Review

Song Review: Joy (Red Velvet) – Love Splash!

I don’t know why all these distinctly summer songs are releasing right before I have to go back to work for the new school year, but the timing is not to their advantage. Summer songs need weeks to brew and connect with all the great experiences listeners enjoy during the season. At any rate, Red Velvet’s Joy is back with her first solo work in years and it sees her delivering a sweet beachside serenade.

Like 2021’s Hello, Love Splash! is upbeat and effusive. This is a great energy for Joy to explore and differs from the usual idol-turned-soloist mode. When it comes to direct summer competition, the song is not nearly as bombastic and joyful as NCT Wish’s Surf last week, but offers a slightly more subdued adult take on the same summer vacation. Despite its exclamatory title, Love Splash! holds back at every turn. Even the beat drop during the chorus is more reserved than something like Red Flavor. This tiptoeing around becomes a bit underwhelming when you expect the song to pinwheel forward with unbridled energy, but the nuanced approach adds to Love Splash‘s sweetness.

I don’t know that this will become a future summer staple, but it seems well-positioned to have strong longevity. While Love Splash! doesn’t hit you over the head with its charm, it subtly works its way into your memory and remains charming for its full runtime. Buoyed by Joy’s effortless performance, the song will surely satisfy longtime fans.

Hooks 7
 Production 8
 Longevity 8
 Bias 8
 RATING 7.75

Grade: C+

15 thoughts on “Song Review: Joy (Red Velvet) – Love Splash!

  1. This is off topic but are you a teacher? 🤔

    Anyways this song is so cute, I wish that some of the sing talking parts weren’t in there but oh well😍

    8.25/10🏖️🥎💕

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  2. From my understanding, summer/school year in Korean begins and ends later than ours in the U.S, so I guess that’s why we see so many summer songs in August. Anyways, it’s fine, but ur doesn’t really stick after a listen.

    Liked by 3 people

  3. The song is good, I’ll definitely play it during the season not much outside of that. Joy being my red velvet bias probably factors in too

    And I think this is a fun thing to add. I’ve had four biases who’s real name is sooyoung. Choi sooyoung (SNSD), Park sooyoung (joy and Lizzy from after school) and ha sooyoung (yves formerly from loona). I guess sooyoung is just a popular Korean girl name, but I thought it was neat

    Liked by 1 person

  4. its fun!!! i’ll probably come back to it a lot even though it didn’t quite meet my expectations. get up and dance is probably my favorite from the album; however joy has such a charistmatic and bubbly voice and i feel like it wasn’t utilized very well on that track. the vocals seem a little one-note throughout and even her adlibs are pretty subdued, i think if they really let her shout it out against the instrumental it would’ve been perfect!

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  5. Joy has the most unique vocal tone I’ve ever heard, I’ve always argued she’s the best for both the red and velvet concept regarding the group. This is definitely a hit, could of been released it a month earlier though

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  6. The second part of the chorus sounds like the second part of the chorus of I’m gonna soak up the sun.

    I liked the mini. I thought Unwritten Page was probably the standout, but that’s because I like 3/4 time.

    Get up and Dance, since someone mentioned it, sounds a lot like Shake it Off by Taylor Swift

    Glad she’s doing original songs this time though.

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