TUNE OF THE WEEK: EXO “Overdose”

It’s going to come as a surprise to absolute no one that my “Tune of the Week” this week is none other than EXO’s highly anticipated comeback track, “Overdose.”

As we all know, EXO was scheduled to make their comeback with “Overdose” last month but after the tragic Sewol Ferry disaster, things in the world of K-Pop came to a screeching halt and understandably so. While those affected by this disaster are still mourning the loss of their loved ones, the simple fact is, at some point life must go on and so must the music; three weeks later it would seem that time has come.

I have to say, that after a month of waiting for the official release of EXO’s second mini-album, Overdose, and the much-anticipated MV of its title track, I was expecting a bit more than what SM delivered. Having been teased for what felt like forever, with pictures of EXO all smokey-eyed, dark and brooding, I was hoping for something a little darker and a little deeper with this comeback, something that said, “We’re back and better than ever.” Unfortunately, “Overdose” doesn’t deliver on that score but that doesn’t mean I’m completely disappointed.

In all honestly, I really like “Overdose.” I love the electronic/dance feel of the song as it makes me wish I could dance half as well as Sehun and Chanyeol’s rapping literally makes me weak in the knees. It’s his voice, okay? Well that and the fact that the lyrics for “Overdose” are, how shall I put this… Sultry? Seductive? Smokin’ hot??? Whatever you want to call the lyrics, when they’re combined with the smooth voices of EXO, there’s really no way to not be affected by this song, in one way or another… On top of all of that musical awesomeness, “Overdose” is ridiculously catchy which means I’ve been playing it a lot over the past two days. I’m probably going to end up overdosing on this song… Eventually… But for now, it’s got top rotation on my iPod playlist because I seriously can’t get enough of it.

I think what disappoints me the most about “Overdose” isn’t the song so much as the MV. SM could have done so much with this MV but they didn’t. Instead of creating an interesting story-line or at least a visually stunning treat, they decided to stick EXO in a bizarrely lit box and have them dance for four minutes. How very uninspiring. What’s even more disappointing is that the beginning of this MV had so much potential. I thought the whole sci-fi-ish, trapped in a labyrinth thing was a great beginning and it would have been fun to watch that story-line develop throughout the rest of the MV. Instead, we’re magically transported into some inner chamber of said labyrinth, where the boys of EXO have somehow traveled back in time and become ’90s hip-hop wannabes. Sorry but the outfits these boys were wearing for half of EXO-K’s MV and pretty much all of EXO-M’s MV reminded me way too much of the clothes I wore in junior high and high school. Yes kids, once upon a time those Cross Colours shirts and jackets and funny floppy hats were cool but that was a long time ago (as in when the members of EXO were still in diapers).

The good news is, the poor boys trapped in that psychedelic box were granted permission to change clothes at least once and their snappy suits more than made up for their Fresh Prince inspired duds. The bad news is, that single costume change wasn’t enough to inspire any sort of reaction from me other than, “Oooh! I want Kai’s sparkly shoes!” I guess I’m just not really feeling the whole “EXO in a Box” thing any more than I’m feeling the choreography for “Overdose.” Again, it’s not because I particularly hate it (it is rather humorous after all, with all of the beating each other on the head with imaginary drum sticks and the pelvic thrusts in every possible direction) I just feel like EXO has the ability to do so much more and I hate feeling like they’re not living up to their potential. Call me crazy but I know EXO has more in them than this!

What’s even more disappointing than watching the EXO-K version of “Overdose” is watching the EXO-M version. To me, it feels like EXO-M got the shaft on this one. After watching the two videos side-by-side, simultaneously I think EXO-K got a higher quality production than EXO-M. For starters, the lighting in EXO-K’s version was better, as there were moments in EXO-M’s version where it was so dark, you could barely tell there were people in the shot. To me, the differences in choreography and cinematography in EXO-M’s version felt sluggish and sloppy when compared to EXO-K’s version and finally, the EXO-M version doesn’t have the spiffy outfit change at the beginning of the MV like the EXO-K version does, so we’re stuck watching these poor boys dance around in their NKOTB inspired costumes for way longer than any of us really wants to see. On the up-side, watching the EXO-M version does provide a bit more time for me to enjoy watching most of my EXO biases (and yes, I have more than one) than the EXO-K version but I find that EXO-M shines just as brightly in the EXO-K version and since the lighting in that MV is better, it’s easier to enjoy the eye-candy. Call me lame but the sweetness of the eye-candy alone is enough to draw me more towards EXO-K’s version of “Overdose” than EXO-M’s. (And let’s all be honest for a moment and admit that that’s pretty much the only reason we’ve all been watching this MV over and over and over and over… Or is that just me?)

To wrap this up, I’ll proudly admit that I’m a fan of “Overdose” itself but I’m disappointed in SM for keeping EXO literally trapped inside a box with their MV. With Overdose being EXO’s second mini-album, I have no doubt they’ll have many other projects in the future, I just hope that when the time comes, SM will provide the boys of EXO an opportunity to show us what they’ve really got. I truly believe EXO has the ability to blow us all away, they just need to be given the chance to live up to their potential. (C’mon SM, stop holding these boys back!) As I wait for that time to come, I’ll happily spend my days with “Oh she wants me. Oh she’s got me. Oh she hurts me.” running through my head as it give me a legitimate excuse to listen to this song yet again. (As if I really needed one!)

So tell me, what are your thoughts on “Overdose”? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Are you indifferent? I’d love to know what you’re thinking so be sure to let me a comment below!