Wonder Girls Make Fierce Comeback With ’80s-Themed Smash, ‘I Feel You’
The Wonder Girls are back at last — and they're taking us back in time.
For those unfamiliar, the multilingual, history-making K-pop girl group was the first-ever South Korean troupe to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US with their unstoppably catchy 2009 global hit, "Nobody." You might have seen them opening on the Jonas Brothers World Tour that year, or even live from iHeartRadio in 2012, including their still-fire dance floor cut "Like Money" with Akon.
As with many K-pop troupes, the girl group endured more member switch-ups than Destiny's Child and, along with a marriage announcement, the troupe eventually went on hiatus in the beginning of 2013.
Three years after their last release, the girls have finally returned — this time as instrument-wielding members of a band — with a newly recharged line-up and a new album out today, fittingly titled REBOOT.
"I Feel You" is the throwback lead track off of their brand new record and, if the vintage styling of the video wasn't enough of a clue, the girls have brought their best late '80s pop impression to the game...and it's spot-on. (Seriously — keytars have never looked hotter.)
Armed with an instantly catchy synth riff, the girls evoke the euphoric freestyle/dance-pop era of Madonna, Shannon and Taylor Dayne better than most of their contemporaries (sorry 'bout it, Taylor Swift) with their breathy, familiar-yet-fresh bop.
Together, the ladies (that's Yenny, Yubin, Sunmi and Lim) effortlessly work out tight, kicky choreography in bright bodysuits and stilettos, throwing in plenty of clear cultural markers in between — rollerblades! Polaroid cameras! — to further drive the point home...and it totally feels like a forgotten pop classic unearthed from your dad's dusty ol' VHS collection.
We're feeling the new you too, Wonder Girls. Welcome back.