'Kill This Love': BlackPink's new album kills it... barely

BlackPink

BlackPink

Kill This Love

YG Entertainment

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When YG CEO Yang Hyun-suk announced new BlackPink music nine months after the sensational hit Square Up mini album, fans were whistling with joy and excited to finally get more from the girls.

Early this month, BlackPink, which comprises members Jisoo Kim, Jennie Kim, Lisa Manoban, and Rosé Park, released a new EP of five new tracks titled Kill This Love (with the sub-title Don’t Know What To Do). They also included the remix version of their record-breaking Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du in the mini album.

Yang had said the title track Kill This Love would be more intense than the quartet’s previous release, but it kind of sounds like Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du 2.0 with an addition of 15 seconds English lyrics. It was really disappointing to say Kill This Love is hardly better than its predecessor, just more of the same.

Though the lead rapper Jennie Kim did not spit 63 syllables of rap this time, her fierce rendition of RumPaPumPaPumPaPa will easily get new fans hooked on BlackPink, which last week became the first Korean girl group to perform at US music festival Coachella.

Don’t Know What To Do starts off with a dreamy feeling and slowly progresses to a pop-song-turned-EDM vibe in the chorus, which is a quite interesting twist.

Melancholic ballad track Hope Not does justice to all the members of BlackPink, with each of their vocals standing out throughout the song, particularly that of lead vocalists Rosé and Jisoo.

Rosé’s voice does not sound as nasally as it was in their previous EP and singles and Jisoo’s vocals have certainly grown more stable.

One will be surprised with the Thailand-born and raised member Lalisa, who pours her heart out in the acoustic track. Besides her mad dance skills and rapping breathlessly, it’s really great to know that she does have a really sweet singing voice too!

Meanwhile, Kick It has BlackPink asking their fans (known as Blinks) to hold their head up high and kick it how they want to kick it. All in all, this song really portrays both their savage and charming character.

Overall, Kill This Love EP may easily pass off as every girl’s breakup anthem for now. But if you were expecting a stronger flavour of BlackPink, you will be left disappointed.