After over a year since their last comeback, Fantagio girl group Weki Meki is finally back with their fifth mini album I AM ME and MV for their all-new title track, “Siesta.” For such a highly anticipated comeback from a largely inactive group over the past year, “Siesta” is a solid track with a mostly solid MV. However, it falls short of emulating the punky, girl crush charm Weki Meki does best, as in their last title track “Cool.”
Musically, “Siesta” is the antithesis of what the Spanish word’s translation suggests (siesta translates to “nap” in English). Falling into the house genre, mixed with a few tropical and Latin-inspired elements, the track is upbeat and undeniably catchy. While the synth instrumentals during the verses aren’t completely novel, they’re standard enough to let the members’ vocals take center stage. During the chorus, synth riffs and electronic brass elements blend seamlessly with the melody. Add in the chorus’s simple lyrics (“Siesta, a brief nap is over / I’m burning up boom boom fireworks”), and the chorus instantly transforms into a catchy hook.
However, one point of confusion that translates, or rather doesn’t translate well into the song’s MV is its lyrics. Throughout the track, the lyrics constantly contradict themselves, at times not fully matching the bounciness of the instrumentals and beat. For example, the connection between the lyrics “siesta” and “boom boom fireworks” in the chorus is entirely unclear. There are other instances of lyrics in the verses that also miss the mark:
Memories of that time, the shattered pieces
Shine like those stars
I’ll lift you up when you’re weary over and over again
Dream again higher and higher
To a height that you haven’t climbed yet
The lyrics indicate that the song is more of a documentation of Weki Meki’s journey as a group thus far, and of the greater heights they wish to climb to next. However, the song’s meaning finds itself misconstrued in the MV, which fails to reflect the theme of Weki Meki’s past and future.
While the aesthetics and visuals in the MV are stunning and atmospheric, it instead gives off a melancholic mood that fails to match the track’s upbeat vibe and lyrics. The MV opens with a shot of a projector, then cuts to shots of everyday objects within a projector slide frame. This framing implies that the scenes to follow feature the members looking back to the past in a nostalgic light.
Lit by a warm, orange hue, the members are shown reminiscing about their past. Lua lies on her bed, looking pensive in thought, while Elly sits on the floor of her room, looking through old photographs. Meanwhile, Rina stares out the window, sitting at a table in front of an uneaten birthday cake and pink balloons. When combined, all of these shots make what should be a cheery and hopeful track feel far more somber and dismal than it should be. Plus, the orange-tinged lighting across these shots dims the MV and track overall, failing to match the music’s fun sound.
Even more confusingly, the MV’s choreography and chorus scenes do not match the contemplative mood of the scenes during the verses. In these scenes, the members are dressed head to toe in dreamy, frilly white outfits as they perform a buoyant choreography. Perhaps these verse and chorus scenes are meant to reflect the members’ pasts as well as their hopes and dreams respectively, but the execution makes these themes feel contrived.
During the bridge in the MV, things start looking up as the orange-tinted lighting over the shots disappears and lightens, mimicking the sun coming out. The members perk up and finally smile into the camera, instead of ruminating while looking out into the distance. In the final scenes of the MV, the members gather together to watch a series of colorful fireworks shoot into the night sky in front of them, and finally some connection between the lyrics “boom boom fireworks” and the MV is established.
Still, “Siesta” is a fun, cute track with a mostly uplifting message, in the parts where the lyrics aren’t conflicting or strained. While elements of the MV miss the mark when it comes to conveying that message across to viewers, these by no means ruin the overall impact of the song, and still provide some gorgeous visuals to accompany its catchy tune. Weki Meki can do and have done more in terms of putting out inventive, eye-catching MVs, and this isn’t the greatest in their catalog. But, if we put some trust in Fantagio (and Fantagio puts some trust in Weki Meki), surely there will be more to come.
