Completely In Love With Nine Muses' "Hurt Locker"

I'm a massive Nine Muses fan and have been ever since their 2013 comeback with "Wild", and although the member lineup is constantly changing my love for this group remains as strong. It does help that my bias members Kyungri, Erin and Hyunah are still around though. Anyhow I wasn't a huge fan of their comeback earlier this year, and although it wasn't bad it wasn't as good as I knew they could be. Now they're making a summer comeback and are looking hotter and sounding better than ever before.



Let's just talk about the song first, shall we? "Hurt Locker" is easily the best girl group summer track that's been released so far. At first listen I was immediately blown away by how good it was and although it sounds really familiar in some ways I don't care the slightest bit because it's a perfect summer party tune. It seems they have too thought as AOA and decided to amp it up a bit by releasing a club-inspired track rather than a regular pop song, but this one is about a million times better than "Heart Attack". The instrumental is banging, the bridge leading up to the chorus is beautiful and the chorus itself is like heaven. Well done picking a title track, girls.

Of course the song adds quite a lot to the overall impression of the video, because this MV is done very cleverly to disguise that it's actually a pretty mediocre attempt. I do believe it's the first time that any girl group has shot a video where the location is a storage area for shipping containers. The piles of containers in various colors lining on top of each other go on forever, the they have the girls dance both surrounded by them and on top of them.

It's a bit random, sure, but the way this video is makes you think that it's obvious that it's exactly where they should be shooting it. It does look kind of cool, especially the shots from above capturing the hugeness of the area, and the colorfulness of the containers also add to the summery effect. To keep it short: they make it work. That goes for a lot of the features in this video, features that would otherwise feel somewhat disappointing. Them posing in front of expensive cars, motorbikes and racing around the dock seems to be an overdone concept, but these girls sell it to the audience so well that what might would have come off as gimmicky looks nothing but sexy.

Majority of the video does take place either in front of, on top of or inside the containers. Each member seems to have a container of their own that is filled with props and summer items, where they have their individual scenes shot. It's quite a clever way to make use of what you already got rather then using additional sets, and I know that budget-wise this group needs all the savings they can achieve. Furthermore; while you might think that it looks cheap because of said fact you're completely wrong. At no point during the video did I think to myself that it looked cheap, which only confirms how skilled they are in selling the concept of the video. It could, of course, be because of many things but I do think the members of the group are highly responsible for the outcome.

It's really not any news that these, now eight, girls are walking goddesses. Not only are they all tall and slender (one of the tallest girl groups if I'm not mistaken) but have amazingly shaped bodies and gorgeous faces. The talent rate is also quite high, especially for having that many members, because they have at least four more than capable vocalists and one great rapper.

Although they have had many member changes during the years and while I still miss Lee Sem I can't deny that this current line-up is pretty well off too. Even Keumjo, who I thought felt a little misplaced during their "Drama" promotions is truly shining here, and that's not only because of the revealing bathing suit that she's wearing. But honestly, that was hot.

I actually think all of them have been styled great for this comeback, apart from Sungah and Sojin perhaps, and I'm especially in love with Minha's flowing red hair. Kyungri is hot as always, Hyunah looks as stunning as only she can and Erin steals the show with her red bathing suit and straight, glossy hair. I'm usually not a huge fan of how Hyemi is styled, but she looks amazing in it as well. Now if only someone could get rid of the bleach blonde hair on Sojin, please.

However, I am not a huge supporter of the outfits that they're sporting in the group shots, because those, unlike the video, actually look cheap. They're very basic and also quite boring, and do no justice to how great the song and performance are. I have loved watching their live performances because they definitely have one of the more interesting choreographies among fellow girl groups this summer. Additionally they perform with so much more energy than what they ever did with "Drama", which makes the routine stand out in a truly flattering manner.

By this review (or more like a rant, let's be real) you may have concluded that I'm a fan of this comeback. The video isn't objectively amazing, sure, but I can watch this video over and over again without finding it boring, and that says a lot about how great they are at selling me it. It's different, but in a way that works in their favor, and like many other girl group comebacks it's also very vibrant and summery. The song is fantastic and they all look great, and I can without a doubt name this the best summer comeback so far. Well done ladies, you truly outdid yourself this time.


Song: 4,5/5
Video: 3,9/5