Photo credit by Big Hit Labels

[Review] GFRIEND- 回: Walpurgis Night

The girls from GFRIEND are back with their new album ‘回: Walpurgis Night’. Let’s dive right in because I’m really curious! Starting from the first album ‘Labyrinth’ they sang about a girl at a crossroads not knowing which path to take. In ‘Siren’ it was all about temptation. This new one is about maturing into a true witch and reaching the final stage. 

回: Walpurgis Night

We start off with ‘MAGO’ which is the title track and came accompanied by a beautiful music video. Yuju is pole dancing and at one point swinging on a disco ball, which quite frankly is iconic in so many ways. The song itself is very disco, but there’s something ominous in it as well which is an interesting combo. I very much like the message of finally being happy with who you see in the mirror.

‘Love Spell’ starts with some groovy guitars and gives me some rock vibes I’m living for. The grunge fits their vocals so well and I kinda wished they had made an MV for this. I would love to see the girls with the grungy punk rock clothes. That’d be dope. 

I’m getting a tad genre whiplash with the next track ‘Three Of Cups’. In a tarot deck, three of cups stands for friendship and female energy. The city pop vibes are immaculate and I really dig it, though I think maybe they should have switched the order with ‘Love Spell’. 

‘GRWM’ is next and stands for ‘Get Ready With Me’, a YouTube thing where women get ready and do their make-up. I too, have watched plenty of those videos. This is an EDM track that feels happy and fresh with GFRIEND’s outstanding vocals.

Next up is ‘Secret Diary’ and this is the first sub-unit track with SinB and Yerin. They both have writing credits for this one. Honestly this track has everything, superb vocals, a catchy hook and beautiful instrumentation. Guess we’ll all be humming ‘1,2,3, say my name’.

‘Better Me’ is the sub-unit single by Sowon and Umji who also have writing credits. The Latin style tempo is so cool and I was swaying throughout the entire song. This is so dope y’all. I dig it a lot. 

‘Night Drive’ is the last sub-unit with Eunha and Yuju. As with the other two singles, the girls also have writing credits. The R&B vibe with the lower registers of the girls is so lovely! This, as the title suggests, is the perfect song to listen to while on a night drive or even just a walk through the city now that the days are getting shorter. 

After that we get the three title tracks from their previous installments: ‘Apple’, ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Crossroads’

The last track is ‘Wheel Of The Year’. For some reason I get anime running scene vibes. It’s uplifting and heartwarming and I feel kind of emotional after listening to it. What a beautiful way to close this album.

Overall

‘回: Walpurgis Night’ by GFRIEND is a very solid closure to their storyline. Every song can totally stand on its own and we stan GFRIEND in this house! 

Now, let’s celebrate womanhood by partying to this album with our girl friends!

Go ahead and listen to the album on Spotify here.

If you want to read our previous reviews, you can find that here.

Ilse Van Den Heede
A writer with a slight coffee addiction and a tendency to find K-Indie gems in the YouTube rabbit hole.