Psycho (Red Velvet song)

"Psycho" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their first compilation album The ReVe Festival: Finale (2019), which serves as the third and final installment of the group's The ReVe Festival trilogy. Composed by Andrew Scott, Cazzi Opeia, and EJAE, the song was arranged by Druski and long-time SM Entertainment record producer Yoo Young-jin, while the Korean lyrics were written by songwriter Kenzie. An R&B track with elements of trap and future bass, "Psycho" is about a strange relationship "full of ups and downs". Along with its accompanying gothic-themed music video, the song was released digitally as the lead single from Finale, and subsequently the third and final single from The ReVe Festival on December 23, 2019.

"Psycho"
Single by Red Velvet
from the album The ReVe Festival: Finale
LanguageKorean
ReleasedDecember 23, 2019
Recorded2018—2019 [1]
StudioSM Studios, Seoul, South Korea
Genre
Length3:31
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Red Velvet singles chronology
"Umpah Umpah"
(2019)		 "Psycho"
(2019)
Music video
"Psycho" on YouTube

Upon its release, "Psycho" became an instant fan-favorite and received positive reviews from music critics for its "smooth and sultry" delivery over a "haunting", "catchy yet structured" production. Despite being a year-end release, the song appeared in several year-end lists by critics, cited as one of the best K-pop releases of 2019. It was a commercial success in South Korea, peaking at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart for three consecutive weeks, thus giving the group their twelfth top-ten Gaon entry. The song also attained international success, becoming their second chart-topper on the Billboard's World Digital Songs chart, tying them with 2NE1 as the girl groups with most top ten entries on the chart. It also became the group's first entry on the UK Charts, entering the Singles Downloads chart at number ninety-nine for one week.

Background and release

During Red Velvet's appearance on Idol League in July 2019, member Irene confirmed that their upcoming plans for that year would include two more installments of The ReVe Festival trilogy, namely Day 2 and Finale, the former of which was later was released on August 20, 2019.[2] Following the group's third concert, La Rouge, in November 2019, SM Entertainment revealed two different teaser posters on social media at midnight of that year's December 12, along with an official press release which confirmed that Finale would conclude Red Velvet's "music festival" trilogy throughout 2019.[3] Two days later, the first batch of teaser photos were posted on the group's official social media accounts, including "Psycho" as the lead single for this release. The instrumental intro of the song was also revealed through their official Instagram posts before a 17-second video teaser for the song was uploaded to the official SMTOWN YouTube channel, with the music video being released the following day.[4]

Composition

"Psycho" was written by American producer Andrew Scott, EJAE, and frequent collaborator Cazzi Opeia during their 2018 songwriting camp in Seoul, South Korea. Following a conversation between the three composers about a breakup where "being heartbroken is almost like feeling psycho", they started working on the idea to come up with the song.[5] Having acknowledged Red Velvet's duality sonic concept, Scott wanted to "blend the two" concepts together. With the demo version recorded in English by Opeia that eventually leaked on the Internet weeks before the song's release, the lyrics were then rewritten in Korean by songwriter Kenzie, with additional arrangement from producer Druski, and Yoo Young-jin, the latter of which co-produced the group's previous single "Bad Boy" in 2018.

Musically, "Psycho" was described as an "up-tempo" urban song, while being characterized by Tamar Herman as an R&B-pop track with future bass, "grandiose operatic" instrumental intro with "dramatic" pizzicato strings, "classical" chords and "trap beats, squelching synths" elements, which made the song the group's seventh single to fall under the "Velvet" concept.[5][6] According to Scott, the chorus contains "the syncopation" of hi-hats, which is combined with the drum line to maintain the song's pace. It was composed in the key of Eb major with a tempo of 140 beat-per-minute.[7] The group's vocal range spanned about 2 octaves, from the low note of G3 to the high-note of G5. A slightly different version of the song was used for the music video, with the chorus having an additional synth line and the pre-chorus including a string melody, while the digital and streaming version omitted these elements. Lyrically, the song tells the story of a relationship "full of ups and downs", where a couple "fights so much that they appear crazy in the eyes of others but are nonetheless meant for each other" and eventually assures that "we're gonna be alright".[8]

Music video

Background

Directed by video director O, whom previously worked on their "Umpah Umpah" music video, the music video for "Psycho" was premiered on December 23, 2019 to coincide with both the song and Finale's release.[9] Prior to its premiere date, the visual was accompanied by a string of video teasers of each group member, portraying them in a "glam" and "gothic-themed" scenario. Choreography for the video was created by former 1MILLION choreographer Mina Myoung and choreographer Bailey Sok from Skeleton Crew.[10][11]

Synopsis and reception

The music video opens with Irene looking out from a car, leading to the intro of the song where other members of Red Velvet are seen in different scene sets, with Seulgi sitting against a Victorian gothic-backdrop, being overwatched by Wendy. The scene then moves on to Joy sitting in a makeup room set, followed by the song's first verse alongside Irene being seen leaving the car to a seemingly-lit dining table, wearing an outfit that resembles the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan. It is followed by a room set where Yeri is dancing over a mattress, with Joy closing the door as the former continues dancing. Joy continues to lead a then-standing near a seemingly behind the stage set Wendy, and eventually all five members appear in the same makeup room set singing the chorus altogether. The video then cuts to the group sewing in a different room, where Irene eventually hurts her finger during the process. Seulgi and Yeri are seen hearing from connecting red wool rolls in the previous room with, Joy cutting the connection and eventually leaving to a passenger train set with member Wendy. Yeri then arrives to another apartment set, in which Wendy is seen singing her parts, with a piece of paper tying with a stone, while Joy is seen driving through a black-and-white film shot that is "reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho". The scene is followed by Seulgi standing in front of a mirror, where she is surprised to see her reflection moves independently. The mirror is then shattered by the stone that was carried by Yeri, with Irene observing a mirror falling down with a butterfly that turns multiple and Seulgi turning back without realizing her reflection is now standing still. Irene, now in a longer white dress, runs back to an empty sewing room while Yeri is seen leaving a figure-filled room set with an umbrella. The video then cuts to the scene in which all members are chasing and running through hanging white dresses, before ending with Irene whispering "psycho" and cuts to the name Red Velvet and the album logo.[12]

Following the music video's release, writer Tamar Herman of Billboard described it as "a modern take: on the elegant, yet festive, flair of flappers with lace and feather looks", further praising the video for being "glam".[13] Writer Kelly Sipko from The Kraze further commented on the music video's similarities to those of Black Swan, while Refinery29's writer Natalie Morin noted the visual's "gorgeous A24-esque indie classic" aesthetic.[14][15] The group later released a performance video for "Psycho" on January 8, 2020 and also released a live performance of the song during their previous fan-meeting party on January 13 of that year.[16][17] On March 26, 2020, the music video for the track reached 100 million views on YouTube, which is the group's fastest video to reach the 100 million view milestone, achieving it in just 93 days, and 7 hours.[18]

Live performances

Promotion activities for the song were rather limited comparing to Red Velvet's previous promotion cycles due to Finale being a year-end release. The group delivered their first live performance of "Psycho" at the ReVe Festival FINALE Party on December 22, 2019, which premiered exclusively on V Live with a limited participation for their fandom.[17][19] Red Velvet were then confirmed to attend the annual SBS Gayo Daejeon on December 25 of that year, scheduled to perform the single for the first time on television.[20] As fellow member Wendy suffered injuries during rehearsal, a pre-recorded performance was aired instead, which eventually led to the group having to perform as a quartet for their next attendance.[21] The remaining four members eventually covered all Wendy's singing parts for their live performance at the 29th Seoul Music Awards on January 30, 2020, where Red Velvet also won their fifth consecutive Main Award (Bonsang).[22]

Commercial performance

Within the first 24 hours after its release, "Psycho" topped all five South Korean major digital charts and sixteen iTunes digital charts in other countries.[23][24] Shortly later, the song achieved both "real-time all-kill" and "certified all-kill" respectively, making Red Velvet the first girl group and second overall for idol group to achieve such status in 2019. In the final week of December 2019, the song made its debut at number two on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, being held of the top by rapper Changmo's "Meteor" for three consecutive weeks. With this, the song became the group's first top-two entry in 2019, marking their highest charting release since "Power Up", their fifth number-two entry and their twelfth top-ten hit, respectively.[25] The song went on to peak at number three on the January issue of the Gaon Monthly Digital Chart, and eventually landed as the fifth biggest song and the biggest idol song on the 2020 mid-year issue of Gaon Digital Chart.[26] In addition, "Psycho" topped the Gaon Download Chart for two weeks, giving the group their sixth chart-topper on the chart, while peaking at number two for two weeks on the component Streaming Chart. The song also debuted at number nine on the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 chart for the issue date of December 28, 2019.[27] The song then rose to number two for three weeks, earning the group their seventh top-five hit.

"Psycho" also attained success outside its home country. On the week of January 4, 2020, the song debuted atop the US Billboard World Digital Songs Chart, giving Red Velvet their second chart-topper on the chart following their 2018 single "RBB (Really Bad Boy)". This made them one of the nine K-pop artists to top the chart more than once, and the fourth girl group to do this.[28] Moreover, "Psycho" became their sixteenth top-ten entry, thus tying with the record of 2NE1 as the South Korean girl groups having the most top-ten entries on the chart. In addition, the song became Red Velvet's second entry on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart after "Zimzalabim", entering at number 10 for the week of December 30, 2019.[29] It also debuted at number ninety-nine on the UK Singles Downloads Chart for one week, becoming their first song to appear on a UK component chart.[30]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
IZM[31]

Following its initial release, "Psycho" was met with positive reviews from music critics. Tamar Herman of Billboard magazine viewed the track as "smooth and sultry in its delivery". In an individual song review, writer Kim Do-hyun of IZM called the track "an upgraded version" of "Bad Boy", praising the balance coming from "a great melody, interesting themes and performance" that crafted "a good song", while rating the track with three stars and a half out of five.[32] A review from Seoulbeats also complimented the song being "creative yet structured, catchy but unbalanced" to best represent the emotions driving it.[33] Moreover, writer Natalie Morin from Refinery29 praised the song's "updated, sophisticated glow" from its charm and swagger, while writer Kelly Sipko from The Kraze magazine called the song "insanely good", giving it a perfect score out of 10.[14][15] In a late interview with the song's producer in February 2020, writer Yim Hyun-su described the song as a "catchy earworm" and said the group "shows no signs of stopping anytime soon".[5]

Despite being a "year-end" release, "Psycho" made its appearance in several publication's year-end list, being cited as one of the best K-pop releases in 2019. Billboard magazine ranked the song number eighteen on their list, praising its "musical decorum" often missing from pop songs.[34] CelebMix magazine hailed the song as "one of the best releases" from the group, while ranking it at number six.[35] Furthermore, Malaysian L'Officiel magazine chose the song as one of their 14 K-Pop songs which defines 2019, citing it as a "go-to track to sing in the shower".[36]

Year-end lists
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Billboard The 25 Best K-pop Songs of 2019 18 [34]
Buzzfeed 30 Songs That Helped Define K-Pop in 2019 25 [37]
CelebMix Top 10 K-pop songs of 2019 6 [35]
Medium 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2019 20 [38]
Malaysian L'Officiel 14 K-Pop songs that define 2019 and still dominates our music playlist N/A [36]

Accolades

Despite Red Velvet not attending nor performing at any television music show, "Psycho" managed to achieve a total of nine music show trophies by January 2020. Not only did the song become the group's second most-winning title track, tying with their 2017 single "Rookie", it was also their first to achieve the triple-crown status on all three national channels, namely Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo.[39][40][41] The song also achieved two consecutive Melon Weekly Popularity Awards, due to its massive success on the digital chart.[42]

Awards
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2020 Soribada Best K-Music Awards Music of the Year Won [43]
MTV Video Music Awards Best K-Pop Pending [44]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The ReVe Festival: Finale.[51]

  • Red Velvet (Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy, Yeri) – vocals, background vocals
  • Kenzie – Korean songwriter, vocal director
  • Andrew Scott – original writer, producer, programming, vocal production
  • Moa Anna Carlebecker Forsell – original writer, background vocals
  • EJAE – original writer, background vocals
  • Druski – arrangement
  • Yoo Young-jin – arrangement
  • No Min-ji (SM SSAM Studio) – record director
  • Jung Yu-ra – digital editor
  • Lee Ji-hong (SM Lyvin Studio) – mix engineer
  • Nam Goong-jin (SM Concert Studio Hall) – mixing engineer
  • SKRT - mastering engineer

Charts

Weekly chart

Release history
Country Date Format(s) Label
South Korea December 23, 2019
Various
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See also

References
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