Sophia Michaels
Red Velvet is turning a classic song into a K-pop banger. On Monday, the girl group released their mini-album, The ReVe Festival 2022 – Birthday, led by the title track “Birthday,” which featured a sample of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
“It’s your day/Clasp your two hands tight, keep on imagining,” the group — comprising Irene, Joy, Yeri, Seulgi, and Wendy — sings in Korean. “Everyday (All day)/Wanna give it to you only, this’ll be, oh, so very special.”
The colorful video for “Birthday” follows the group’s members as they arrive at a hotel and face off with some alien-looking creatures in the hotel, before hitting choreography in front of a fantasy-looking backdrop.
The campy visual sees the group’s members posing next to oversized cats, dancing in front of a purple bear, and holding hands on a pentagram formed by stuffed animals. The visual ends with the five girls celebrating a birthday party surrounded by sweets.
Also featured on the mini-album are tracks such as “Bye Bye,” “On a Ride,” Zoom,” and “Celebrate.” Birthday broke the group’s own record for preorders as it reached 712,187.
The project follows the release of The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhyhtm and full project Bloom, which featured hit “#Cookie Jar,” earlier this year.
Seulgi of Red Velvet spoke to Rolling Stone back in October about pursuing a solo career separately from the group.
“The biggest difference was having to sing a whole song alone. All of the focus is on me. It felt really awkward at first — I felt uneasy and did a lot of re-recording,” she said. “Another difference is that when the five of us are together in a waiting room, it’s always loud and fun, so when I’m alone, it feels lonely. I also feel a stronger sense of responsibility.”
