Release Date: April 6, 2020
Track Listing
- Oh My God
- 사랑해
- Maybe
- LION
- Oh My God (English Version)
Review
(G)I-DLE is a 6-member multinational girl group from the South Korean record label Cube Entertainment. They have become one of the most successful groups to not come from one of the “big three” K-pop labels.
To date, they have released five singles and 3 extended play albums. Their most recent release is their third in their “I” series, an EP titled I Trust featuring the lead single Oh My God and their finale stage song from the Mnet reality show Queendom (Lion).
For I Trust, the group takes some twists and turns musically. Rather than bombard listeners with radio-friendly pop music, this EP instead chooses to take them on a ride of emotional highs and lows using the music to enhance those feelings.
Lion is well-known to viewers of Queendom. This empowering song leaves quite an impact without resorting to cheesy “girl power” tropes and imagery. It certainly made them stand out among the other competitors on the program, earning them a third-place finish at the end of the show.
Oh My God was a bold choice for a lead single. It’s not exactly what one would expect of a pop song with the haunting spoken-word intro. Once the track kicks into full gear it becomes more captivating with the constant arrangement changes that shift the energy of the track.
Both songs are perfect examples of what makes (G)I-DLE so unique among the plethora of girl groups out there.
Excluding what has already been released and the English version of Lion, you are left with 2 new songs. 사랑해 is a track with all sorts of random sounds such as tongue clicking, squeaky synths and a heavy bassline that should not make any sense when put together. But somehow it all meshes into something cohesive.
The lyrical content of the song is coy in nature, which strangely matches the instrumental’s intensity. It’s an exciting and unexpected contrast. Maybe, on the other hand, has an ethereal type of feel. The song starts out slowly and builds out into a dance-pop explosion. It’s probably the most straightforward of the two new tracks on this EP.
I Trust as a whole is a short but concentrated experience. It’s certainly not the typical fluffy K-Pop girl group material. (G)I-DLE doesn’t seem to play by the same rules as other girl groups so it’s not odd to hear and see them go HAM on uncommon concepts. If you are looking for something that is a bit outside the box, yet is still accessible, give I Trust a go.
