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Nov 18, 20224 min read

New Jeans: You got me looking for Attention Review

By Cecilia Torres


Disclosure: This post does not contain any affiliate links, meaning I will not get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through the links below.



Who is NewJeans?

NewJeans (뉴진스) is a 5-member girl group under ADOR which is a subsidiary under HYBE Corporation. The group was formed by Min Hee-Jin who is widely recognised for her artistic direction as visual director at SM Entertainment. NewJeans consist of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein.


Before debut, ADOR had teased the launch of this new girl group by posting on their social media with three animated videos with the numbers “22” “7” “22” indicating that a group was debuting on July 22.


NewJeans' name came from the idea that jeans are staple and timeless fashion items. Therefore, the group intends to create a timeless image for themselves. It’s also a word play for the phrase “new genes” implying that they will be bringing a new generation to the K-Pop industry.


Debut Single


The group officially debuted their new hit single ‘Attention’ on July 22, 2022, as a surprise without any prior promotions or information on the group’s debut. The ‘Attention’ music video received over 1.3 million views in less than 24 hours on YouTube. It was also announced that they would be releasing a self-titled album containing 4 tracks and two additional singles.


‘Attention’ focuses on a mix of mid 00’s Pop and R’n’B, however, the production of the song is very laid back and definitely a song for the summer. The ‘Attention’ music video is simply fantastic since it properly portrays the mood of the song. The video's vibes imply that it's bright, joyful and a breath of fresh air. The choreography in the music video is another feature I loved since it is enjoyable and simple to learn. The choreography does not include many difficult dance moves, which emphasises the girls' charm and vitality.


One of the members, Danielle, also helped with the production of the song, participating in writing the lyrics. The song does a good job highlighting the group’s vocals.


TikTok Dance Trend

“You got me looking for Attention” has become a dance trend on TikTok with NewJeans members dancing to the song with the chorus choreography. NewJeans’ TikTok account has over 2.4 M followers at the time of this publication and their ‘Attention’ music video has over 31 Million views.

Image Credit: @newjeans_official


Hype Boy

Image credit:


A day after the release of ‘Attention’, on July 23, a new single ‘Hype Boy’ was launched which was followed by a 50-second clip revealing the members and additional music videos tailored to each member with the song to showcase their different personalities within the group.


‘Hype Boy’ is also another song written in English and Korean with member Hanni’s contribution to the lyrics. The song continues with the 2000’s trends and it emphasises the background instrumentals of synth and distortion, and the girls' voices were very apparent.



Cookie


‘Cookie’, the third single recorded by the group, was released on their NewJeans EP album. The ‘Cookie’ MV is another aesthetically pleasing video that showcases the girls’ charisma and how the group works together. The MV is complemented with a coordinated group dance that is performed on a white seat with tiers. This song is one of the longest tracks on their album, finishing at 3 minutes and 55 seconds.


The song has a groovy captivating feel, however, the words are a little questionable and suggestive as the song seems to have a double meaning, and one of the meanings is indicating that the girls want to taste their love interests “cookie”. Arguably, it could be a metaphor indicating that their music is like a “cookie” and we will always want a taste of the music. Other than that vocals, lyrics and music videos allowed us to see another side of the girls rather than just their charismatic ways from previous music videos.


Hurt


Lastly, the 4th song on their EP is called ‘Hurt’. This song takes on another style that we have not seen from the girls. You may believe that the song might be talking about their heartbreak experiences but it is the opposite of that. The song focuses on the girls talking about their love interests being “the one to get hurt” and not them.


‘Hurt’ continues with the 2000’s as previously seen from the other songs on the EP, however, this song is one of my favourites because the group's vocals felt different and the melody of the song was fantastic. ‘Hurt’ is a good listen for those who enjoy songs with Lo-Fi vibes and comfort lyrics, and I wished that the song was longer as most of the songs tend to be under or just about 3 minutes long.


Debut stage at M Countdown


On August 4, NewJeans held their debut stage at Mnet’s M Countdown and performed the three singles including ‘Cookie’, ‘Hype Boy’ and ‘Attention’. NewJeans have shattered the record for having the most first-day sales of any K–Pop girl group in history. On August 8th, the EP had sold over 262,815 copies.


On August 18, the group took home their first ever win with ‘Attention’, with which they have become one of the fastest girl groups to achieve their first trophy, after 18 days from their official debut. After receiving the award, each member shared their acceptance speech at the M Countdown stage to give gratitude to their fans and help to continue supporting the members.


With this success, the ladies have overcome the iconic K-Pop girl group, Girls' Generation, in the M Countdown episode with their song which received a lot of admiration from Netizens, K-Pop fans and spectators.



My Final Thoughts

Overall, this debut was amazing and it was definitely something needed in the K-Pop industry. Great songs from start to finish on their EP, the girls are clearly talented and have lots to bring. I’m super excited to see what they release next.


Favourite song: Hype boy Overall Rating 8/10
Links to buy the album: Amazon & Sokollab

NewJeans Social:
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