Red Velvet’s “Psycho”, IRENE & SEULGI’s “Naughty” CNN Philippines Life “Best K-pop songs of 2020”

Red Velvet’s Psycho & Naughty continue to receive recognition globally.

“Psycho” - Red Velvet

No other song deserves to be here more than “Psycho.” Even while the critically acclaimed and wildly popular Red Velvet single came out at the tail end of 2019, it continues to be nominated for Song of The Year in 2020 and they’re absolutely correct to do so. The song opens with an intro of pizzicato strings, a gentle operatic plucking giving way to member Seulgi’s opening falsetto. The music video is set in a palatial 1920’s horror set. White columns, glowing chandeliers, and sewing machines are the backdrop to eerie images of Yeri jumping in slow-mo, disembodied reflections, Joy and a bunch of doors, and The Original Visual™ Irene pricking herself on a sewing machine. It’s a haunting but irresistible track. Classical instruments, 8-bit arpeggios and metallic trap elements are the fitting backdrop to a song about a hot and cold, dysfunctional relationship. After Wendy sings her hook: “We’re in a very weird and strange relationship,” it builds into the most insane, jagged, psychotic chorus about intense fighting and making up right after. The whole song is perfectly unhinged, and after living through the year that was 2020, there is no other mood besides unhinged. At the final chorus, the girls sing in repetition “Hey now, we’ll be okay,” set to the same jagged synths. The RV girls are running around a sun-filled room, playing among white gowns. It seems like a pure picture-perfect ending. But right at the last moment, as the track fades out, Irene flashes a wicked smile and whispers: “Psycho.” — Toni Potenciano