Anything NMIXX does feels like a dream come true to us, so you could imagine how excited we were when they announced their comeback with A Midsummer NMIXX’s Dream! Lily, Haewon, Sullyoon, Bae, Jiwoo, and Kyujin are so versatile with their concepts, and this era is already as ethereal as that name suggests. Their third single album is already a classic to us!
The single album’s title is inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream play, which follows a group of Athenians through a mystical forest as they figure out love and independence with some magic spells involved. NMIXX’s take on those themes is just as magical, and the physical albums come in two different versions: Athens and Forest. Yes, even their aesthetic themes are mixxpop in a way! We could spend all day talking about how beautiful these albums will be, but for now, let’s focus on the music so we don’t keep you here too long!
First off, it’s time to discuss ‘Party O’Clock!’ Much like ‘Love Me Like This,’ it takes a more subtle approach to mixxpop than songs like ‘O.O,’ letting the girls show off their gorgeous vocals and strong raps over an R&B-pop instrumental before the beat gets a bit heavier on the bridge. Simply put, it makes us wanna party and invite everyone we know over for an NMIXX listening session! “You are my answer tonight” is such a cute lyric on the chorus, shouting out the group’s NSWERs and welcoming us into the world of A Midsummer NMIXX’s Dream. We’ll never complain about getting a cute, upbeat bop.
Now let’s talk about the music video a bit! It starts off with the more Athens-y vibe before the girls head into a gorgeous forest – is that reminding anyone else of the Expérgo photoshoot? The final shot of the video shows a lion head, which you might recognize as part of the ship from the ‘O.O’ music video and NMIXX’s storybook posts back in June. That panel of the storybook says, “Will the girls reach MIXXTOPIA? What kinds of delight and danger will await the girls in the future?” – so we think we might officially be reaching the dreamland that is MIXXTOPIA this comeback or the next. We’ve been seeing similar ships throughout their career in videos like ‘DICE’ and their New Frontier: MIXX, you imagine short, so maybe we’ll get to hop on the ship this era!
NMIXX have created a reputation for themselves at this point for having some of the best b-sides out there, including faves like ‘TANK’ and ‘COOL (Your rainbow),’ and ‘Roller Coaster’ continues that tradition! This song is absolutely perfect for summer and shows us such a refreshing side of the group. It leans more into the Athens side of the single album’s aesthetic but still has all the fun and whimsy of the Forest side. Definitely one of our favorite NMIXX songs already!
There are so many fun Easter eggs in the music video – did you catch any? The water imagery calls back to the underwater-themed Ad Mare photoshoot. When Sullyoon sings “joa, joa” (a lyric we also heard on ‘O.O’) by the window, there’s a poster behind her with a deck of cards as we saw in the ‘DICE’ music video. Bae is reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream in one scene as a nod to the single album’s name. The soccer field’s scoreboard is full of 2’s to commemorate NMIXX’s debut on 2/22/2022. After the scene where Lily is braiding Bae’s hair, it flickers to a page from an Alice In Wonderland book to match the “rabbit and Alice” line. There are probably a ton more, so keep your eyes peeled!
What do you think of this NMIXX comeback? Which track is your favorite, if you can choose one? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!
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