VIVIZ Return With Their 5th Mini Album 'VOYAGE'
After four months of touring across the globe, K-Pop trio VIVIZ have returned with their fifth mini album VOYAGE. Composed of five tracks, VOYAGE truly lives up to its name—taking listeners on a sonic journey in just fifteen minutes.
The opening and title track to the album is “Shhh!,” the definition of a hot girl anthem. The main synth lead of the melody is groovy and catchy in the best way possible, it immediately gets stuck in your head and has you humming along to the rest of the song. While the chorus is relatively simple lyrically, this allows for the members to show off their iconic dance skills that fans have praised since debut, and it works really well with the vibe of the song. The repetitiveness of the chorus is offset by the fullness of the post-chorus and the breakdown of the bridge, where the energetic instrumentals fade into a single note tone that rings hauntingly behind the members vocals, only for the beat to pick up again as they go back into the chorus one more time. “Shhh!” is a newer sound for the group compared to previous tracks like “MANIAC” and “LOVADE,” but the girls absolutely fit the style.
While “Shhh!” is all upbeat energy, the next track “Cliché” adds a hint of a dreamy vibe to the melody that will continue to flow in the next few songs. We don’t have official choreography for this song yet, but it’s easy to imagine how mesmerizing it could be. The song is sultry and has a darker, almost mysterious color to it, and this style works incredibly well with the vocal and rap tones the members use for the lyrics—this easily could have been a double title track for this album. Despite the title, nothing about the way this song sounds is cliché.
“Full Moon” continues with the dreamy vibe, backed by a hyperbeat that sounds like it belongs on a video game soundtrack. A big drawing point of this song are the ad libs echoing throughout the track, airy “Ah, ooh,” and repetition of other lyrics that add to the fullness of the otherwise relatively simplistic instrumental. The song constantly builds, reflecting the motif of flying in the lyrics “Take me high, (Take me high) / Everything with you / Let's fly, we're unstoppable.” The only problem with this song is that it’s too good to be this short—it’s definitely one that you have to loop a few times to give it its proper appreciation.
Photo courtesy of BPM Entertainment
The fourth song on the album, “Hypnotize,” truly lives up to its name. The combo of the members’ siren-like vocals and pulsing synth beat is addicting and hypnotic to listen to. The instrumental is just subtle enough that it allows you to focus on the beautiful voices of all three members while still keeping up with the dreamy-upbeat mix that is prevalent in the past three songs. Youngest member Umji wrote the lyrics for this track, and KISS OF LIFE’s Belle appears on the credits for the production.
The final track of the album takes us fully away from the upbeat electronic sound and into a beautiful ballad. “Love & Tears” is also written by Umji, and she participated in the production of the track as well. From the very first note, this song immediately makes you think of standing in a venue waving your flashlight (or VIVIZ’s official lightstick) in the air while the girls sing. This track makes the perfect encore closing moment for a concert, and while it may not directly be labeled a song for the fans, the love and care the VIVIZ members have for their fans shines brightly in this track.
Overall, this is a cohesive album that shows off the VIVIZ members' vocal talents incredibly well. Coming off a year long break from making music, this album is a stellar return to the scene.