The single “One More” dropped this week and it’s the first comeback since Fiestar lost former member Cheska in March, meaning fans expectations were undoubtedly high for this release. After deciding to stay a five member group, Fiestar has likely faced many difficult choices in preparation for their new single, but they have persevered regardless and “One More” is a decent effort if not a stellar one.
The MV doesn’t have much of an obvious plot line, but it does make illusions to a possible underlying story. That story, in fact, is best illuminated by the lyrics. After watching “One More” with the English caption lyrics turned on, I’m convinced that the song is actually about the girl wanting to have more sex. Yes, that may seem like a stretch considering the K-pop context, but please tell me what else the girl would be asking for “one more” time of in the context of being dissatisfied with a man’s performance.
The lyrics even go as far as to say things like “you said you were good, so why are you knocked out?” and “if you’re satisfied here, I won’t be around next time.” These statements imply that his performance in bed is sub-par and that he either needs to improve or she is leaving him. The MV is certainly sexy as well and there are plenty of bedroom scenes – in hotel rooms, it would seem – which also implies that the concept is actually related to sex.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9sEjiBew18]Speaking of sexy, yes, this is another sexy girl group MV. It doesn’t even seem worth mentioning anymore, honestly. The main thing that sets this MV apart from the rest is the usage of border overlays in the video editing. Each border, no matter what shape, is used to enhance certain aspects of the MV. For example, there are moments when all you can see is a small circle of what is happening in the MV. This lets the viewer focus on one thing – be it lips, or a thigh, or a specific person.
The diversity of types of borders and colors of borders keep things interesting. If they hadn’t included that device (or something else equivalent) this would have been a spectacularly boring MV because it would have looked like all of the other girl group releases.
Fiestar’s company did stick with a safe concept that they knew would appeal to the masses, but they had the sense to add something just a little different to keep viewers interested. This is a good marketing strategy and should be employed more by entertainment companies that aren’t willing to go really far outside of their concept boxes.
The styling is also meant to appeal to the masses, but I’m still not sold on it. The questionable high waisted pants may be “in” this year but making them shiny and brightly colored is a bit much. Perhaps it is a bias on my part – since I don’t appreciate that pants fashion in the first place — but it certainly isn’t what I would pull out of the closet when going for a “sexy” look. The group dance outfits are very standard K-pop group fare, so there is no explanation necessary. Girl group wears matching short shorts, end of story.
Overall, the sparse set fit the song and the concept, but I do have a complaint – why are they rolling around on the floor of what looks like a laundry room? This makes no sense unless they are going with the “we have sex in random rooms” idea, which could be possible considering the lyrics. Other than that, though, the sets sort of faded into the background in an unobtrusive way that enhanced the overall visuals and feel but didn’t actually have much of a direct effect on the MV’s “plot.”
If I were to change one thing about the MV’s construction, I would have added more choreography scenes. The little snippets of the dance they did show actually looked interesting and it made me feel cheated as a viewer that the scene always cut away after a few seconds of dancing. I understand how important it is to show lots of shots of the girls writhing around on the floor/bed/couch, but adding some more choreography shots would have made the MV as a whole more engaging.
In the end, I’m torn. I found the MV to be visually appealing because of the color pallet, borders, and sets, but also found it to be boring as a whole. The song itself isn’t bad either; once again a mixture between inoffensively pleasant yet slightly boring. “One More” isn’t an out-of-this-world comeback, but it isn’t a total flop either. Overall rating 3/5.
(Collabodadi, LOEN, YouTube)
