JOO and Leeteuk are as sweet as "Ice Cream"...

JOO and Leeteuk in a promo pic from their release "Ice Cream"

It's been a while since I've heard of any Korean releases from Super Junior since "Bonamana" was released last year. Being a big fan of Super Junior myself, I was particularly piqued by JOO's latest release titled "Ice Cream" which features Leeteuk, the leader of SuJu, on the cover. Collaboration has always been a strong point of Kpop, and being able to see pop stars like JOO and Leeteuk work together on a single is always a treat.

Since Super Junior has been on hiatus for sub-unit activities, it's not uncommon to see some of the members do collabs with other artists. Currently "Super Junior M" (the "M" standing for Mandarin, since it's a sub-unit of SuJu focused on the Chinese market; the sub-unit consists of Siwon, Donghae, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Sungmin and EunHyuk, together with Henry and Zhou Mi of SM Entertainment China) has been preoccupied with their album release in China, while "Super Junior KRY" (a ballad sub-unit consisting of Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Yesung) just released a single that was used as a title song for a talent search in Korea.

The collab track "Ice Cream" was just released together with it's MV earlier this week. It's a light-hearted pop love song  about the squabbles between couples that make them realize how much they mean to one another. I find it cute that they use "ice cream" as an analogy to how we "melt" when we know the person we love is being sweet to us (especially after a fight... hehehe!). It's classic Kpop at its best! JOO and Leeteuk harmonize very well, and show a good amount of chemistry since they sound like they really are a couple. No wonder the song resonates very well with their fans!

Now, I began to ask myself --- "Who is JOO?" It was my first time to hear her sing, and she was pretty good. It was funny that after I watched the MV for the song I suddenly realized that she was part of the cast of "Dream High" as one of the classmates of Eun Jung and Suzie in the series. She's got a wonderful voice, and I will be looking into her past work just to hear more of her. 

The MV is equally light-hearted, showcasing a very simple scene between a boyfriend and his girlfriend spending a sweet afternoon date together. I like the color filter they used in the MV that gave a hazy, dreamy pastel feel to the entire MV. JOO and Leeteuk are wonderful together, and they're able to translate their vocal harmony and chemistry very well into this video. It was a bit funny that they kept hanging on to a cone of ice cream in practically most scenes in the vid, but hey... it's the theme of the song!

The song's definitely a keeper, and it's a very good example of Kpop cheese that you just learn to love and appreciate when you're a real fan of the genre. 

"Ice Cream" by JOO and Leeteuk (MV with Eng Subs)

NOTE:  Super Junior is also preparing for their Japanese debut through a Japanese release of the song "Bonamana" titled "Bijin" (I think it roughly translates to "Beautiful", but I'm not really sure... hehehe!). Definitely another milestone for the boys! Looking forward to October when they begin to set their sights on their comeback in Korea.

The boys of Suju --- (L to R) Upper Row: Ryeowook, Donghae, Siwon, Leeteuk and Sungmin;
Bottom Row: Yesung,  Eun Hyuk, Heechul, Kyuhyun, and Shindong