The girls of GFriend are now onto their 4th song and gaining momentum fast. They have evolved piece by piece from the days of "Glass Bead," each subsequent comeback adding a little more depth to their style. At the beginning of the year, "Rough" was a sensational effort that established the group among the titans. With all the lore of legendary title track runs of old (9MUSES, Girl's Day), could GFriend be embarking on one of their own, from debut no less?!
GFriend continue to do a really good job with their signature style. Every title track is distinct enough to not be a clear copy, but still maintains their sound enough that you know it's GFriend. I think this style of marketing is the best: keep a standard formula with minor tweaks here and there, but don't fix what ain't broke (maybe a blog post about this whole strategy later). But the key ingredient is that the music still has to be good. And man is "Navillera" good. I don't quite understand what that's supposed to mean, and once again the Korean title of "You And I" makes much more sense but whatever. A main component of this song's quality is the electrifying instrumental. It's really damn good, and reminds me of another excellent instrumental in 9MUSES' "Wild." This instrumental allows Yuju to go all out, and she proves that she is the vocalist to watch out of the new generation. I don't think any girl group member has had as strong a start as Yuju as, and the back half of "Navillera" further solidifies her performance. She brings power and stability, raising GFriend's vocals to another level. This isn't to say that the other members are to be forgotten, though. Eunha is still a great secondary punch to Yuju, and SinB rounds out the leading trio. Yerin is worth a nod because I didn't think she would progress this quickly, and she has her moments! I imagine that with time, the remaining Umji and Sowon will be incorporated into the lineup better, but for now they're stuck at the bottom and barely scraping by.
Obviously we haven't seen the entire choreography yet, but given the nature of the song / instrumentals - and the glimpse of the dance break - I wouldn't be too surprised if this was their most difficult one yet. Exhilarating vocal work and a killer instrumental is a natural combination for high-impact choreography, and I imagine this is what we'll get to see in the lives. Unlike their previous hits, however, I think ultimately the outstanding vocal performance from Eunha and Yuju will overshadow the choreography, no matter how intense it is. I'll reserve space to be proven wrong, but for now the vocals will dominate "Navillera."
While this is a pretty generic MV through and through, the cinematography is fantastic and adds an extra touch that otherwise wouldn't be there. The transitions between shots are simple and to-the-point, while still establishing the changes without causing a headache. As for the content itself, it's stereotypical stuff out of the girls as they enjoy their time running around and hanging out with each other. I must say that I'm not a fan of the short hair trend lately. There's a plethora of girls with the shorter cuts nowadays, and it's not that they don't look bad in it - heck some of them look really good (SinB, Bora) but more often than not ruins the uniformity which is a shame. And also Eunha's cut isn't very flattering in particular. Miscellaneous highlights from the MV include SinB polishing all the trophies they've amassed (there's gonna be more to that pile very soon) and Yerin (I think?) running straight into a door. Most definitely staged, but nonetheless a random and hilarious twist. It reminds me of her appearance on Running Man where she smashed her face with her knee while dancing.
While I would hesitate to call this the song of the year, "Navillera" has made an extremely convincing argument. Thrilling voices joined by an energetic choreography and equally powerful instrumental culminate in a 4th straight winner for GFriend. Here's how good "Navillera" is: if one of these new rookie groups (Oh My Girl, Gugudan, etc.) had released this instead, I think they would be shoe-ins for rookie of the year. As it stands, GFriend get another impressive song for their records, and arguably their best one at that.
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