Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
After a rather unsuccessful double single debut for Cosmic Girls, they’ve come back with “Secret“, and the song is nice and safe while the music video is thankfully anything but.
An understated and safe instrumental, I’m torn between enjoying it because of nostalgia and calling it out for being almost cynically conservative and absent of creativity. I learn towards the latter because it sort of sets the tone for the entire track, and everything from the verses to the hook to the execution itself is inoffensive if not forgettable. Case in point, as I was writing this paragraph I had to go back to listen to the song again to remember what the chorus was to see if it inspired any more writing in me. It did not.
EXY probably does get too much hype for her rapping ability, and yes she’s always prominently featured in everything. But especially for an idol rapper, I tend to consistently enjoy her parts of Cosmic Girls songs, and her verse stood out against the background of soft, fluffy vocals.
If Lovelyz‘s “Destiny“ was an anime’s epic and lively ending song, then “Secret” is the song played over a montage of cheesy romantic moments between the two main characters falling in love like everybody didn’t know they were gonna fuck from the start or something. What I’m saying is that while the feel of these types of songs are similar, one feels important and memorable and one feels like background filler.
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Alrighty, Cosmic Girls fans can open their eyes now because that’s where the bad man stops saying bad things about “Secret”. Goddamn this music video is sweet, huh?
For as much as the song itself refuses to take any risks, the music video is gloriously all over the place with lush and diverse sets and a general Vaporwave-esque aesthetic that makes every scene engaging.
Whoever did this wanted you to get the aesthetic so bad they put the cliche Roman/Greek bust in it.
They themselves are visual stars, like Cheng Xiao…
…and EXY.
But it’s definitely the space fantasy concept that’s the star with awesome and original visuals, and the aforementioned color scheme paired with shooting stars, monoliths, firey cubes in the ocean, a flying car, and all that made for a treat.
It comes complete with Princess Mononoke references…
…and there’s even a shout out to Dragon Ball Z with the scouters.
The music video for “Secret” is exploratory and has a feel of immense breadth and depth. From the concept to the execution, the music video was one of the more engaging and interesting ones I’ve seen in a while. Unfortunately, the song itself was almost painfully inoffensive, and it was really like I was watching a montage film and “Secret” was just the background music that you’re not supposed to notice all that much.
Still, this effort was much better than their debut tries, and hopefully Cosmic Girls build momentum with this release and continue down this creative road.
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‘The Secret’
