NewJeans are a Y2K-inspired five-member girl group masterminded by Min Hee-jin, the music exec and creative director behind the branding of some of K-pop’s best acts (f(x), Red Velvet). Under her direction, NewJeans’ launch has been the most elaborate campaign in K-pop this year. Every song on their self-titled EP comes with music videos, with one track boasting four. The label has even made a custom phone app where you can play games and interact with each member of the group.
Such ambition also translates to the music, a plush and stylish collection of ’90s and ’00s-indebted R&B with production from two risk-taking figures in the Korean underground: Jinsu Park of the experimental rap duo XXX, and 250, a producer who embarked on a years-long journey to craft a contemporary version of traditional Korean trot. The EP’s most interesting selection is “Cookie,” a weightless groove about courting a crush. Whimsical synths, faint 808s, and wobbling low end create bubbly momentum, grounded by members’ sly and elongated delivery of the titular “cookie.”
The bridge finds a simple, elegant detour by way of Jersey club. “Cookie” ditches the oft-sampled bed squeak and focuses on the beat; the only other K-pop single to feature such direct homage is XUM’s “DDALALA.” The sudden inclusion of this rapid stuttering extends the song’s cutesy schoolyard demeanor into hopscotching ebullience. “I want to ruin your diet,” they sing, following up with ad-libs to further assert their dominance. The best K-pop songs have always transformed their acculturations into a site for stylistic adventurousness, and “Cookie” does so gracefully. It’s a remarkably strong showing, even based on the high standards Min has set.
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