It's due time to revert to some old-school blogging for a change. Starting with the "DDD" post, I'm gonna write at least three (full) reviews before the next Blitz piece. Doesn't matter if I complete this next week or next month. No Blitzes until that happens. Super Junior steps up to the plate, with yet another change in the promotional lineup. Siwon, Kangin, and Sungmin are absent from this comeback - though Siwon is part of the song and video. Since "Bonamana," they haven't had consecutive comebacks with the same roster. Even though comes from mandatory military service and controversies, that's crazy. Having at least seven different lineups since 2010 is tragically impressive.
This song is classy as fuck. Everything about "Black Suit" screams class, even the title. This is to be expected now that Super Junior are reaching crazy levels of longevity but yeah. Particularly killer is that chorus, giving plenty of breaks for that juicy instrumental to pop in. "Black Suit" and "Devil" have the similar strong sound and really lets the vocalists shine. And by vocalists I mean Yesung. Since Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are in the army (plus Kangin making more stupid decisions), he's all that's left for their strong vocalists. And man this song shows me how much I've missed Yesung. I know he's been back since "Devil" but he's always been one of my favorite voices ever since I first got into Kpop.
On the plus side, Yesung being the only vocalist worth anything means there were more lines freed up for the rest of the squad. Siwon, Donghae, and Leeteuk get an above average percentage of singing time while maintaining Yesung's presence as the main vocalist. There is jazzy energy heavily imbued within "Black Suit" and that's what drives the track. Superstar or mediocre voices take a backseat to all that in the first place. It's actually quite difficult to pinpoint any real weakness of the song. Actually, I take that back. The spotty English that always exists in Super Junior songs makes another appearance with "we are gentlemen." Not so much the lyrics themselves as it is the pronunciation. I thought Leeteuk was saying "real gentlemen." Granted that shows how complete the song is if I'm looking at minor English details to criticize.
As Super Junior has aged over the years, their choreography seems to get less intense with each subsequent comeback. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly mind and think it's nice to see them sort of mellow out. Besides, with Eunhyuk and Donghae any type of dance will look extra sharp with those two at the helm. Unfortunately with the member count so low they actually use backup dancers live, which has got to be the first occurrence in their history. They've always had so many members that backup dancers were never necessary until now. The thing is even if Siwon and Heechul weren't sidelined they already incorporated other backups anyway. Kind of crazy to think they always performed together. Anyway it's a generally routine choreography with some hip swaying, sweet moves, and neat formation changes.
What the hell is happening in this music video. I've watched it at least five times super focused and I still don't know. Granted a confusing plot is still a plot, and therefore better than a majority of Kpop MVs nowadays. Along with "remember when this group existed," my tirade on boring box music videos are likely the two most used phrases over the last five years of this blog. Like there's some auction going on, and all the suspicious smirks and glances suggest the members are all in cahoots to steal the luxurious black suit. But then somehow they get upstaged by a single lady (Beyonce holla at me) which leads to mass finger-pointing. Honestly the video is engaging and has some form of a plot, therefore Super Junior gets full marks on this.
Despite the roster turmoil (fans should honestly be used to this by now), Super Junior has once again delivered an awesome dance track. The superb instrumental and energy fuels the catchy nature / vocals and drives "Black Suit" to that classy tune. On top of that, you have an MV that isn't boring? Quality comeback that is only hurt by Siwon's controversy / busy schedule and Heechul's long-standing injury. There really isn't much more to be said. Twelve years later and Super Junior are still releasing quality music. Now if only they could get their collective shit together - "bring back" Sungmin, rehab Kangin (again) - in time for Ryeowook and Kyuhyun to return from the military, we might actually see an 11 member Super Junior comeback next time.
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