Umpah Umpah-The Daily Ledger

"Umpah Umpah" () is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their seventh (ninth overall) Korean extended play (EP) The ReVe Festival: Day 2, which serves as the second installment of the group's The ReVe Festival album trilogy. The song, alongside its vacation-themed music video, was released on August 20, 2019, as the lead single from Day 2. Written by Jeon Gan-di and composed by Christoffer Lauridsen, Andreas Öberg and Allison Kaplan, "Umpah Umpah" is described as "an uptempo dance song with disco house rhythms", with the group's "lovely and cool vocals doubling the freshness". The songwriting, which includes swimming motifs, portrays somebody falling in love with the eyes and charms of the girls, using the phrase "umpah umpah" as if their love interest was learning how to control their breathing while swimming.

Upon its release, "Umpah Umpah" received positive reviews from music critics for its bright, upbeat sound while some felt it was a "safe" return to the public-friendly sound of the group. Commercially, the song achieved moderate success in South Korea, peaking at number 18 on the Gaon Digital Chart while extending the group's consecutive top-ten string on Billboard World Digital Songs chart to 15, peaking at number nine. It also topped the Billboard K-pop Hot 100, becoming the group's second number-one single on the chart.

Umpah Umpah

Background and release

Following the release of The ReVe Festival: Day 1 on June 19, 2019, several fans spotted hints for the group's next installment via clue tickets provided in the album's package, one of which mentioned the phrase "Umpah Umpah". Shortly after the group's five-year anniversary in early August 2019, it was reported that the girls would "make a speedy comeback", which was quickly confirmed by their label on the same day. On August 12, the group released an introduction video for The ReVe Festival: Day 2, which included a snippet from an then-unknown title track, which was later confirmed to be "Umpah Umpah". After a string of promotional photo teasers for each member, the music video for the song was released on August 20, 2019, at midnight KST (UTC+09:00), 18 hours ahead of the EP's digital release.

Umpah Umpah

Composition

"Umpah Umpah" was composed by Jeon Gan-di, while the production was handled by Andreas Öberg, Christoffer Lauridsen and Allison Kaplan, the former of whom produced the group's single "One of These Nights" (2016) and Japanese single "Sappy". It was composed in the key of G major with a tempo of 120 beats per minute, and is the group's seventh single under the "Red" sonic concept and their third single with a summer-inspired concept. Musically, the song was described as an "uptempo dance song with disco house rhythms", with the group's "lovely and cool" vocals "doubling the freshness". In addition to the funk influence by the electric guitar and several string instruments, the song borrows elements from doo-wop music, mostly in the pre-chorus section of the song as the girls harmonize "umpah umpah" together.

Umpah Umpah

Lyrically, "Umpah Umpah" sees Red Velvet telling their love interest, who fell in love with the eyes and charms of the girls, how to "breathe normally", using the phrase "umpah umpah" as if their love interest was learning how to control their breathing while swimming. The rap section in the song's second verse references several of the group's past singles, such as "Happiness" (2014), "Ice Cream Cake" (2015), "Dumb Dumb" (2015), and "Red Flavor" (2017).

Critical reception

"Umpah Umpah" was met with positive reviews from music critics. Kirsten Spruch of Billboard magazine viewed the track as "outlandish", and praised its "explosive chorus combined with glistening instrumentation and infectious melodies and ad libs". The Korea Times described the song as "a bright, energizing disco number laced electric sound rhythms, whose lyrics draw on summer images like deep waters and ice cream". Moreover, writer Justine Shaffer of SnackFever magazine described the song as "a sound that's a twist back to the summertime pop perfection vibes". Gallup Korea ranked the song at number eight on their list of the Best Songs of 2019, and was additionally at ranked number 47 on SBS PopAsia's list of Top 100 Asian Pop Songs of the year, describing "Umpah Umpah" as an "onomatopoeic earworm".