A refreshing comeback for Vanilla Lucy with their new album - "Vanilla Party"...

The girls of Vanilla Lucy --- (L to R): Yoo Hye Ra,  Oh Ji Yeon, Eun Hwa, Jung Sora

When idol groups come along, there will always be the challenge to establish your competitive edge. With idol groups debuting left and right, it's difficult to establish that niche that would leave people to want for more of their unique sound. Vanilla Lucy, on the other hand, has a strong defining element in their sound --- most of the girls in the group are instrumentalists!

While other female girl groups focus a lot on their vocal composition or their dancing skills, the 4 member group Vanilla Lucy, composed of Yoo Hye Ra (Cello), Oh Ji Yeon (Violin), Eun Hwa (main vocalist), and Jung Sora (Saxophone), mostly focus their attention on creating unique songs utilizing their various musical talents.

Vanilla Lucy with their former vocalist, Bae Da Hae (3rd from L)

Vanilla Lucy originally debuted in 2010 with the single "Flying Girls" with a slightly different roster. Back then, the group was composed of the band's instrumentalists and their main vocalist, Bae Da Hae. The girls were a unique concept among idol groups because they only had one vocalist, and that the rest of the group supported the vocalist musically through their instruments. Researching their past singles, their sound is typically lively and catchy because of their unique background. Here are a couple of my favorites --- their launching single, "Flying Girls", and "French Love".

"Flying Girls" by Vanilla Lucy (MV Only) 

"French Love" by Vanilla Lucy (MV Only)

Bae Da Hae has since left the group to pursue a career as a solo artist, but the group has remained strong in their craft and has invited a new vocalist to the group --- Eun Hwa. With their new album, "Vanilla Party", which was just released last Tuesday, June 14, Vanilla Lucy brings back their unique flavor to audiences, while playing around with a lot of current trends.

The title track of their album, "Vanilla Party", is a very good example of the "mix" that I was referring to earlier. Apart from hearing the unique musical quality of the track, incorporating the instrumentations of Hye Ra, Ji Yeon and Sora, but what made this track hit a home run for me was the awesome synergy between their style and electro-pop. I can imagine hearing this track as a club remix.

"Vanilla Party" by Vanilla Lucy (Audio Only)

The next two tracks in their mini-album are two versions of the track "Happy Song". Vanilla Lucy struck gold with me with this track because they used my favorite genre of music as the inspiration for this song --- jazz and bossanova. The song is indeed "happy" --- the rhythm and instrumentation were energetic and uplifting. I stood up from my chair and started doing a little mambo in celebration of this epic find (hehehe!). Even better, the other version of the track is an acoustic version of the first! Total ear-gasm!

"Happy Song" - Original Version by Vanilla Lucy (Audio Only)

"Happy Song" - Acoustic Version by Vanilla Lucy (Audio Only)

It's times like this when you discover a new artist that you like when blogging becomes a joy. I absolutely love sharing things that I enjoy with friends and acquaintances. Hopefully you all enjoy the music that Vanilla Lucy as much as I have. I sincerely hope their music finds their way to the Philippines in the future; I'll definitely be one of the first in line to support them!