Red Velvet Return With ‘Rookie': Listen

Ah, the cute (and crucial) distraction of K-pop.

After supplying a rubber ducky, fruit and dessert-filled series of teasers over the past weeks, Red Velvet have officially supplied their fans — which are currently voting on their official fan club name (fingers crossed for "Cupcakes") — with their fourth mini-album Rookie, out now (Feb. 1).

The release of Rookie comes complete with the trippy music video for their infectious (and, well, vaguely irritating) title track, a colorful visual buffet including a flower dude, UFO adventures and fourth wall-breaking meta marionette moments. It's like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe gone K-pop...or something like that.

It's also no "Russian Roulette" — but then, not every video can be about (adorably) committing murder.

Better than the title track are the more chilled-out album cuts deeper into Rookie: the finger-snapping, piano and hi-hat-tinged "Talk To Me" is a tripping R&B treat that Ariana Grande would likely want to snag for her own LP, the warm harmonies of "Little Little" provide a feel-good comedown from the potentially grating title track and "Body Talk," upon very first play, is an obvious standout, full of atmospheric pulsations and dramatic delivery. (Here's hoping they explore this more mature sound moving forward, as they did on last year's The Velvet.)

To promote their latest release, Red Velvet have also been participating in silly promotional videos on SM Entertainment's YouTube channel, including a news segment (mostly about ranking their own beauty), a cooking challenge and a game of Yut Nori. Best of all, they're subtitled in English for us Westerners to enjoy, too.

As it turns out, the girls are all pretty hilarious...and competitive.

Prior to the release of Rookie, a download on the South Korean pop troupe's official website allowed fans to see the packaging for Rookie, complete with scans of the inside booklet and individual covers for each member: Seulgi, Irene, Wendy, Joy and Yeri. The album also includes random signed cards and three different posters, so...hope you got your coins ready.

Check out the track listing, and Red Velvet's latest SM shenanigans, below.

1. "Rookie"
2. "Little Little"
3. "Happily Ever After"
4. "Talk To Me"
5. "Body Talk"
6. "Last Love" (마지막 사랑)

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