For fans of Red Velvet, Feel My Rhythm, classical music and/or musical analysis, the team of ReacttotheK watched Feel My Rhythm, two times even to pick up all the nuances.
What I found intriguing myself, even if Feel My Rhythm is announced as a bright Spring song, there's an underlying darkness in it as symbolised by Seulgi's personage, and Irene and Wendy representing the old cq Winter in some scenes and the many Hieronymus Bosch references (whose painting also included Hell next to sensual delights, interesting note: strawberries in his painting were a "symbol of hypocrisy, and 'death concealed beneath a smiling appearance'").
But interestingly, some of the musicians commented on how that darkness is woven into the song not only visually but also musically, in how in some parts the minor instrumentals counters/juxtaposes the major vocals and the euphoria vibe of the visuals.
Kind of like how in Hieronymus Bosch' painting 'Garden of Earthly Delights' that is often referenced in FMR, the pursuit and enjoyment of sensual delights in the middle painting part is in contract with the Hell depiction of the right painting part.
Anyway. here's the video
It's a long video, 20 min, so I picked up some of the remarks and conclusions of the musicians (for those who find 20 min too long):
Rachel: 'The way that they utilised the Bach into the chorus, it was gorgeous, so pretty. And I think that their voice timbres specifically really suit the song.'
Liam: 'It just has an angelic quality to it. Like that light, airy? Rococo?'
Kevin: 'The track they used in the beginning, the actual Air on the G String, it felt like it was a couple of cents off, it almost feels like it's an actual baroque tuning track. In baroque tuning it's approx an exact half step lower.'
Jory: 'Yeah, it was in D Flat. When Bach wrote it, it would have sounded like how it was actually used in this song which is, yeah, maybe that was intentional, that's kinda cool.' [In early 1700s, due to baroque tuning, it would have sounded like today's D Flat, which is the lower sounding key Feel My Rhythm is in]
Sam: 'Why this song is so mind-blowing to me, is that they kept something with that kind of harmonic complexity and still made it like a song that is accessible to the public. Like I have no idea how they did that.'
Raffi: 'Innovation.'
Umu: 'Yeah, you're right, it sounds cozy, and also it sounds nostalgic, and it also sounds like we're in SM's futuristic Kwangya, all at the same time.'
Liam: 'Like synthesis of every art. That's so cool, that's such a cool concept.'
Rachel: 'The fact that frickin' K-pop is using Bach, I think it's cool.'
Umu: 'I think the majority of us can agree this is probably the most creative quoting of a classical song in K-pop ever?'
Kevin: 'It's up there.'
