Fearless | LE SSERAFIM’s Classy Debut

On May 2nd, 2022, HYBE’s first girl group LE SSERAFIM made their debut with their 1st Mini Album ‘Fearless’. The album includes 5 tracks: ‘The World Is My Oyster’, ‘FEARLESS’, ‘Blue Flame’, ‘The Great Mermaid’, and ‘Sour Grapes’.

Their title track ‘FEARLESS’ is an alternative pop song with a bold bass riff and a groovy rhythm. The lyrics express the group’s resolve to not dwell on the past but to fearlessly move towards the future. Executive producer Bang Si-Hyuk also worked on writing and producing the song.

The overall aspect of ‘FEARLESS’ isn’t super poppy or crazy as far as the instrumental goes, but it really works for LE SSERAFIM. Not every K-Pop song has to have heavy-hitting basslines or constant high notes. Sometimes keeping it simple yet elegant works if done correctly.

Netizens seem to have mixed feelings over this debut. On the downside, we have comments such as “LE SSERAFIM’s debut song caused controversies for boring MV and bad English pronunciation.”, “The choreography sucks.”, “The MV is so bland and not memorable.”, and more, even some towards member Kim Garam who was involved with a school bullying controversy before the groups debut. The one’s about their English pronunciation being terrible baffles me, as the group has a native English speaking amongst them in the form of Huh Yunjin, who most likely helped the other members with the English sections.

On a positive note, a lot of netizens loved LE SSERAFIM’s debut, with people saying, “They prove that they can rock it without those crazy high-notes but a simple, classy song and their superior charisma.”, “They’re all glamourous.”, “Such a unique song.”, and more. I absolutely agree with these positive comments. Not all new debuts have to have loud and flashy sounds to them. ‘FEARLESS’ was refreshing to listen to.

One scene in the music video did catch people’s attention, me included. At the 2:09 mark in the music video, there is a choreography scene with the 6 members doing what I can explain as a floor hip thrust move, also known as the ‘Swalla’ move, which is deemed as more of an explicit dance move, with 2 of the members (Kim Garam and Hong Eunchae) being minors.

Professional Editor Jordan Orme commented on this during his reaction to ‘FEARLESS’, saying, “I wonder if in this section, they had other shots, but they decided “Maybe let’s not do that, maybe that’s not the type of group we are trying to portray here. So, let’s just keep it on their faces the whole time.” It was an interesting editorial decision that felt a little bit forced, but I think it was a good choice.”. 100% without a doubt, I agree with Jordan. It was the smartest editing decision the editors made for this music video.

From all the tracks on their debut album, ‘The Great Mermaid’ is tied for my favourite track next to 'FEARLESS'. I loved all the tracks, each one having its own unique vibe to it, like the use of swearing in ‘FEARLESS’ with Kazuha’s line, “I’m fearless, a new bitch. New crazy 올라가, next one.”, and in ‘The Great Mermaid’ with the first line of the chorus, “I don’t give a shit! No love, no golden prince.”. Honestly, I love the use of swears in K-Pop songs. In a way, it’s refreshing to hear.

‘Blue Flame’ and ‘Sour Grapes’ take on a sultrier vibe to them, with stable and elegant vocals. The choreography to ‘Blue Flame’ even includes a part where Kazuha utilizes her ballet background, which makes it even better.

‘Fearless’ is an iconic and amazing debut album from LE SSERAFIM, and I cannot wait for their eventual first comeback.

05.05.2022