Exo have returned with their new track, Growl! Let’s take a look!
Concept
The concept for Growl‘s MV has to be one of the simplest concepts that I have ever seen from kpop as there is no storyline and it is set in one place – it is essentially a dance MV. In tried and true SM style, the video is set in a box decorated to look like an empty warehouse, but the way it’s shot is unique and makes it very interesting; the camera keeps panning around the room to focus on different groupings of the members as they dance. The constant movement of the camera makes it seem like the entire MV was shot in one take, and with the few mistakes just noticeable in the elaborate choreography, it seems that this is probably true. Very impressive.
Considering nothing else happens in this MV expect dancing, the camera work ensures that the MV is anything but boring, and it is visually awesome and unusual to see. Throughout the MV, the only kind of extra prop used is a couple of hats, which the members seem to pass between themselves as part of the choreography. The hats don’t really seem to serve much purpose apart from looking like a cool part of the dance until the end of the MV, where one of the hats it used to finish the video. That sounds strange, but it’s actually an intriguing way to end it.
Seeing as the drama version of Wolf’s MV was released a few weeks back, a lot of fans were hoping that this new MV would be the rest of the storyline alluded to in the original Wolf teaser, but obviously it isn’t. Although some might complain about this MV not being what they had hoped, the lack of storyline or other scenes in the MV allows the dance itself to become the focus of the video.
While I usually enjoy the weird and wonderful outfits kpop can throw at us, I’m actually pleased to say for once that the style used in Growl is completely UK-friendly. The members only wear one outfit each, and instead of outlandish patterns and bright colours, they went for a toned down look with each member wearing a slightly different variation of a cool, modern grey suit. (They kind of ended up looking like a gang of delinquent high school-ers from a drama or film!)
I think such a simple concept and the fact that the fashion worn is quite likely something that groups that are famous over here would wear too could help appeal to many people here in the UK. The only slight problem I can envisage is that seeing as all 12 members of EXO are still promoting together and are in the MV, this many people in one band might be a little off-putting to some potential viewers. I say this out of experience – when I got into Kpop, I couldn’t get into Super Junior for about a year because when I realised how many members there were, I brushed them off as gimmicky. (This has since been rectified) That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me if a 12-member group could come across as more off-putting than intriguing to the mainstream UK audience.
UK Potential: 4/5
Choreography
As I mentioned in the previous section, the choreography is pretty much the whole concept of Growl’s MV, and for good reason; it’s masculine without being aggressive, quite lively, and effortlessly cool.
At the beginning of the video they are split up into two groups of 6 and the camera pans between the groups while they dance, before all 12 members come together for the middle and end of the routine. It mustn’t be easy to choreograph such a large group, and yet the changing of formations and such is done so smoothly, that the people who came up with this routine deserve a prize.
I would go out on a limb and say that this dance contains elements of ‘typical’ SM style moves, such as the sudden and rapid movements that come after the members doing a smaller or slower move, and a lot of stopping and starting. I’m not sure that I’m explaining it well, but if you look at most of the main dancers from any SM group (Yunho, Eunhyuk, Taemin, Kai, Hyoyeon, etc), you might notice that their dancing style is very similar, and this routine is full of signature SM style.
This routine is packed with cool and remarkable moves, and some of the most notable ones are the winding arm movements and jumping during the chorus, which looks just as impressive when they come together as all 12 members at the end.
Many parts of this routine are lively and distinctive, and the song is so infectious that I can imagine a lot of people would want to try their hand at copying parts of the dance. The choreography definitely helps make this song memorable.
UK Potential: 4/5
Song
This song has a fun, enticing and distinctive sound, with touches of groove, R&B, and a real funk vibe. It reminds me a little of Beyonce’s ‘Work it out’, with the funky keyboard keeping the beat. Growl has a very irresistible sound to it which should hold a mass appeal and just makes you want to move, and even if at first listen you don’t like this song, I have a feeling that it’ll grow on you.
There is very little English used in this track, and the only English you’ll hear is said right at the beginning of the song ‘sexy’ and ‘so dangerous’, and the one phrase about halfway through, ‘I’m so serious’. Growl has such an undeniable and refreshing sound that I don’t think it needs lines of English to allow it to appeal to English-speaking audiences. The song just sounds so cool and different that I think many people would actually appreciate it, without being put off at not being able to understand or sing along.
In standard EXO style, there is both a Korean and a Chinese version of the song and MV, and I was happy to finally find an EXO song that sounds as good in both languages! As many fans have noted, it seemed like SM spent little time on translating the songs to Chinese and they ended up sounding like bad imitations of the Korean versions, but this time round they killed it! It does make me wonder which version would be more likely to have the best chance of succeeding if released in the UK, seeing as the size of the Chinese-speaking population is higher than the Korean population here, but at the same time, thanks to PSY, kpop has started to make a name for itself in the mainstream. Hmm. What do you guys think?
UK Potential: 4/5
Highlight: – I really like the hat bit of the dance, to be honest. It looks stupidly cool to me!
Overall UK Potential: 12/15 – I never really thought that I would be scoring an SM group so highly with the likelihood of succeeding in the UK, purely for the fact that I think SM’s unfailing Engrish and questionable outfit choices for their artists seem to me sometimes to be unlikely to be popular here. Seeing SM going a different route with toned down outfits, experimental song and MV style and a super cool dance makes me believe that Growl would hold a very mass appeal.
What do you guys think? Have you seen Growl yet? If not, check it out below.
