...well jeez, it's been a while.

Trust me when I say I didn't intend to go on such a long break without warning, but unfortunately that's what happened. 😓 Life has been hectic as all get-out over the summer, but now that college is starting up again I might have more of a chance to post. At least then I'll be back into a routine, and hopefully I'll be able to write more! But the last few weeks were just... too busy for me to even think about writing blog posts.

Which now means I have a lot to catch up on - and since I was on such a long posting break, I figured I may as well be transparent about what's coming up. It's only fair, I've had these posts planned since the albums came out, and just never got around to them. I have the second half of the spring comeback review scheduled for tonight, so keep an eye out for that! But in terms of what else is coming up:

• Chungha's Flourishing album review
• Red Velvet album reviews (Reve Festival Days 1 & 2 - planning on posting these back to back!)
• Summer comeback review (this will be in one big post to save time... let's not have a repeat of the spring situation, shall we?)

There's a very well known saying that we often save the best for last. And yeah, that might not always be true, and I'm not trying to spoil my opinion right away, but... MAMAMOO took that saying to heart. HARD. I've loved the vast majority of what they've given us with the '4 seasons, 4 concepts' thing they've been doing for the last year or so - with their last album, Blue;S, admittedly being my least favourite, and Red Moon being my favourite. Yellow Flower was alright, with a few great songs here and there.

But White Wind? White Wind is THAT BITCH. AND I MEAN IT.

At this point this blog is basically composed of hyperbole and nothing else, but... holy fuck, this album. THIS FUCKING ALBUM. These sorts of releases are the reason I started this blog and these comeback reviews - every now and again we'll get to see something really special get released, and White Wind is one of those occasions. It's... the best thing MAMAMOO have ever done, period. And it absolutely shows why these girls are so damn popular. This is one of those albums that's making me proud to be a Moomoo since "Mr. Ambiguous". This is THEIR album. This is MAMAMOO's evolution if you ask me - this is where they go from a great group to a downright phenomenal one.

So I could wax on all day about how phenomenal this project is, or I could actually SHOW you why. And hey, that's what this blog is for, so buckle the fuckle up and get ready to have your wig fly to Mars.

I mean it. Get some glue for that shit, you're gonna need it.

1. WHERE R U

Everyone has their own definitions of perfection. Nothing is ever going to be universally considered to be perfect. Even then, when there IS something big that you think everyone seems to love, there's always going to be one or two people who don't like it. (Take me not liking The Lion King that much, for example. Yeah, I know. Fight me.) But then, on the opposite end of things, you may have something that you feel is amazing and deserving of so much more attention... but it goes ignored by the masses and falls into obscurity, regardless of its quality. That's the worse situation to be in, if you ask me.

...and it's also why we shouldn't be afraid to sing our praises when we feel something truly deserves it. We shouldn't be afraid to talk about things we love - hell, it's why I created this blog in the first place.

So why am I talking about all of this? Why am I talking about perfection here? Well, if you've read the title, you should know this is a review of Dreamcatcher's latest mini album, "Alone In The City". And if my preamble here is anything to go by... well, I think I can sum up my reaction to this project in one sentence:
Yeah. We're in for a ride with this one.

I've got a LOT to talk about here; expect a bit of rambling as to why I love this so much. But in the midst of it all, I do hope you at least see things from my point of view, and understand as to why this album is so perfect in my eyes.

(Also, before this starts: I want to apologise for this review taking so long - I wanted to do this way, WAY sooner. But I actually lost all of my blog-related stuff whilst moving to a new laptop, meaning I've had to start from scratch for this. So that was fun. And not stressful at all. 😶

Also there are no custom GIFs in this post, either. My giffing software is being a pain in the ass. Sorry.)

1 - INTRO 

2 - WHAT [TITLE]

WELL HERE YOU FUCKING GO, FOLKS.

...well damn, if you had told me Dreamcatcher would end up experimenting with reggae I'm not sure I would've believed you. But "July 7th" is now a thing! So there's that!

And, honestly, is there any concept these girls can't pull off? I'm sorry EXO, but THIS is how you mix reggae with K-Pop. No absurdly loud, out-of-place drops here - just an incredibly relaxing song that's perfect to listen to on a rainy day. This is one of those songs that's absurdly catchy, but you don't realise it until it's been stuck in your head for 4 whole days...

Although, just like "Wonderland", I'm yet again left with a very creepy vibe here - am I honestly the only one getting creepy girlfriend vibes?! Maybe it's Handong's vocal slur on "And I~ missed you so much", maybe it's the plodding marimba and minor key... I don't know. There's something about this song that gives me slight hints of yandere. But I fucking love that. It's more than likely meant to be a sad breakup song, but let my mind run rampant, ok?

I do feel like some of that extends into the lyrics too. Yes, they can of course be viewed as melancholic break-up material - which they actually pull off amazingly, there's a really nice level of detail to these lyrics - oooooor you can be weird like me and get continual yandere vibes.

Whatever way you choose to look at it, "July 7th"'s melancholic yet sturdy groove serves as a beautiful closer to the album itself, and rounds it out perfectly. It adds another dose of variety to an already brilliant mini album.

Bias group comebacks are ALWAYS something to get excited about. Especially when the teasers indicate it's something you'll absolutely love. And from the teasing MAMAMOO has been doing recently leading up to the release of their 7th mini album "Red Moon", I've been very excited to say the least. The styling and snippets of song we saw and heard in the teasers have been on point in a way that's increasingly rare for me. NOT TO MENTION KIM MOTHAFUCKING YONGSUN DANCING ON A P O L E.


So that had me shook. To put it lightly. Let's be real, I forgot how to breathe when I saw that teaser. My pansexual ass was NOT ready.

But nevertheless, I tried not to get my hopes too high for the comeback itself. Even after such an amazing teaser. And now that the full mini album is out, I'm... mostly extremely impressed! 

Before launching into talking about the mini album itself, though, I figured I'd lay out the general structure of these comeback reviews. I'll break it down bit by bit - I'll go through the album (if there is one) track by track, and talk about what I like and what I don't. I don't plan on giving any scores or anything like that; I just want to express my opinion. And for the main title track(s), I'll talk about the MV, choreo and styling too if I can!

(Any links to the English translated lyrics I used can be found at the bottom of the post!)

1 - MIDNIGHT SUMMER DREAM (여름밤의 꿈)

They're so... heartfelt and pure, especially for a breakup song like this. Whoever is singing this is really laying out how they feel about this apparent breakup, and just how hard it's hitting them - even if they're trying to keep it a secret.

All of that extra emotion is only helped by the girls' performances, since each of them definitely has the skill to express that heartbreak in their voices - and they nail it. They know when to be powerful, when to be more subtle... it all comes together to make one hell of a ballad. ☂️☂️☂️

4 - SKY! SKY! (하늘하늘 [청순])