REVIEW: BLACKPINK - BORN PINK

 

4/5

Pink Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

BLACKPINK back in your area! 'Born Pink' to the exclamation, like the upside down 'i' in Alecia Beth Moore's name. Get the point? Now how you like that? Bada-bing, bada-boom-boom-boom. A week after fellow K-Pop sensations BTS broke their brief hiatus with Disney +'s 'Permission To Dance' (between Disney and Netflix, BP have more movies than Marvel too, right now) On Stage in LA, BLACKPINK return with their follow-up to 'The Album' (need you call it anything else?) and many a solo project and brand endorsement from jewellery to perfume (I adore Jisoo for Dior) for the new leaders of the industry. 

300 million views on YouTube. Let there be K-Pop carnage. With their newest hit, 'Pink Venom', there's no anti like Rihanna, as this group's streaming genes get back in your veins. All to the shade Steven Tyler and Aerosmith once said was the colour of passion, like Floyd. And running akin to red it really is. Topping the iTunes charts in 75 countries (you know, just most of the world), 'Pink Venom', which is about to snake into a world tour of the same name, gets its teeth into video visuals and snaps and snares to rival their biggest hit ('How You Like That'). Shout it out in ALL CAPS! And the "gratata" like Bryan Silva. All as Jennie and Lisa sing, "This that pink venom, this that pink venom/This that pink venom, get 'em, get 'em, get 'em/Straight to ya dome like woah, woah, woah/Straight to ya dome like ah, ah, ah/Taste that pink venom, taste that pink venom/Taste that pink venom, get 'em, get 'em, get 'em." Nothing has tasted this good since their 'Sour Candy', going Gaga in the 'Chromatica' ball. Not even their 'Ice Cream' licks with Selena Gomez. 

But shut all that down, Seoul. It's their latest single sampling Italian composer Niccolo Paganini's legendary violins that take the lead. 'La Campanella' is brought back to string stirring life on 'Shut Down' which opens up a new sound to these Queens with more genres than a purple Prince for their pink. Soon the whole world will be singing along, "Keep watching me shut you down/뱅뱅, I shot you down/뱅뱅, 난 땅을 쳤어/뱅뱅 그 무서운 소리," no matter the language. You can't lose this Nancy Sinatra boot walkin' that could kill Bill, in translation. All over you. 

BLACKPINK are not like those other girls at all. Even if the white laced cover of this album matches the black/pink of 'The Album' in pink wig hair hanging down like a tiara for the crown as they take their throne again. Watch it. Because a 'Typa Girl' like this is as precious as a diamond, they shine bright like. "Didn't know you were cold 'til you felt my fire", Rosé sings with a confident charisma that compels. Just like the neon nuanced nostalgia of standout track 'Yeah Yeah Yeah' that is anything but that blasé reply. Back to the future killing it like this love. Just "say yeah, yeah, yeah" for the new anthem from the act that has more than national. All rise. 

But at their most beautiful in ballad they are 'The Happiest Girl(s)' like one of their new and best tracks of their already classic career. "I can stop the tears if I want to", they say in affirmation. Vowing to be the title of the track with definitive defiance. Despite, "the doors we slammed, the plates we smashed/Echo with the sound of madness", like Murakami poetry. Again, showing just like their famous fellow country stars, there's so much more depth to their bubblegum pop sound that has armies of fans throwing cash like candy at their feet. Don't Blink! 

Sure, in this day and age, we're all 'Hard To Love' at times. But Pink paints this picture perfectly. "Ain't no magic tool to fix it/You should keep your distance/I'm only tellin' you because I care", even the intro inspires greater influence as the message is reaffirmed. "I'll make it feel like heaven, but I swear I'm not a saint!" Amen! But they're definitely on a higher power right now. 'Tally' it up on the wonder of this eight track. Because by the time they're 'Ready For Love' again in the end, you know the charts are going to be full of these pieces of eight like their fans hearts. Reborn in the colour and the shape. 

"Ready or not, here I come and I'm running/Like it's now or never, I never know if you want it/What if love wasn't what it was supposed to be?/What if there's no Romeo for me?/No hope, no roses, no more notes to read/So I keep my eyes closed to see/What I need is forever and forever, baby, not sometimes/When you want it, then you best come find me 'cause I'm ready." You heard Lisa! You ready for this? Because these Queens have you hangin' on the edge of your seat like Mercury over these break beats. Rapping over hip-hop call and response ciphers to their name that's always punctuated with the spice of their girl power, the area is BLACKPINK's. Always causing mass hysteria. Happy 'Born' day, Pinks! TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Pink Venom', 'Shut Down', 'Yeah Yeah Yeah'.