POLL BELOW!!!

Afer 3 years, YG has let Lee Hi out of his dungeon. Only kidding. Only kidding. It has been 3 years since her last album, but don’t fret. She is finally back with a brand new mini album, titled as Seoulite. This mini album and this promotional run features 2 title tracks, Breathe and Hold My Hand. Both of which will be reviewed today!!!

Breathe is a slow ballad track. And damn is it beautiful or what? The whole time listening to this song, I was captivated by her wonderful vocals and the beautiful instrumental which accompanied the song. The song was free flowing and just felt like perfection to my ears. I read the English translations for most songs I review but this one… The words just roll off the page and I think that is the beauty of the song. Regardless of whether I read the lyrics or not, Lee Hi captured the right emotions and expressed them in the song. It’s one of the few songs where the monotone throughout the song suits it so well. The chorus deviates a little from the rest of the song, but it just adds to that emotion. Beautiful is probably the only word to describe it.

Hold My Hand is a jazzy number that sounds equally as good as Breathe. Her voice definitely fits the jazz genre and this is just evidence of that. “Let me hold your hand…” That line started off the song really well and the rest of the song fell into place after that. It is a much brighter song, which I thought suited her age more. The husky voice just did wonders in this song. Okay, I think it is more like I love the song, but I love the chorus even more. Highlight of the song for was (obviously) the chorus. And the way the song ended was just amazing. The soft “again”s were really nice and added a very fancy feel to the song.  The bridge as well, as a really nice change compared to the rest of the song, but done amazingly right. Okay, I think I am just repeating myself. Both songs equally amazing.

The music videos were both equally amazing. The video’s camera work was probably the best I have ever seen in KPOP. The shots just fitted the song really well. The video goes from Lee Hi singing to shots of random people who are quite sad or upset. Highlighting that “sigh” she sings so often about. The room which she sings from looks like heaven. Well not literally, but as if she was an angel from above, looking down on these people. There were a lot of shots of her on the roof and a few shots look down onto the roads, so I guess it is like she is an angel looking down? That’s my take on the video. Hold My Hand had a really unique video, where we are actually the guy and we see Lee Hi. It is shot with a video game (but like 90s video games) feel to it. A little random, but it looks pretty unique and amazing at the same time. The graphics were really cute nonetheless. The spinning around at the chorus probably was my favourite part of the video. Mainly because we got to see Lee Hi all cute and happy (totally the image I associate with her).

There is a dance for Hold My Hand, but her live singing captivates me a little too much. Hehehehe…

Overall, beautiful comeback that probably raises the bar for all.

Breathe – 10/10

Hold My Hand – 10/10

So, Lee Hi fans… Which song did you prefer more? Should you “Hold My Hand” or just “Breathe”? (lame puns) VOTE BELOW!!!