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fromis_9 are a 9-member girlgroup formed through the 2017 reality show 'Idol School', with the name 'fromis_9' meaning 'from Idol School 9'. Today I'll be taking a listen to their pre-debut single 'Glass Shoes' which aims to project them into the hallyu wave, with a soulful and pure schoolgirl vibe, similar to that of earlier Gfriend works. Being a fan of girlgroups and especially ones with bubbly and sweet tones, I anticipate Glass Shoes will meet my expectations and be a song I'll enjoy for years to come. 0:02 - The song begins with a very innocent and pure instrumental coupled with the '빙글빙글' vocal harmonies from the girls, hinting at a pure and girly concept. 0:13 - I love how simple the instrumental here is, the instrumental isn't too busy or crowded but enough to maintain the bubbly energy the intro presented. The drum and the electric guitar give the song a sort of rock type of feel which elegantly contrasts with the sweet vocals and bubbly highs of the instrumentals. 0:28 - I love how the instrumental dips match the '생각하는 찰 나 에' to give the vocals some more pattern and rhythm about them. 0:37 - The chorus definitely inherits the rocky punky instrumentals from the first verse and it strangely works despite the pure and innocent vocal image. There's also a really low electric guitar tenudo below the entire composition which elevates the highs of the vocals even more, nice touch. 0:49 - I love how the instrumentals again match the rise and dips of the vocals to unify the vocals and the instrumentals to create a consistent and rhythmic composition. 1:00 - The turn back to the intro's soothing and innocent melody is a nice touch as it gives the listener a break from the sugar and bubbly nature of the chorus. 1:11 - This second verse has quite a subdued instrumental coupled with pure and sweet vocals, and begins to work its way back up as the second verse gets deeper into the pre-chorus. 1:36 - I love how innocent and pure the vocals sound, fromis_9 always has this cuteness about them and this particular chorus is no exception. 2:09 - This heartfelt and soulful bridge is accompanied by a mindful and soothing instrumental which I love as it showcases the raw vocal ability of the girls as well as taking a break from the bubbly vibe from the chorus and previous verses by giving us this soulful and relaxing bridge. 2:33 - I anticipated this chorus to increase a key but it didn't seem to really change in volume or texture at all, it seems like a normal chorus with no added adlibs or anything which I love as finishes off with that same pure and innocent vibe that fromis_9 started off with in that first chorus. I also love that by not increasing the compositional tone or texture, that the song throughout has remained with a soulful and pure tone. I really love this song. The innocent and pure textures of the composition combined with the sweet and girly vocals of the girls. The song also has a heartfelt and peaceful vibe which I like as it promotes that girly and innocent vibe that fromis_9 are going for. Glass Shoes I find is similar to Gfriend's earlier works such as Fingertip and Rough, all three of those songs have pure and soulful vibes about them. Glass Shoes' chorus definitely has this purity and soul that creates an innocent image for fromis_9. Being a pre-debut, I think the song is meant to be a representation of who fromis_9 is going to be in later comebacks, and I personally think it worked, but like I mentioned before, it's very similar to Gfriend with the innocent schoolgirl aesthetic which wasn't entirely effective to make them stand out to me. The song is still very cute and pure to me and musically, I really liked it.

fromis_9 returns with their 2019 album 'Fun Factory' after riding off the success of last year's hit song Love Bomb. The title track 'FUN!' aims to be a bubbly and gleeful Summertime song to bring a cute and playful atmosphere, and who better to represent a bubbly Summer song than the innocent and pure girls of fromis_9! Having been a fan of fromis_9 since the explosion of cuteness from Love Bomb (no pun intended) I've been looking forward to see what fromis_9 come up with next, considering that their previous discography before Love Bomb was very schoolgirl-esque and mellow. Love Bomb blew their previous concept out of the water with a bubbly and unapologetically cute concept which was extremely well-received. Today I'll be listening to the entire Fun Factory EP and analysing each song, as well as sharing my opinion on each of the song's compositions and of course, the girls' vocal performances. 0:02 - Nagyung's entrance is so flamboyant and bubbly especially combined with the chirpy instrumentals in the background. Her vocals also have a minor echo underneath which gives the composition room to breathe and give an effect of wide open space. 0:08 - The "FUN!" chorus tagline is an immediate hook, it's so catchy and fun to hear "FUN!" from them all, the instrumentals have also picked up in tempo as well giving the song some speed and intensity 0:16 - I love the introduction of some slight underlying bass as well as some heavier and busier background instrumentals to elevate the vocals of the girls who have naturally very girly and high range vocals. 0:23 - Nagyung comes back for this first verse with her amazingly girly and high-pitched vocals to be accompanied by that catchy and bubbly instrumental in the back. Jiwon's part is no exception, with the ends of her lines ending in a graduating rise in octaves to match the pace of the instrumental. 0:34 - It's so cute how Nagyung rhymed 'Ariana Grande' with 'geuronde', that is such great singing from Nagyung. 0:40 - Gyuri's verse here is much slower and more elegant than the bubbly instrumentals in the earlier verses. There's a lot of body in the instrumental to give a pure, rich, open choir effect to enhance Gyuri's soft and gentle vocals. I love the contrast between Gyuri's elegant and soft verse compared to the speedy and sugary verses from earlier. 0:56 - Right back into the sugary and bubbly chorus after the breathtaking break the listener was given by Gyuri's verse. I love how catchy the chorus is with the "FUN!" chant, it's so easily to sing along to. 1:11 - Seoyeon enters the second verse with a rapping segment, the instrumentals in this section are almost the polar opposite to the verses where they were bubbly and sugary, with the highs replaced with now deep lows to compliment the urban nature of Seoyeon's rapping. 1:19 - Hayoung's half-time part in this verse is a nice break and transition from Seoyeon's part similarly to Gyuri's pre-chorus. 1:23 - Romsae's feisty and sexy voice if only for a few seconds totally infatuates me here, she perfectly transitions the song's tempo and atmosphere back into the sugary sweet vibe. 1:49 - This time around it's Jisun to do the chorus, this time instead of the instrumental being open and airy, there is clapping going on to keep the fun (no pun intended) and speedy vibe going. 1:46 - At this point, I don't know how anybody can even think about not singing the chorus, there is no way somebody listens to this song and doesn't scream "FUN!" at the top of their lungs to sing along with the girls. 2:03 - As the song heads into the bridge, we get another pause in the sugary composition to breathe and make way for the bridge and finale. I love these short pauses as it gives us room to breathe after what we've heard so far but still leaves us hanging on for more of the same bubbly beat. 2:19 - The instrumentals here are very subdued and muted to continue with the tempo break, and we're lead to anticipate the epic final chorus. 2:26 - I love that this part is basically an acapella chorus to highlight the vocal ability of the girls since the chorus naturally had a busy and bubbly instrumental to go along with it which may have masked their singing slightly. 2:33 - The next part of the chorus goes back to the normal upbeat and bubbly instrumental that the song is known for having, and is a fantastic finishing touch to the song. 0:02 - This instrumental so far is very bubbly similar to the vibe I got from Fun! 0:18 - Similarly to Fun!, Love Rumpumpum begins with a mellow and lowkey instrumental matched with beautiful instrumentals. In this song, there's a lot more focus on the girls' vocals. 0:32 - The instrumental gets even more suppressed in this pre-chorus which gives the vocals some air and body, highlighting their amazing vocals. 0:45 - This chorus definitely has the innocent and pure vibe from earlier fromis_9 discography, it's got a very pure and hearty instrumentals and with the girly and youthful vocals to match. 1:07 - That subtle little echo in the 'Rumpumpum' is a nice airy vocal piece to give the song even more air and room. 1:18 - The instrumentals have picked up a bit from the first verse which promotes the bubbly vibe of the song nicely. 1:47 - At this point, I have "Love rumpumpum, love rumpumpum" stuck in my head, it's such a catchy little lyric. 2:18 - The instrumental gets super basic here to give the listener a break from the sparkly tone of the instrumental before, and also to transition nicely into the final chorus. 2:31 - One last catchy chorus to finish it off is great. I love how mellow the instrumental has been in comparison to Fun! 0:05 - Definitely a ballad vibe here with the mellow instrumental combined with the soulful vocals. 0:21 - The instrumental remains soft and simple here whilst the vocals also remain pure and innocent. 0:44 - I love the extended piano notes to give an airy and soulful vibe to compliment the vocals. 1:02 - Definitely a ballad, the vocals are so soulful and the instrumentals are so beautiful constructed and mended together. A beautiful composition. 1:43 - The soulful vocals remain whilst the instrumentals have picked up slightly, particularly that piano. I love the steady increase in volume. 2:25 - I love this part. It's so pure and raw. A few simple piano notes combined with soft and pillowy vocals. 2:44 - I love the pause in instrumental just to accentuate the high note here, it's so beautiful and soulful. 2:50 - This chorus is so beautiful. It's so soulful and heartfelt, especially since the instrumentals are so soft which highlights the vocals. Fun Factory is so amazing. Even though it's only 3 songs, every song stands on its merits, FUN! being the title and easily one of the best songs I've ever heard from fromis_9 to date, being so bubbly and chirpy, and with that contagious "FUN!" chant that is so easy to sing along to that you probably would do it involuntarily. Fun is such a fun song, no doubt about it. The vocals from all of the girls matched the instrumental so well to give a composition that is so sugary and bubbly. I also love the touch regarding the lowend bass during Seoyeon's part to give the urban and hiphop atmosphere during her verse, it was a nice touch. Love Rumpumpum reminded me a lot of fromis_9's earlier works with how pure and innocent the song sounded, the song was so sweet and innocent, and had the girly and youthful vocals to match. "Love rumpumpum, love rumpumpum" definitely got stuck in my head after the second chorus. As a whole, the album is amazing, and I will for sure remember Fun Factory as one of if not the best of fromis_9 albums.