After twelve billion years and fifteen delays, Son Dam Bi has finally released her music video for ‘Dripping Tears’ in preparation for her forth mini-album. Dam Bi is neither a world beating singer, nor a phenomenal dancer so her absence from the K-Pop scene would have killed a lesser mortal. With all the hype to go along with the quality control delays, Dam Bi has a lot riding on ‘Dripping Tears’ and the promotions which will follow. The teaser images and video hinted at a more high concept video, which is a smart move. Standard wouldn’t cut it. It’s only a matter of time before people go from anticipating a long awaited release to wondering why they should care at all. Being the prettiest girl in K-Pop can only get you so far.

‘Dripping Tears’ certainly leaves an impression. The song is a bit of a change of pace for Dam Bi. It stays in the mid-tempo range that Dam Bi has long plied her trade (her lack of range does pigeon-hole her into specific arrangements) but the song is more ballad than club. The beat is appropriately dreamy and Dam Bi’s vocals are processed with just enough autotune as to make the lyrics sound alien which complements the music well. Put together, the final product is breezily spacey with Dam Bi operating well within her comfort zone without it feeling like anything she’s done before.

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Dam Bi

The video largely succeeds in taking the atmosphere that the music creates and crafting a vision which is eerie and disorienting. The opening images of Dam Bi on a boat, combined with her washing up on shore, bring to mind a Shutter Island meets Inception mash up. The interspersing shots of Dam Bi in a bad blonde wig are… strange as well, but not in the good way.

Just… why

First, the blonde wigs are gimmicky and cheap. I get it. You want to alternate between the dreamscape and the bleak and bizarre. You don’t need to telegraph it with a Halloween wig. Dam Bi’s make up by way of ‘Black Swan’ (another psychological thriller this video recalls) does that well enough. To further pile on the Dam Bi as blonde cray cray girl segments, her back up dancers break the number one rule of back up dancers. They stand out  and take the focus away from Dam Bi.

Make it stop

All the nightmares

I mean, really, LOOK AT THEM. Those back up dancers are some unholy combination of Minnie Mouse, Slender Man and SM gimp. They’re something that would not be out of place in a Silent Hill game but stick out like a sore thumb here. Dam Bi with her wig and exaggerated make up is creepy enough. The Mouseketeer monsters end up detracting from how pleasantly haunting everything else is. When they’re shown, everything else disappears, and that is a crime when you have Son Dam Bi. Let her shine. Because seriously:

Dam Bi still hot! Repeat! Normalcy restored!

Worth the wait

The girl can more than hold her own. The final scenes of Dam Bi being drowned by a patient ward and emerging on a peaceful beach a “transformed” person are actually pretty powerful. Probably coming from her background as an actress, Dam Bi is able to use her perfect eyes to convey pain, confusion and peace at appropriate moments (in a perfect way. Cuz she’s perfect). Son Dam Bi definitely gives it her all and does all the little things to make the video as good as it is.

It’s almost this good. Almost.

‘Dripping Tears’ is certainly an ambitious effort by the Queen of K-Pop. It avoids the dance-in-a-box trap and has a definite vision. The song and video go together nicely and Dam Bi is fantastically radiant because she’s Dam Bi. The houndstooth horror dance troupe is a misstep for sure but Dam Bi sticks the ending nicely. Does it live up to the hypest of hype that ninety jabillion delays causes? No. Her most popular single ‘Crazy’ is a better song (even as ‘Dripping Tears’ is a better video). But ‘Dripping Tears’ represents a growing maturity for Son Dam Bi that makes me hopeful for what she has in store for the future. Hopefully next time, it won’t take years.

246 Dam Bi’s on a scale of 15862046587515134108 delays.