The Prophet Blog

When most people think of SM Entertainment’s girl groups, SNSD and f(x) are usually the first things that come to mind, but SM actually have a third group on their roster — CSJH The Grace. The quartet formed in 2005 and were moderately successful in South Korea and Japan for a couple of years, but they haven’t been active since 2009 after one of the members sustained a back injury.

It looked like The Grace had been forgotten about until a week ago, when SM unexpectedly announced that the group would be returning as a duo sub-unit named Dana & Sunday. After releasing some teaser photos and trailers, the newly-formed pair made their official comeback tonight with the premiere of their new single and music video “One More Chance”.

The song sounds like a less quirky version of something f(x) might do, with a steady Pitbull-esque beat and a lot of urban-infused electronica. And just like f(x), it takes a few listen to really absorb the addictive qualities of the song. It’s a good track for the pair to come back with because it’s very chart-friendly and current, while still containing a very ‘SM’ sound.

“One More Chance” also has more of a mature edge than say, “Mr. Taxi” or “Gee”, with SM actually marketing Dana & Sunday as young women and not cute little girls like you often see in K-Pop. Their grown-up look can be seen in the music video, which has the pair rocking a variety of styles that are sexy but sophisticated, and edgy but also classy. The video as a whole looks slick and expensive, and while it still has SM’s usual shtick of indoor choreography in front of fancy sets, there’s some more variety, with scenes of a press conference, a shopping trip, and a dance off in front of a Lamborghini. There’s even some humor when Sunday (lookin’ like Koda Kumi up in this bitch) trips on her high heels.

I couldn’t really tell if there was supposed to be an actual plot or not, but if there was, I didn’t get it.

Check out the MV below.

In addition to dropping the “One More Chance” MV, Dana & Sunday made their live performance comeback on tonight’s Music Bank.

During their active years, The Grace were always lauded for their talent and considered one of the best female vocalist groups, which is probably what stopped SM from dropping them during their extended hiatus. Staying true to their talents, Dana & Sunday really brought their A-game to Music Bank’s stage, singing almost their entire song live with continuous choreography and a minimal use of the backing track. This really allowed their vocals to shine, and both ladies showed expert control by actively dancing without sounding pitchy or off key. If any negatives had to be pointed out, it’d probably be that they weren’t always in sync with their movements, but that’ll improve with a couple more performances.

From watching Dana & Sunday on stage, you can really tell that SM are pushing them as the female TVXQ. Both acts are now duos who came from a group; they both have mature images; and both are highly-skilled vocalists and dancers. Dana & Sunday do seem to lack the spine-tingling stage presence of TVXQ though, and “One More Chance” is hardly as epic as anything Yunho and Max have done since joining forces, but it’s still a really strong comeback when compared to most other acts.

Are Dana & Sunday going to be strong enough to carve out a successful career, though? They’ll sell initially because they’re from SM Entertainment, but SM’s sales expectations are high, and there’s gonna be extra pressure on the pair to deliver after f(x)’s enormously successful Pinocchio promotions.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how they fare on the charts and music programs.

Anyway, According to SM, The Grace will actually return as a quartet in the future once the other two members finish up their current individual activities. I’m not sure if that’s actually true or if SM just wanted play Mr. Diplomatic to calm The Grace’s stans over Dana & Sunday’s debut as a sub-unit, but if it is then at least Brown Eyed Girls will finally have some real vocal competition for once.

Check out Dana & Sunday’s live performance below.