Last week, 2NE1 released their second album in almost three and a half years, Crush, and now they’ve released a pair of head-spinningly hyperkinetic videos as if to underscore they weren’t wasting that time.
Above is the clip for “Come Back Home”: The song manages to veer between reggae-spiked contemporary pop (think that Shakira-Rihanna collaboration, or Bruno Mars) and trap, with a sensitive acoustic-guitar section. According to a press release, the video was 2NE1’s most expensive ever at roughly U.S. $470,000, and its virtual-reality premise puts that largesse to work, culminating in alternate-world terrorism and a dystopian future cityscape. “Happy,” below, is almost the exact opposite in every way except entertainment value; it’s sunny and strummy in a Spice Girls mold, with a cartoon-filled video to match, though it’s a reflection on a breakup, not a Pharrell-style call to clap your hands.
It’s been a busy time for fans of Korean pop: Girls’ Generation also released a new album, Mr. Mr., and you can scroll down to watch the video for the title track. For more of SPIN’s K-Pop coverage, revisit our trip to Seoul to inspect the factory itself, our list of the 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time, and our analysis of Life After Psy.
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