NU'EST "Love Paint" Review and Analysis

NU'EST is back after 6 months with the title track "Love Paint" from their new EP Canvas.

NU'EST or 뉴이스트 was established by Pledis Entertainment in October 2012 and their group name means "New Establish Style Tempo." Since their debut, NU'EST has been a group that brings in new styles of music and new musical innovations in their tracks. However, that kind of experimentation can usually make the public audience feel uncomfortable with their music. Therefore, NU'EST's and Pledis Entertainment's struggle to becoming #1 in the general public's heart is trying to be innovative without being too off-putting.

For this comeback, their song, concept, and video are very public-friendly. "Love Paint" has a softer and smoother foundation with the R&B and classical orchestra mix, but still provides an interesting twist with the inclusion of future bass. Their music video also follows the recently successful trend of combining pastel-colored room sets with curiously shot camera angles. Their silk-pajama-like outfits also follow the recent pajama-inspired fashion trends while emphasizing a dream-like, aesthetic, and ethereal concept.

"Love Paint" has a strong public-friendly base because of the familiarity the public feels with the R&B and classical orchestra mix. However, NU'EST stays true to the group's overall innovative and experimental concept by intertwining future bass and trap elements throughout the song. The musical buildup leading into Baekho's high note in the chorus, followed by JR's trap-inspired rap and flow, makes for a really interesting combination tied together by the overarching R&B feel of the song. This mix gives the song an overall familiar and public-friendly feel while still being a bit experimental.

Aside from the song, the music video is also public-friendly in that it sticks to some common features of recently successful music videos. The pastel colors in each set are aesthetically pleasing and may remind viewers of recently successful music videos with similar color palettes, such as AKMU's "200%," Big Bang's "Let's Not Fall In Love," and Zion T.'s "Eat." Along with the color scheme, are the sets of the music video and the camera angles used in filming. The scene of JR in the car and standing next to the table, as well as Ren's scenes in the different mansion-like rooms, are very reminiscent of the same scenes in Red Velvet's "Automatic," Ladies Code's "Galaxy," and Black Pink's "Whistle." Therefore, the music video may also give NU'EST that added interest during this comeback because it uses successful trends in music video production that the public has already enjoyed.

The concept for "Love Paint" is also very agree-able because it is a dreamy and ethereal kind of concept. Other idols have managed to increase the public's interest in their groups through dreamy concepts and music videos. Lovelyz's "Destiny" and Oh My Girl's "Closer" dream-like comebacks provided them with a much needed increase in their fanbase so, it's understandable that NU'EST and Pledis work with this concept in order to try and secure a music show win. They further emphasize the dream concept and appeal to the public by wearing silky pajama-like shirts in order to follow the recent pajama-shirt fashion trend in South Korea.

It seems like NU'EST is trying to be as public-friendly as possible with this comeback, and even though they're running the risk of becoming almost too standard in following fashion trends and music video trends, they're still managing to keep some of their debut identity with their song's mix between R&B, classical orchestra mix, future bass, and trap-inspired rap elements. Hopefully, the effort they're putting into being as public-friendly as possible will increase their fanbase and lead them closer to winning their first music show.