The BLACKPINK girls return with a music video showing turbulent relationships with Lovesick Girls, one of the promotional singles off their first album entitled THE ALBUM. Laden with flashy aesthetics and in-the-moment acting, Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé finally show us a darker and rawer side to romance. From running out of frustration in pretty cityscapes, relaxing with your girlfriends in fields of flowers, arguing with your toxic ex in neon-lit parking lots, and reliving fond memories found in empty spaces, we’re shoved into the dizzying and painful world of love.
But beyond dealing with the numbing pain of heartbreak and walking down the road of recovery with your fellow heartbroken-friends, Lovesick Girls appears to be a subtle homage to all the things we’ve loved in the era of the early 2010s: neckties, plaid and pleated skirts, fishnet stockings, and graphic shirts. In one dance scene, Jisoo was seen wearing an outfit that looked straight out of an Avril Lavigne music video: a white top worn under a striped vest and a necktie that wasn’t tucked under the collar. With the rise of the kid core aesthetic and E-girls and E-boys seeming like appearing as the 2020 version of Scene Kids, we’re definitely seeing that our favorites from the past are coming back.
The track itself is also reminiscent of 2012-2014 house music, sounding like it was released along with Ke$ha’s Warrior album or Icona Pop and Charli XCX’s chart-topping single called I Love It. Acoustic guitar riffs and snare beats build up our anticipation for the bass drop in the chorus, a formula often heard in older dance pop songs we probably had in our mp3 players. Upon looking at the credits, internationally-known DJ David Guetta was listed as one of the producers, so it comes as no surprise that the song would take that kind of a turn. The chorus even sounds like Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, which definitely seals the deal of it being a lowkey throwback MV.
It’s safe to say that BLACKPINK definitely wowed fans and casual listeners alike with their 180 degree turn from Ice Cream and clear deviation from their usual strong, independent woman girl crush concepts as seen in DDU-DU DDU-DU and How You Like That. They’re often criticized for promoting singles that sound and look the same, but with Lovesick Girls and THE ALBUM, BLACKPINK proved to the world that they’re capable of trying out different concepts and eating them up one by one while keeping it chic and edgy, an image that’s still strikingly theirs.
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