I got out an instrument and started analysing the harmony for “New” – it didn’t take long. The song has only four chords, and these are Am, Dm, Bb, F – this never changes. The backing becomes louder and softer, rhythm and melody are given greater or less emphasis, but the harmony is completely static. So using traditional music theory functional harmony which would determine the start of the four-chord sequence as the root of the song, that would translate to i-iv-bII-VI… which mathematically means the song is tonally in “A phrygian” mode? The melody fits this as well, however the song doesn’t even remotely have the flamenco-esque “modal” sound that is present in obvious phrygian-raised-3rd pieces such as Dick Dale & The Del Tones’ “
Misirlou” or any number of
thrash metal guitar solos. So if it’s not phrygian, what is it – minor or major? Perhaps the Am is an anacrusis (or hangover from the end of the previous four) and the Dm is the start of the sequence, meaning that in functional harmony the song is i-vi-III-v, but that doesn’t quite fit either, the song’s melody has a joyous sound which is much more in keeping with major tonality than minor. Now if we’re talking major scales, then this would mean that the true chord progression is iii-vi-IV-I, so in other words the root chord or the “home base” of the song is the F major which is the
last chord in the sequence of four chords. I can’t think of another example off the top of my head in any commercial pop music anywhere that fucks with a four chord structure in this way by making you wait for the key harmony for the first three chords (I’m not talking about intros, I’m talking about simple chords in the body of the song). As a result, because the song takes that fucking long to resolve (a three chord wait before the root chord hits for the first time is an
eternity in any pop song sequence, let alone one where those four chords are literally all there is) the song constantly feels like it’s on a forward journey. This harmonic movement actually forms the conceptual basis of the song itself which is then also manifested further by the churning rhythms, a melody that
also rarely resolves by skating around the root more often than not, and also is then reflected lyrically as well as thematically with the music video. “New” actually surprised me by genuinely living up to its name and being a
new, fresh sound – there simply isn’t another k-pop song remotely like this anywhere right now.