CRAVITY have released a spirited music video for ‘Party Rock’, a new single from their fourth mini-album ‘New Wave’.
The funky pop-rock title track, one of six songs on the mini-album, was released on September 29 alongside a music video.
In the video, the group manage a store and then break into ‘Party Rock”s energetic choreography. They play board games after the first chorus and dance with gusto till the song ends.
“Break it down / Just for today, have fun and break free / Go-gotta get down to this beat / Nothing can never bring me down, yeah / No interruption can kill my vibe, yeah,” they declare.
The nine-member Starship Entertainment boyband – consisting of leader Serim, Allen, Jungmo, Woobin, Wonjin, Minhee, Hyeongjun, Taeyoung and Seongmin – tell NME the energetic ‘New Wave’ is connected to a previous concept from ‘Adrenaline’, off ‘Liberty: In Our Cosmos’, the album they released in March.
In the teaser concept video for ‘New Wave’, the group appear in school uniforms in the beginning and swap them out for stylish outfits at the end. “We meet with something new – it’s the same ‘us’ but in a different outfit and setting,” Allen explains. “So that’s where the ‘new’ part [in ‘New Wave’] comes in… to bring about this new style and trend of this new generation.”
On ‘New Wave’, members Serim and Allen are credited as co-writers on four songs including B-sides ‘Automatic’ and ‘Colorful’. Woobin also co-produced the latter song, saying he “compares colours with feelings”. “When I was writing ‘Colorful’, rather than focusing on the actual colours themselves, I followed the mood or feeling that everyone gets in their daily life.”
Rappers Serim and Allen pen their own verses with CRAVITY’s fans in mind. “Writing our own lyrics can allow fans to relate better to our songs and to us as well. This builds up an intimacy with our fans – as if we’re communicating directly to them through our lyrics,” Allen says. “So I’m really glad to have had this opportunity to write my own verses, starting from our second mini-album all the way to our fourth. I believe that as we release more songs, we’ll be able to participate more in the production of our albums in the future.”
Prior to ‘New Wave’, CRAVITY dropped ‘Boogie Woogie’, their first-ever English single. This peppy song contains “lyrics actually describing a boogie, the dance itself,” Allen told NME. “I actually participate[d] and contribute[d] ideas for the [choreography]. It goes ‘take my hand and grab my hips, swing around and turn your wrist’. It’s basically really self-explanatory… We wanted to make the dance as easy as possible so fans can follow along.”
“As the pandemic situation is getting better, we’re getting more opportunities to go overseas. I feel releasing songs in English may help us better communicate with our overseas fans as well. So it’s a great opportunity,” he added. “I don’t think we’re going to stop anytime [soon], because ‘Boogie Woogie’ is only the first [English] single. There definitely will be more to come.”
Lead single ‘Party Rock’ is also a bilingual track. In the Korean lyrics, main vocalist Woobin can easily convey messages and emotions, “but when singing in English, we can focus on trendy expressions. That’s an advantage of using English. So a mix of both languages can ultimately create interest,” he noted.
‘New Wave’ is CRAVITY’s second release this year after March’s ‘Liberty: In Our Cosmos’, which is the sequel to 2021’s ‘The Awakening: Written in the Stars‘. The group tell NME they will now focus on promoting ‘New Wave’. Earlier this year, CRAVITY performed at various international K-pop festivals, including KCON US Tour, HallyuPopFest London 2022, KCON 2022 LA, and KCON 2022 Premiere In Chicago.
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