experience with their eyes via the band’s visuals and smell the scent of flowers by watching the music video of their latest song, expressing hopes that Red Velvet would become “spring queens” with the new album.

Joy piped in, dropping a small spoiler: “I hope to see Red Velvet as the queens of all seasons as there will be many comebacks this year.”

Leading the six-track package is “Feel My Rhythm,” which Wendy described as a “pop dance song sampling Bach’s ‘Air on the G String’ with strong trap-based rapping and vocals.” The main vocalist added that the lyrics talk about hopping on a little trip by freely crossing over space and time.

Joy said that the classic played a pivotal role in the band’s music video, saying it was a “big inspiration.” 

“We shot the music video like an opera. If you look at it, some people appear wearing masks like the characters in operas, and there are also oil-painted animations in the clip. The video is a mixture of catchy classics and elements, and I think it’s a video that you would want to keep watch.”

Yeri chimed in and said that, apart from the classical traits, the music video also carries a lot of contrasts, like spring and day. “Some bandmates want to stay in the winter, while others want to go to spring, and what I said is a big spoiler,” she added.

The album also brims with side tracks “Rainbow Halo,” “Beg For Me,” “Bamboleo,” “Good, Bad, Ugly” and “In My Dreams.”

Seulgi also hinted at the band’s choreography during the event. She said just like how the five bandmates turned into ballerinas, the dance moves to the new song are elegant, and the band’s performance would have plenty to see.

“For example, we emphasized on our fingertips for our choreography or a hand move that expresses a butterfly, and there’s also a part where we show how the ice melts down. It’s going to be a fun performance.”

When asked why the sampling of a classical music piece was chosen as the main tune, Seulgi said she wanted to show a mixture of the classic and energetic sides of Red Velvet through “Feel My Rhythm.”

“Since traveling through imagination is the central theme of the ‘ReVe Festival’ series, we thought we could freshly ring in the spring season with the song. We also thought it would be a perfect fit for our main track, which is somewhat refreshing. (Classical) music is widely known, so I think it could trigger people’s interest when they hear our song.”

Seulgi also talked about their canceled concert on Sunday, as Irene, Joy and Yeri had tested positive for COVID-19 right before the event. She said she wants to prepare well and show it during this year’s concert.”

“Our concert got canceled, so I really want to prepare well for it and show it during the concert. And personally, I want to finish the promotions without getting sick. This is the biggest for me, and let’s make this album a bop!”

At the end of the press conference, Yeri said she hopes what Red Velvet has prepared would land well with fans.

“Rather than wanting to achieve something, hopefully, we could show the outcome of our well-prepared music, maintain an intimate relationship with fans, and end our promotions well.”

The six-song package was released at 6 p.m. on Monday.

By Park Jun-hee (junheee@heraldcorp.com)