Oh what incomparable euphoria has the Sistar Summer Specials brought us over the past six or more years, right? Their comebacks were equivalent to a good ol’ movie that gathers the family in the living room during a snowy Christmas Eve. Or a refreshing beverage that is a hit among the young ones and the young once during a festive family picnic at the park. Or a song like Auld Lang Syne that bridges feuding hearts together by shaking it or touching each other’s bodies.

Life has never been the same ever since 2017.

That is why Hyolyn’s newest single “Bae” carries a lot of meaning, nostalgia, and happiness all wrapped in one – especially to those who can’t spell “summer” without “sistar” (all of us, basically).

“Bae” covers a lot of Sistar essentials – from the sounds down to the sights. Like all the Sistar summer singles, it is pleasantly refreshing with a dash of the legendary group’s cheeky sexiness. It is so Sistar that you can easily identify which parts would go to Bora, Soyou, and Dasom.

Most fans would have given the “summer queens” to Red Velvet now but Bae reminds you that the honor will forever be with the B-E-S-T Sistar.

The familiarity continues to the video which is a basically a combination of the Loving U, I Swear, Touch My Body, and Shake It videos. And there’s nothing wrong with that at all!

If it isn’t clear enough, this is basically a Sistar comeback. If you’re one shady ass freak, then you can say that Bae only proves that Hyolyn can really just do this alone (partially true) and that Sistar has always been Hyolyn + friends. However, there is a certain magic to them performing as a group. The song would just work with Soyou’s whispery vocals (Hyolyn does this in the song too), Bora’s reasonable rapping, and Dasom basically trying to keep up. That’s why a Sistar summer single is successful as a group and not as a solo effort.

Hyolyn going back to her Sistar roots is interesting though. I remember an interview (I just can’t find the link) where she said that she has been composing a lot of tracks for Sistar but a lot of them get rejected for being too “experimental” for the group. I think the limitations to her creative freedom drove her away from working with Starship but with “Bae”, it is kinda clear that in one way or another, she loved what they did with Sistar and she’d be willing to do it again under better conditions for everybody. I think.

I mean, her solo career is one of the most interesting post-girl group narratives in the industry. Establishing your own production and taking charge of all your activities from scratch is one bold step, especially for an industry as vicious as K-Pop. What makes it more satisfying is the fact that you can clearly see in her releases that she is enjoying that freedom. You wouldn’t expect Starship to give her a comeback like “Dally”, right? I just hope that she finds continuous success because a self-made company is one heck of a challenge to handle. And maybe, she can bring the rest of the girls and reform ala B2ST/Highlight (which I think is what they should’ve done when they called it quits but I think I understand where the girls are coming from).

As always, a star1 can only dream. Let’s all just support SeeSea and Bae as much as we can.