[Review] Is This Love? – Moon Byul (MAMAMOO)

In February, Moon Byul released her first studio album, Starlit of Muse, and the title track TOUCHIN&MOVIN. Last month, the MAMAMOO rapper made her solo comeback with a repackaged version of Starlit of Muse, renamed Starlit of Twinkle. Leading the repackaged album is the title track Is This Love?. And now that I have reviewed the new single, keep your eyes open for the upcoming album review of Starlit of Muse/Starlit of Twinkle.

Is This Love? is a fun and bright pop track. Moon Byul has previously released pop-centric songs before, and Is This Love? follows in the same vein. However, while my thoughts on the song are generally positive, I think Is It Love? does fall short in some regards as it doesn’t steal the throne from Moon Byul’s other pop tracks, such as C.I.T.T (Cheese In The Trap) or LUNATIC (I know I gave the latter an 8/10 in the song department, that can be bumped up to 9/10 upon reflection). My initial impression about the song always featured a passing thought about a slight plainness cloud of some sort is lingering around the song. The chorus is when the music is bubbly and exciting, where you expect it to be. I liked how punchy the central piece was, how the upbeat energy exuded made me smile, and Moon Byul’s vocals pierced through the synths and instrumentation. It was a catchy and well-constructed part of the song, but I think the material could have been more robust. Is It Love?‘s verses were plainer, but they did give the song some variety. Compared to the rest of the song, the pre-chorus does slow things down. But I liked how the song ramped back up to the exciting chorus from the slowed moments. The only thing that I think Is It Love? could have done more fulfilling was the shouty backing that leads into the final chorus. I know – a really super minor detail. But how they cut it off felt incomplete and left me hanging. I wished that wasn’t the case.

Is It Love?’s lyrics speak to the feeling of falling in love, but Moon Byul asks about it ‘for a friend’. With such lyrics, this sounds like quite a cute video. In the music video, we see Moon Byul ‘asking around for that friend’ in a public way – think of a news broadcast, music show, sports, drama, commercial, or home shopping channel. In any media on TV, Moon Byul asks the question about falling in love ‘for her friend’. Towards the end of the video, the public recognises her and chases after her; all the while, she still says it is a misunderstanding and that she isn’t the one asking. It is definitely a fun, eventful and colourful video to watch.

Now that I am watching the performance in detail for this review, I have realized that it has some similarities to TWS: plot twist, which dominated at the start of the year. The song definitely has that plot twist influence, as well, now that I think about it. Moon Byul’s stage adds a slight cutesiness and bubbliness to the routine, making it fun to watch. I wonder what story she is trying to tell on stage, given that she is basically flirting with a male and female dancer as part of the routine.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.3/10