‘Tis the season for jolly Christmas collaborations from all our favourite idols, with the sweet treat “Love is You” being Starship Entertainment‘s contribution to this tradition. The track features all of Starship’s greatest talents, flaunting the skills of K. Will, Sistar, Junggigo, Mad Clown, Boyfriend and Jooyoung.
A sweet ambience is created right at the beginning of the song, with K. Will’s trademark croon opening the track. Straight away, “Love is You” does what every Christmas song aims to do — create a feeling of warmth and merriment. The lyrics express a desire to reunite with a loved one under the first few sprinkles of snowfall for the season. A retro beat carries the song, further adding to the cozy, warm feeling of the whole track.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jiw9P6c9M]The verses feature the smooth voices of the Starship family, such as Junggigo’s trademark sweet croon and the voice we’ve heard match so well with his in “Some”, Sistar’s Soyou. We are then treated to the merry harmonisations of the Boyfriend members, surely a highlight for many viewers. The song is also given a bit of light and shade with the inclusion of Mad Clown and Bora‘s mellow rap, which helps to set the song apart.
Despite all the aforementioned melodic cuteness, “Love is You” is unfortunately not a particularly stunning song. Thankfully, it is significantly more memorable and exciting than last year’s “Snow Candy,” but will ultimately get lost in the plethora of other Christmas tunes from all the rival entertainment companies.
Granted, these songs aren’t meant to be chart-toppers, so in some ways, “Love is You” achieves what is needed. Unfortunately, the song is rather like a Christmas pudding: an inexplicable and underwhelming annual tradition that does not manage to satisfy your cravings. Additionally, although the screen-time was split evenly across the whole Starship family, the chorus was really only carried by K.Will and Hyorin, which is surely disappointing for fans of the other vocalists in the video.
Visually, “Love is You” provides everything we expect from merry Christmas tunes. We see the Starship family fooling around during
the silly season, all the while maintaining impossibly perfect smiles. We see Jooyoung play with an adorable dog, the Boyfriend members fool around with children’s toys (and one member give another a quick peck on the cheek, a sure delight to Bestfriends), and for some unknown reason, Dasom singing into a cactus next to a deranged looking balloon.
After all this, the members enter a shabby, cobweb-ridden room together, and dust it off to create their own Christmas wonderland. They shed their adorable, snuggly outfits for gorgeous, chic ones, bringing an interesting and glamorous twist to the visuals.
Despite not being a great work of art, the video and song achieve what is required of songs of this type. It was perky and sweet, with the video showing all the Starship Entertainment members enjoying themselves. The happiness in the video is infectious and you can’t help but smile at some of the goofy and cute moments in the video. Surely, this (aside from extra profits) is the main point of every Christmas K-pop video: to spread the Christmas spirit and perk up fans by putting together all their favourite idols in the one video! In this regard, “Love is You” certainly succeeds, creating a warm winter atmosphere for fans of Starship Entertainment.
MV: 3/5
Song: 3/5
(YouTube, Images via Starship Entertainment)
