Things may have been quite rocky for FNC’s seven-membered girl group for the past year due to the departure of the team’s main vocalist, Choa. Their fans and K-Pop fans in general started to wonder about the ambiguous future of the now six-membered group. However, they easily removed the doubts coming back past a year since their last comeback. Now, the Ace of Angels, AOA, are here to rule once again and reclaim their popularity with their 5th EP “Bingle Bangle”!
Release Date: May 5th, 2018
Tracklist:
- Bingle Bangle
- Super Duper
- Heat
- Ladi Dadi
- Parfait
- DoDoDo
Total Runtime: 00:20:35
Recommended for: AOA fans, those who waited past a year to hear their music again, people who appreciate fun as well as sexy music
Not recommended for: People completely opposite of the above
Tracklist:
Track 1: Bingle Bangle (Title)
If you may recall correctly, back in 2015, AOA delivered one of the hottest and best summer singles that year with the ground breaking “Heart Attack”. “Heart Attack” remains one of the most popular summer-themed songs ever and I am positive that this song has the potential to be the next “Heart Attack”.
“Bingle Bangle” is a straightforward pop song that is truly fit for the hot season. There is a placement of whistling sounds all-over the song which adds more spice. The song is a very cheerful and fun track which is a total contrast to AOA’s known sultry and sexy music.
It commences with whistling sounds accompanied by a guitar in the background followed by the verses. After the verses is the pre-chorus which I’m really fond of. Props to Hyejeong and Yuna for acing the vocals in the song, with more credit to Yuna carrying Choa’s former title. Then the catchy chorus comes with the constant repetition of the song’s title. That being, it doesn’t sound too repetitive and brings more fun and flavor to the song.
Track 2: Super Duper
Tell me that Mina had this much lines in 2012-2017 and I will tell you that you’re a lunatic. But thankfully we are in 2018, a period on the verge of humanity’s uprising and we can finally witness a rise of Mina lines in AOA songs.
“Super Duper” is a change of pace in comparison to the first track in the album. It featured a more intimate and sexy approach, resemblant to the group’s former title tracks “Like A Cat”, “Miniskirt”, and “Confused”. The verses are slower but the chorus is upbeat, a great contrast that fits each other perfectly. The instrumentation very well reminds me of retro-esque sounds as well. The repetition of “super duper ” is also a catchy addition to the song. I particularly liked the rap part in here, props to the Jimin-Chanmi combination.
Pardon me but I’m going to take this opportunity to say that Mina’s elegant deep classy voice fits with the song too well.
Track 3: Heat
“Heat” starts with an instrumentation of an acoustic guitar. That being said, the whole song follows an acoustic and slower pace than the first two tracks. Resemblant to most group’s ballad-ish tracks are the verses, but what irks me is the sudden dynamic change as well as the unnecessary placement of elements during the chorus. Had that been removed and the pace from verse to chorus was kept, “Heat” could have been a better track.
Mina, once again, had me in awe with her elegant voice. Hyejeong and Yuna carried the vocals well, so did Seolhyun. One of my most favorite parts of the song is the rap part with Jimin and Chanmi’s low-toned voices.
Track 4: Ladi Dadi
Straightforwardly in the beginning, “Ladi Dadi” already suggests a song perfect for parties and celebrations. It is also evident that it took inspiration from Latin references. As some fans have pointed, “Ladi Dadi” can be a theme song for FIFA due to its similarities to past FIFA songs. The song just flows naturally as a fun groovy track to dance to.
Track 5: Parfait
A second into the song and I know I will already love it. Finishing it, I keep my original intentions. “Parfait” is a really fun song and if I were to summarize it into one word, it would be “playful”. Not playful in a sexual sense but playful in a sense that you can imagine the girls playing and just having fun with “Parfait”.
What I noticed in the song is that there are some parts that sound totally like they are from different songs and are then stitched up together to make “Parfait”, but I won’t hold that against AOA because it worked pretty fine. I got HyunA and Twice vibes from the song, added with AOA’s signature twist.
Track 6: DoDoDo
“DoDoDo” shares a resemblance with AOA’s title track for their last comeback, “Excuse Me”. I’m not particularly a fan of the song, especially the repetition in the chorus. However, I must admit that the song is really really catchy. The bridge of “DoDoDo” was able to capture the peak of Yuna’s vocals in an AOA song that was frequently shadowed before.
