Year: 2017

[Review] Flower (You) – VAV

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VAV has returned with a new single titled as Flower (You). This is my first time reviewing the group, who made their debut back in 2015 with Under The Moonlight. The group has since returned with a few songs such as No Doubt and this year’s comeback Venus (Dance With Me). The seven-member boy group is currently under A Team Entertainment and their name stands for Very Awesome Vampires. This is a warning for all fans of VAV, I did not enjoy the song.

The song uses the reggae sound that has been an emerging trend in KPOP lately. And while the instrumental was easily identified, it lacked… everything. It attempts to be trendy with its more chill and laidback vibes, but that didn’t work out well. With my first listen, it came off as an ‘okay’ track. But with the second and third listen, you can hear the boring side of the track and more descriptively, the dryness of the track. It lacked energy, which is something the instrumental tends to give. The vocals and raps sequences were okay, but they don’t impress me in any way. If anything, it contributed to the dryness of the song. They threw in the somewhat catchy line “yoo hoo hoo”, which attempts to save the song, but it doesn’t do enough to save the track. But I can overlook all of that. I honestly can. But the one thing I cannot overlook is the bridge of the song. Their tone in their voices was the same as the rest of the song and its return to the final chorus was expected. But what I didn’t expect was that mismatch of the bridge. It was so evident that it left an impression on me and regardless to say, is was not a great impression. I may sound harsh, but that is what I genuinely felt when I listened to the song.

Say that I am close-minded, but the concept of the video was completely different to the song style. I have to say they were close, but it was not the right season for the genre. The song fitted more of a Summer concept. However, the video portrayed a spring concept, which just doesn’t go with the reggae sound. That being said, I thought the colours in the video made it seem appealing. The video shows the girl rejecting the guys on numerous occasions, which I found a little funny. That sounds mean, but she seems like a hard person to impress.

Song – 3/10
Music Video – 5/10
Overall Rating – 4/10

[Weekly Chart] 1st Week of May 2017

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Welcome to the first week of May. Time is going very quickly. University is getting a little hectic as it is approaching the final weeks of the semester. Many assignments and exam preparation need to be done but like any other good student, I haven’t started. Hahahaha… But nonetheless, I am still writing reviews. I will keep with the ‘at least 1 review’ per day rule, but some weeks the writing and publishing of them might be all over the place.

Once again, for the third week in a row, Laboum’s Hwi Hwi has kept their grips on the first place position. Joining them on the top end of the charts is Triple H and their new song, 365 Fresh, while Monsta X’s Beautiful rejoins the top end at 3rd position. Rounding out the top 5 is Varsity with Hole in One and SECHSKIES’ Be Well.

Next week is going to be another quiet week. Not much is being released this week from what I can see. Han Dong Geun, VAV, Onew & Rocoberry’s releases from last week will be joining the charts next week. Along with them will be DAY6 and Psy.

Here is a legend to help you understand the chart’s status column below:
Green (↑)  – Song has gone up in ranking
Red (↓) – Song has gone down in ranking
Blue (=) – Song has remained in the same position as the previous week
Orange (new) – Song debuts on the chart
Grey (Final Week) – Song appears on the chart for its final week.

30th Apr – 6th May 2017
Title Artist Status
1 Hwi Hwi Laboum (=)
2 365 Fresh Triple H (new)
3 Beautiful Monsta X (↑ 1)
4 Hole In One Varsity (new)
5 Be Well SECHSKIES (new)
6 Rumour K.A.R.D (↓ 4)
7 Now, Us Lovelyz (new)
8 Wonder If Junhyung (HIGHLIGHT) (new)
9 Night Rather Than Day EXID (↓ 2)
10 I’ll Be Yours Girl’s Day (↑ 15)
11 Really Really Winner (↑ 1)
12 Never Ever GOT7 (↓ 3)
13 Good Night Dream Catcher (↑ 22)
14 Palette IU ft. G-Dragon (Big Bang) (↓ 11)
15 It’s Still Beautiful HIGHLIGHT (↑ 35)
16 Easy Love SF9 (↓ 11)
17 Sad Song SECHSKIES (new)
18 Wee Woo PRISTIN (↑ 14)
19 Fingertips Gfriend (↑ 19) (Final Week)
20 Plz Don’t Be Sad HIGHLIGHT (↑ 8)
21 Fool Winner (↑ 21)
22 Tension Up IMFACT (↑ 12)
23 Movie BTOB (↑ 18) (Final Week)
24 Make Me Love You Taeyeon (SNSD) (↑ 6)
25 Rollin’ Brave Girls (↓ 8) (Final Week)
26 Without U Romeo (↑ 23) (Final Week)
27 Steal Your Heart Unit Black (↑ 2)
28 I’m Serious DAY6 (↓ 17)
29 Ninano Gong Minzy (↓ 7)
30 At The End Changsub (BTOB) (↑ 14)

Songs leaving the chart this week (and will not appear starting next week):

Title Artist Peak Position No. Of weeks in Top 30 Final Week’s Position
Eyez Eyez VICTON 8 5 31
How Can I Say DAY6 4 7 41
Movie BTOB 2 7 23
Fingertips Gfriend 1 8 19
Wake Me Up B.A.P 4 6 38
Rollin’ Brave Girls 2 9 25
Without U Romeo 12 4 26
Yeah BLANC7 17 4 39

That is all for this week! See you all next Sunday for next week’s chart!

[Review] Lullaby – Onew (SHINee) & Rocoberry

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This week’s SM Station track features Onew from SHINee and Rocoberry, a Korean indie duo. SM Station’s Lullaby is a remake of Rocoberry’s Lullaby. This song joins the growing list of SM Station Season 2 songs, including Dream In A Dream by Ten (NCT), Would U by Red Velvet, Spring Rain by BoA and many others.

Like what the name suggests, the song is a ballad and a really nice one. It fits into the ‘Lullaby’ style of music. It’s very calming and sounds beautiful. I have never heard of Rocoberry (and probably won’t go investigating), but Roco (the female of the duo and the one you can hear in the song) has an amazing voice that compliments Onew’s vocals, which we all know. Both sound superb and amazing. This track also confirms one thing. We need a solo song from Onew. Given the quality of this collaboration,  I have such high expectations. The calmness of the track is quite effective and probably be a track I will turn to in the future if I want to calm down (I was writing an assignment before writing this review). While the instrumental isn’t amazing, the mix between guitar and piano makes it a little interesting. Like most lullabies, however, the track sadly falls towards the more boring side of music. I honestly can’t wish for more, mainly because of its style. Otherwise, I would ruin the track and its calming vibes.

The music video isn’t anything fancy. There are closeups of Onew and Roco by themselves and once we reach the chorus, we see images of a couple dancing in the forest. It matched the song quite nicely and didn’t incorporate anything flashy or ‘loud’ to cause any viewing displeasures. Onew was unrecognisable when I first watched the video, which resulted in me doing a double take and rewatching the video to prove otherwise.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Crazy – Han Dong Geun

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Han Dong Geun rose to the top of the charts last year with his debut track, Making A New Ending For This Story (which was actually released back in 2014 )and his 2016 comeback, Amazing You. Now, Han Dong Geun has returned to the stage with his first album, Your Diary, and the title track, Crazy.

I found it very hard to start off the review for Crazy. Mainly because words cannot describe the song. Han Dong Geun has quickly risen to the top, to be one of the best male vocalists that I have heard on the Korean music scene. All of his past works have been sufficient evidence of that and this song cements his position on my list of Best Male Vocalist. He warned us that the song may take our breath away and that is what it exactly did. He went down the ballad route, so there were no surprises there. However, his voice goes all out for this song. And that makes your generic ballad instrumental into a chart-topping worthy song. The chorus is just pure bliss. The melody was amazing and I love the further build-up within the chorus. What also makes this song so good is that his voice does not leave you hanging. Instead, he brings it down to a suitable level and continues on. Even though I do not understand Korean, the level of emotion that his voice delivers to the song is remarkable and can be felt throughout, from the start to the very end. Overall, if you love a good ballad or need some sort of warmth in your day, this is the song to check out and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

The music video matches the heartbreak that is expressed in the song. Essentially what we see in the video is that the girl moves back into the house but is constantly reminded of her relationship, where in reality it had already ended. She tries her best to forget everything, like burning all the pictures (how cliche is that) and breaking the presents he gave her. However, it is not enough and she slowly starts going crazy, imagining him there with her. I guess at the end, we see scratches on her legs, which may indicate that she caused harm to herself. My assumption with the ending of the video is that she took her life and woke up in heaven, to which her imaginative boyfriend opened the door to the light and that left a smile on her face. We must applaud the actress in the video because her acting was amazing. It made everything feel more captivating and interesting to watch. You feel the coldness in scenes (that or I should turn my heater on) but Han Dong Geun’s voice makes it feel warmer, despite him singing about heartbreak and loss.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 10/10

 

[Review] Wonder If – Junhyung (HIGHLIGHT) ft. Heize

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After rebranding into HIGHLIGHT, there were rumours floating about with Junhyung’s impending return as a solo artist. It seems like those rumours were true and hence we are all here today. Junhyung previously made his solo debut with Flower and returned last year with After This Moment (featuring Davii). His comeback is titled as Wonder If and features Heize.

Junhyung delves into the RnB side of the Korean music scene with his latest release. His main duty if HIGHLIGHT is to be the main rapper, however, here he sings the entire song. Something that is a little foreign for the established rapper. That being said, I always find rappers have a unique voice that lets them add a different colour to their group songs. Here, Junhyung shines like never before with his catchy and addictive track. It’s the RnB feel that I enjoy listening to. The chorus was probably the best bit of the entire song. I love the way he delivered his lines as if it was to make it jaggered, yet somehow remaining smooth the entire way. The melodies during the chorus are also amazing. While I did say his voice shines, the track does feel quite neutral as you move towards the end. Heize’s featuring was the much-needed relief and added that needed colour to the song. Her voice also gives the song an extra level of depth, which ends up transforming the song into something even better. Overall, this song is one really amazing and worthwhile collaboration.

The same cannot be said about the music video, unfortunately. While I enjoyed the song, the video feels empty and lacking. There isn’t a whole much going on in the video, besides Junhyung singing in various sets. I am not the type of person who would sit around and watch that. Even Heize’s addition to the video couldn’t save the video for me. The video was dark, which matches Junhyung’s associated sound and style. The video was edited to seem like you were drunk, which did give it an alluring appeal, which only lasted for a while. Besides that, I am not a fan of the video.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 5/10
Overall Rating –  7.5/10

 

[Review] Now, Us – Lovelyz

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Lovelyz has returned with their repackaged album of their second album, R U Ready?. They previously made their comeback with WoW! in February and this week released the repackaged album, along with the title track Now, Us.

Now, Us throws you back to their more earlier works. It feels distinctively familiar and distinctively Lovelyz. While I do want to hear a different sound from the group, such as WoW! (which kept that distinct Lovelyz sound but also added a different flavour), this track works nicely as well. The chorus itself is quite catchy and the track, after a few listens becomes quite addictive. Their vocal work is quite good here, especially how the entire track is sung at a higher pitch. It adds a little something different to the track, making it unique to their past tracks that I am fondly reminded of. The problem with this track is that it ends abruptly. While I have made exceptions in the past, the ending for this song felt very premature and it left me wondering if there is more or not. Maybe that is their tactic to make us go back to the song. But it just ruins the flow of the song, which does leave me a little disappointed when I hear the next song on the playlist.

Lovelyz also returned with the style of muisc video that I commonly associate with Lovelyz. Despite this, the video stands alone and suits the music perfectly. Once again, the individual scenes make no sense. However, I am absolutely certain they all add up to some sort of meaning. My guess is that they are nervous when meeting their crush. Nonetheless, it does make the video interesting to watch (mainly because I am trying to make sense of everything). I love how the rooms are quite pale, but some details make the girls stand out, such as they bold blue socks and yellow heels combination. Overall, I genuinely enjoyed the video.

[UPDATED] I think the performances can be cut into two parts. The first would be the more graceful side to match the tempo of the song during the verses, while the chorus showed a more energetic side to the choreography. Overall, I thought the entire performance had a Lovelyz feel, regardless if you find yourself tuning in any of the two parts. The chorus choreography was cute to watch.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8.5/10 [UPDATED]
Overall Rating – 8/10 [UPDATED]

[Review] 365 Fresh – Triple H

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Cube Entertainment unveiled a new subunit comprising of its artists recently, with the group being named as Triple H. The group consist of former 4Minute member Hyuna and Pentagon members Hui and E-Dawn (whose real name is Kim Hyo Jong). 365 Fresh is the title track off the subunit’s first mini album, which is titled as 199X. This is the second subunit formed between labelmates at Cube Entertainment, the other being Trouble Maker, comprising of Hyuna and Hyunseung.

365 Fresh is a really cool song. From the start, its upbeat and fresh sound really does stand out. The song delves into the Funk genre. It actually reminds me of songs that Bruno Mars put out, such as Uptown Funk. And like Uptown Funk, it makes me want to get up just dance to it. The catchy “365 So Fresh” that they repeat throughout the song does the job really well and make the song quite memorable. The vocals and the raps are both superb aspects in this song. I would love to hear a little more from Hyuna in the song. She was there but compared to the guys, her part didn’t shine as much. As for the guys, they did a pretty good job with their raps and vocal work. Together, all 3 members came together and showed a dynamic sound that could potentially rival the dynamics that were brought out to play when Trouble Maker released their songs.

Once again, Cube has put out a music video that was slapped with another 19+ rating. And given the scenes in the video, I am quite sure that the Korean netizens are criticising the video left, right and centre. Onto the plot. Hyuna is a hairdresser, but in the video, she is inappropriately touched by the customer. She protects herself from the customer and ends up killing him. Hui seems to be on the run from a gang. E-Dawn attempts to suicide a few times in the video, but (not too sure here) changes his minds. All three somehow meet on the road and end up escaping their currently lives. Hui actually stole a car and coincidently there is bucket loads of money in the boot of the car, so the three of them live new lives in style. There seemed to be a little bit of tension as Hyuna and E-Dawn seem to fall in love, while Hui third-wheels. In the end, after too much partying, they end up jumping off a building, most likely leading to their deaths. I like the video for its storyline and appeal. That being said, I do not condone violence, drug use, suicide or other themes that appeared in the video.

[UPDATED] While it may not be the usual sexy style that we expect and see from Hyuna, the choreography for 365 Fresh is extremely flirty and works well with the song. Even between the trio, there is some sort of chemistry that can’t really be described, but should rather be witnessed. The guys have big shoes to fill, especially given the portfolio of Hyuna and her choreographies, but the guys fit in wonderful, with the funky dance routine.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10 [UPDATED]
Overall Rating – 9/10 [UPDATED]

 

[Double Review] Sad Song + Be Well – Sechskies

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Sechskies has officially returned with their latest album. For those who do not know, Sechskies is a 6-member boy group who made their debut way back in 1997. They are a hugely successful act boasting releases such as Couple, Com’Back, Chivalry and many others. The group disbanded in 2000, however, reformed in 2016 as a five member group. The group signed on with YG Entertainment and later went on to release 2016 Re-Album, which included all of their past hits. 2017 marks their 20th anniversary and last week, just released their 20th-anniversary album, featuring the title tracks Sad Song and Be Well.

Sad Song is a pretty good song. It hits home runs in some aspects of the song but lacks energy in other parts. Their vocal work is quite good, but once again, the raps are standouts for the song. The verses felt a little empty and dull compared to the rest of the song. The raps and the chorus gave the song the colour it needed, despite the song sounding quite neutral all throughout. The instrumental delves into the electro sound but it is pretty generic. If the instrumental was bolder, I feel like the song could have worked better.
Be Well is on a whole different level. Listening to the song, you can feel the YG influences. Combining it with the Sechskies group and you might have a winning combination. I love the ballad feels this song, but it also can serve as a nice dance feel to it, which opens the possibility for creative direction. But we are not here to talk about that. The vocal work here is much better here, than compared to the previous song. While it did sound more like a monologue, the rap felt underwhelming. I think a more emotional centred rap could have made the song sound more impactful. The song overall had a more appealing melody which was soft and almost soothing.

Both music video suited their respective songs. Sad Song played with a more upbeat feel and while the music video does bring out the emotions through the scenes, the video felt just right for the electronic sounds. The video shows the guys recovering from a breakup (I think), so there isn’t much to talk about. More interestingly, the cinematography in this video makes it seem cool and made the video appear more flashy, which goes back to suiting the song. Be Well had a more dramatic video, but it too suited the song’s ballad feels. What made the video look cool was the fact they sat in ‘rain’ throughout the video. They also showed the first-person perspective on the relationship, which does make it unique.

I really can’t make that many comments on the choreography. Mainly because they are nearing their forties and still can dance better than me. The dance for Sad Song lacked energy and felt weak, which matched the emotional side of the song, but not the electro sound. Be Well had a more suitable dance but it was boring to watch. However, their stage presence on both stages and the fan chants just prove what great influence they still have after 20 years.

Sad Song
Song – 6/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 5/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

Be Well
Song – 7/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 6/10
Overall Rating – 7/10

[Review] Hole In One – VARSITY

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VARSITY is a 12-member boy group currently under CSO Entertainment. They previously made their debut at the start of the year with U R My Only One, which I ended not reviewing due to time commitments. However, they did appear on my Weekly KPOP Charts, peaking at 19th position. This is the group’s first comeback since their debut.

Hole In One is a complete change, compared to their debut single. U R My Only One was a much darker song, which sounded more dramatic and tough. However, their new single is bright and vibrant. While I do prefer the darker and stronger sound from boy groups, there have been many instances where boy groups have put out iconic bright songs that everyone loves. In this case, however, I am torn when it comes to the song. This song falls in the “not bad” category, where most of those cute songs end up.  Their vocal work is pretty good but their raps are the standout in the song. I was blown away from the raps. There were some parts of the song that had a nice chill vibe going through, such as the post-chorus section. While it did manage to appear on my radar in the past week, the song isn’t catchy enough to remain on my radar for much longer. For the most part, it felt flavourless and didn’t have much of a hook. The instrumental also could have been a little more vibrant or at least faster. The song felt sluggish and slow for the most part, which didn’t present well when I first listened to it.

The video is okay, more typical than anything else. The guys essentially find a cute girl and end up following her to the golf course, where she eventually teaches one of them golf. Though it drew on the song title, it was a sad attempt of incorporating golf into the story line. I am also suprised that she wasn’t creeped out by 12 guys following her around. Anyway, I didn’t mind the choreography scenes in the video. I thought they looked quite good. As for those random scenes where some girls were just dancing along to the music, I honestly do not get why those scenes were included in the music video. It didn’t really fit with the rest of the video.

As for the dance, it was good for the slow tempo that the song had. It, too, matched the song’s bright and vibrant energy, which shows another side of the group to the audience.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 6/10 
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

[Weekly Chart] 4th Week of April 2017

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Welcome to the final week of April 2017. Once again, I hope you all have had a great week. Just a heads up but I am currently bracing for the final weeks of the semester, so the release of the reviews for the month of May maybe a little awkward. From what I hear, the first 2 weeks of May is going to be a little empty due to the elections in South Korea, so that will provide me with the chance to catch up.

Laboum maintains their throne at the top of the charts for the second week in a row. Monsta X and SF9 rise into the top of the charts of this week, in fourth and fifth position respectively. As for second place, K.A.R.D’s latest single, Rumour takes over this position, while third place goes to IU with her collaboration with G-Dragon, Palette. All of the top 5 songs from last (aside from Laboum’s Hwi Hwi) saw a drop in the charts. Some drops were quite drastic, so scroll down and see where they are!

As mentioned before, a few news outlets have mentioned that due to the South Korean Presidential Elections, companies will be avoiding this week (and possibly the following week) and few artists will be returning. The weekly music shows have been confirmed to not be airing next week. However, that being said, there will some artists releasing some new content including Triple H, Lovelyz, VAV and Junhyung from HIGHLIGHT. In addition to them, but BoA’s, VARSITY and Secheskies’ releases from the previous week will be included in next week’s charts.

Here is a legend to help you understand the chart’s status column below:
Green (↑)  – Song has gone up in ranking
Red (↓) – Song has gone down in ranking
Blue (=) – Song has remained in the same position as the previous week
Orange (new) – Song debuts on the chart
Grey (Final Week) – Song appears on the chart for its final week.

23rd Apr – 29th Apr 2017
Title Artist Status
1 Hwi Hwi Laboum (=)
2 Rumour K.A.R.D (new)
3 Palette IU ft. G-Dragon (Big Bang) (new)
4 Beautiful Monsta X (↑ 2)
5 Easy Love SF9 (↑ 19)
6 Across The Universe JungGiGo (new)
7 Night Rather Than Day EXID (↓ 4)
8 Through The Night IU (↑ 36)
9 Never Ever GOT7 (↓ 2)
10 Coloring Book Oh My Girl (↓ 1)
11 I’m Serious DAY6 (↑ 3)
12 Really Really Winner (↓ 4)
13 Pattern Lee Hae Ri (Davichi) (↑ 38)
14 Love Is Teen Top (↓ 4)
15 Back:Hug Snuper (new)
16 Wonderful Love Momoland (new)
17 Rollin’ Brave Girls (↓ 2)
18 How Can I Say DAY6 (↑23)
19 Ending Scene IU (new)
20 A Girl Like Me Gugudan (↑ 9) (Final Week)
21 Between Us CN Blue (↑ 7)
22 Ninano Gong Minzy (↓ 9)
23 2GETHER INX (↑ 15)
24 Will You Go Out With Me? DIA (new)
25 I’ll Be Yours Girl’s Day (↓ 23)
26 Lonely Jonghyun (SHINee) ft. Taeyeon (SNSD) (new)
27 Hate That I Miss You Lee Hae Ri (Davichi) (new)
28 Plz Don’t Be Sad HIGHLIGHT (↓ 11)
29 Steal Your Heart Unit Black (↓ 13)
30 Make Me Love You Taeyeon (SNSD) (↓ 10)

Songs leaving the chart this week (and will not appear starting next week):

Title Artist Peak Position No. Of weeks in Top 30 Final Week’s Position
Let Me Love You JungGiGo & Chanyeol (EXO) 18 1 55
Circle’s Dream Subin (Dal Shabet) 27 1 –
WoW! Lovelyz 7 (x2) 7 40
Love Line HIGH4 32 – 56
Reminiscing Ailee 31 – –
A Girl Like Me Gugudan 5 (x2) 9 20

Someday

 BTOB 23 3 54
Fine Taeyeon (SNSD) 3 4 39

See you all again next week!!!

[Review] Spring Rain – BoA

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BoA is finally back with a new single, in the form of  SM Station release. It has been a while since we heard from the soloist. Last year, she also participated in another SM Station release, No Matter What, which also features Beenzino. Prior to the release of Spring Rain, she called her company out for writing her name incorrectly on the teaser image.

Spring Rain is another experimental track that goes nicely with all the other SM Station releases. The song also delves into the R&B genre. I have probably heard this style before somewhere but there is something that makes this song quite unique and fresh. The first is her voice. The song really allows her voice to shine. From the chorus to the long note at the end, everything sounds amazing with her voice. The second aspect is the instrumental. It is honestly quite calming and refreshing. The song’s lyrics aren’t exactly bright as other Spring songs, such as Would U by Red Velvet. However, the instrumental has a bit brightness to it, while still complementing the darker lyrics. It is honestly a type of instrumental that I wouldn’t mind listening to by itself. There are whispers at the start and the end of the song. I don’t mind them and they seem to contribute to the aesthetics of the song. However, they really don’t do much to the rest of the song and sound like it belongs elsewhere, rather than this particular single. That being said, the song overall sound pretty good, as well.

Once again, SM Station has gone with a video with a lot of aesthetics, which works well with the song. I personally love videos with odd camera angles and the way filters were applied to the video makes it look urban and industrial. It is like they took a whole bunch of stockpiled videos and manage to work it with their idea of the music video. The video itself shows a couple at the start of their relationship and (what I assume) the breakdown of their relationship. While the video was edited to be in slow-motion, the acting the video is quite good. Their scenes together don’t seem to do much, but when they are by themselves (i.e. the lady walking around and the guy just laying on the bed), the scenes become stronger and adds more meaning to the video. Overall, it was a nice video that went well with the song.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Review] Wonderful Love – Momoland 

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Momoland has returned with their first comeback and Wonderful Love. The group debuted with Jjan! Koong! Kwang! at the end of 2016 and the song has since grown on me. The group has added two new members, Daisy and Kim Taeha, bringing the total members of the group to 9.

Wonderful Love packs a punch. The song a very grand feel, which follows on nicely from their catchy chorus in their debut song. Like their debut song, this one has me singing along. It’s really catchy and within a few listens, it has me coming back. I love the instrumental, with the grand orchestra feel that I am always a sucker for. The cutesy sound doesn’t feel like it is over-the-top. Instead, it feels lesser than what we heard before. I love the dynamic chorus. While the song does fall in the cutesy category, the chorus gives the song have a much grander feel and it is quite dominating. It’s another song that makes me smile, especially the lyrics of support. Overall, the song is made to grab your attention and that is something that the song definitely does. It is definitely a strong song, one that is unexpected from the pool of cutesy songs that I am used to. And it is one song that is worth listening to.

The music video is okay to watch. There isn’t much to talk about the video at the start but once we get to the end of the video and song, the epic feels of the song are channelled nicely in the video. The video largely consists of choreography shots and close ups. However, the video does mix in scenes where the girls hang out and have fun around the theme park, which the video is shot in. What makes it epic (for me, at least) was the final choreography shot which brought in many backup dancers to join in. It made the video look pretty cool. I know, probably doesn’t look that epic. But with the music, it came off as cool and epic to me.

Now, the part of the review that I was wanting to write. It is ‘dab-central’ with this dance routine. Quite unexpected and quite ridiculous. But it is extremely fitting for the song and I love it. It may be an odd combination but I continually find myself going back to the performances, which means they have done something right.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Lonely – Jonghyun (SHINee) ft. Taeyeon (SNSD)

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Jonghyun has returned with his newest compilation album. The album titled, The Collection: Story Op. 2, is a follow-up to his previous compilation album, The Collection: Story Op. 1, which contained the main track End of a Day. The main track from the new album features Taeyeon from SNSD and is titled Lonely. A compilation album, for those who don’t know, consists of songs that have been previously released or recordings that have not been released before. Some of the tracks have been unveiled on Jonghyun’s radio show before, while some are new releases.

The song falls into the ballad category, as expected. And it is a good ballad. The song opens up with a simple piano tune and it remains a simple sounding song throughout. There is a small dose of catchiness in the song that makes it goes a long way. I cannot resist the urge to sing along to the “I’m So Lonely” lines. The vocals of both Jonghyun and Taeyeon dominate the songs, however still maintaining the balance with the instrumental. Their voices compliment each other quite nicely. The only thing that doesn’t fit right in the song is the emotions in their vocals. It is a sad song, judging from the lyrics and the overall tone of the song. And while I can hear the emotions in their voices, it was subtle and at times lacking. While I am glad that it is not “in-your-face”, it made the lack of emotions made it feel dry and generic at parts. Furthermore, the song really didn’t seem that memorable. Besides that one line (mentioned early on in the paragraph), I don’t really remember much from the song after listening to it.

The music video fits the loneliness that the song presses on about. Only Jonghyun features in the music video and he looks lonely. There were some scenes that were powerful, especially the one with the tallies on his arm. Overall, the aesthetics of the video made it looked cool, despite it being slow and empty. An example would be the camera shots. Rather than focusing on Jonghyun, they focused on his mouth, which occupied only part of the screen. It probably doesn’t look that fancy but I thought it looked cool. You would think I would find boring, but rather I thought it complimented the song quite well. Besides that, there isn’t much else to talk about (and I am stopping myself here before I start rambling on about other irrelevant stuff).

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7/10

 

[Review] Back:Hug – Snuper

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Time to add another already-debuted group to the site! Snuper is officially back with their first comeback for 2017, with the title track Back:Hug and the mini-album, I Wanna?. The six-member boy group (currently under Widmay Entertainment and debuted in 2015) landed on my radar after the release of It’s Raining. Other songs from the group’s past discography also include You=Heaven, Platonic Love and Shall We Dance.

After their groovy track, It’s Raining, I expected a track equally as groovy and catchy. Back:Hug attempts to get there, but it just doesn’t feel right. The instrumental is EDM based, more precisely the tropical house style of music. It was good, but it felt flat, with no parts attempting to flare up and stand out in the song. The same could be said with their vocals. Some parts sounded good, other parts felt very dull and disconnected to the rest of the song. Honestly, the two seemed like two separate layers coming together, with little attempts at making them match or blend with each other.  The raps were pretty good. I could tell that they tried to follow the same structure as It’s Raining though, which is pretty smart. However, all of what I have said so far could be thrown out of the window. A similar structure could simply be the selling point for me. I can see this track growing on me, mainly because it reminds me of their previous track. However, for now, the song overall falls short of reaching the goal of topping It’s Raining for me.

There isn’t much going in the video for Back:Hug. The video consists of many close up shots, which are all shot in different areas and choreography scenes, which how most videos go nowadays. There really isn’t much appeal from the video, which does disappoint me. The camera work was interesting, which the camera shots angled abstractly, which made it look trendy. There is an aspect of the video which I didn’t really understand. But some parts were slowed down for just a few seconds, which really made the video feel dragged out. All of that being said though, I don’t mind the video. I don’t find it overly boring, which is a big plus, given what the video compromises and how it doesn’t really stand out in the crowd.

Those few seconds of slowing down made the video feel dragged out, but they also slowed the choreography down. So I tried to watch a live performance of it, and I think I can say that for the majority of the choreography, the dance feels just right. However, the verses felt a tad slower than the tempo of the music, which stood out. Their dance break was quite good. Short, but cool to watch.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 5/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 6/10

[Review] Rumour – K.A.R.D

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No, it is not a ‘rumour’, but K.A.R.D is officially back with another single. K.A.R.D is a four-member coed group who previously released Oh Na Na last year and Don’t Recall earlier this year. They have yet to make their official debut but have been using these pre-debut singles as a way to build up a fanbase and get some recognition, similar to what Mamamoo did before they debuted.

Similar to their other singles, the group has gone for the tropical house genre again, but this time mixing a reggae sound into it. It suits the upcoming Summer season in South Korea. While I do like their song this time, it does feel a little flat. There is enough for me to know that they can be somewhat versatile with their music, but unless they start changing up their sound entirely (such as moving away from the tropical house sounds), they are going to get boring fast. I personally don’t enjoy autotune that much, but they didn’t seem to overuse it that much here. Instead, it allowed the guys to open the song and actually sing, besides rapping, which is a little different from their past tracks. I also liked how they merged into with the girls. There is a small part at the end of each chorus where the guys start to sing, then the girls join in and the 4 of them finish off that one line. The instrumental break is cool and the vocals/raps overall were probably their best thus far. The question is, did I like it? Not initially. It seemed generic (hence my comments) but a few listens in, I can see it getting a bit more addictive. Give me until the end of today and I probably am just going to be playing this song non-stop.

I personally liked the music video. It’s dark but not too dark, so each time I am watching it, I am trying to see if there is anything new. So far, I have noticed a few things that I haven’t noticed in the few times I have already watched the music video. Their visuals here are no joke. Each of them looks amazing in the video and the lighting just showcased their visuals even more. The only thing that I thought was odd was the mobile phone frame for the video. It looked cool but it just felt so limiting.

It seems like K.A.R.D will continue to put out key point dances for all of their choreographies. This one is quite easy, unlike their last one, which involved strong ankles. I have no idea what it is called, but it fits the reggae and tropical vibes of the song quite nicely. The rest of dance looked quite cool as well, from what I could see from the music video.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10

 

[Double Review] Hate That I Miss You + Pattern – Lee Hae Ri (Davichi)

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You may recognise Lee Hae Ri as one-half of the powerhouse duo Davichi, who debuted in 2008 alongside Kang Min Kyung. Skip forward almost 9 years, and Lee Hae Ri officially made her solo debut this year with the release of her first ever solo mini-album, h. Pattern is the pre-release, while Hate That I Miss You is the mini album’s title track.

Hate That I Miss You is your typical ballad. I expected that Lee Hae Ri would go down the ballad route and this is exactly what I had in mind. I did expect a little more to the instrumental, but this is still good. The song’s instrumental is only a piano in the background, which does make it interesting to an extent. But it did become dry quite quickly. But what kept the song going was definitely the vocals. It dominated the song and her voice just blows you away, especially those high notes at the end of the song.
To me, Pattern was the song that stole the show. As I mentioned before, I had expected Lee Hae Ri to release ballads for her solo, since that is what she and her group member is known for. But instead, we got this indie and upbeat track from her that was something completely unexpected from her. Still falling under the umbrella genre of a ballad, the song is amazing to listen to. Her vocals are shown off here as much as they are in Hate That I Miss You but the instrumental gives it a better kick. The song has a very nice melody. Her launch into the chorus and the chorus sounds like a different song altogether from the verses, but they were pulled together with a consistent instrumental, which I loved. It is a simple song (as well) when you listen to it, but it hits all the right notes.

The video for Hate That I Miss You is pretty simple. The artist is just sitting in a room, playing the piano while singing to the song. There isn’t anything else to talk about in the video, besides it is visually a nice video with the camera shots but it doesn’t have much to captivate me with.
Pattern‘s video shows an edgier side to Lee Hae Ri. The visuals and aesthetics in this video are really good, which suits the unique side of the song. There were moments where she maintained eye contact with the camera, which was tad creepy. Throughout the video, she reminded me of a doll. From the way she had a blank facial expression to the way she sat throughout the video. Altogether, the video comes off as pretty creepy, which (to me at least) makes it interesting to watch, although I don’t know what is really going on.

Hate That I Miss You
Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

Pattern
Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.5/10