The song itself is quite good. "Drama" is carried by the pretty vocals of 9MUSES, with Kyungri and Hyemi at the top of the list. There's a variety of structure in the song and all the members do well in filling those roles out. Having said that, "Drama" is rather bland and while the "only you~" hook is catchy, nothing else really makes this song unique, per se. Past releases like "Wild" and "Glue" had a signature 9MUSES sound to them, and while this song is most like "Dolls," the chorus is not nearly as powerful and the rapping is too segmented to be very effective. More on that stuff later.
Let's talk about the new members. Visually, Keumjo sticks out rather unfortunately. Everyone on 9MUSES has this elegant mature air around them and I just don't think Keumjo has that. She looks far younger and while you can also make that argument for Minha, Minha is still very mature in her beauty which Keumjo lacks. Sojin is easilly 9MUSES material but only if she didn't cut her hair. Watching her perform "Knock" with long hair really gave her that presence and while she's still very pretty with short hair the long locks would suit her much better and make her fit in aesthetically a lot more. As far as vocals are concerned both Sojin and Keumjo blend rather well with the rest of the cast. They have nice airy (breathy, even) voices that compliment Kyungri and Hyemi. I see a handful of comments comparing Keumjo to Sera in terms of vocals and honestly I don't think they're remotely similar: Sera has clarity whereas Keumjo has power. It's really not comparable.
Minha has made some strides in vocal performance and she sounds good here. However, it's practically a crime that Hyuna didn't get more lines. Hyuna has such a rich voice that really shone in "Dolls," so I wanted to see more of her in "Drama." It's also kind of a shame that they're shaping Keumjo to be the new lead vocalist, as Hyemi more than deserves that spot in the limelight. If Hyuna has been underutilized, Kyungri is overutilized. Kyungri has all her standard vocal parts but also has a portion of the rap. I really don't want Sistar19 syndrome in a group with 8 members and plenty of talent. Erin should have handled all the rapping to herself, and that's what I expected with Eunji's departure. While Sungah does a commendable job with her lines, Erin is one of the best available and not using her to full potential is really disappointing.
The MV is pretty much the baseline of past 9MUSES MV's, that is to say they're 9MODELS and they all look good, even if some of the outfits are a little questionable (Kyungri's half-bangs for example). Also of note is that the facial expressions in the "plot" series were rather awkward and in general made me chuckle but maybe that's what they were aiming for? I'm not entirely sure. Choreography looks nice. There's a lot of variety like the song itself though I can't help but feel the dance was made underwhelming on purpose, perhaps to emphasize the new members' vocals or something.
I would hesitate to call "Drama" safe, given the new members and new roles. However, the performance is very much a 9MUSES standard, even if members like Hyuna and Erin are being overshadowed. In the end, with pleasant visuals and a synchronized sound, "Drama" is a good start to hopefully a strong rebound year for 9MUSES.
[ Overall: 80 / 100 ]
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