CLC is nominated for Best Female Group and Most Underrated Artist in the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Click here to vote for CLC!
One of the many groups that I have grown concerned for is CLC. One of the many problems they face is their lack of promotions, with Cube Entertainment pushing their more popular acts onto the stage. Notice how each of Cube’s artists have two releases in 2018 and CLC has only one (Black Dress). Now, their main vocalist, Elkie, has made her solo debut. But once again, no promotions. Actually, I don’t think many people caught wind of her solo debut due to the lack of promotional material in the lead up to her solo debut. As upsetting as it is, I hope my review isn’t too late and will hopefully introduce Elkie and CLC to a wider audience.
Elkie’s solo debut song is titled I Dream and it is a ballad. I find this ballad very typical but in a good way. It has all the aspects that I think makes it a good ballad. That swayable effect that I mention often as a criterion for my personal taste is ticked off here. And going hand-in-hand with that effect is the soothing nature of the instrumentation, which is made up of piano and soft violins (which, once again, is rather typical). Her vocals are really nice. I know of her capabilities given her work in CLC songs but this shifts a new focus towards her for me, which I think makes this a pretty decent solo debut. I also think there is a slight hook in the chorus of the song when she sings I Dream. I find it somewhat memorable. Altogether, everything is coming together well. Maybe she could have gone for something much more memorable, but I Dream was very nicely done.
There were many shots throughout the video that showed off her beauty. I thought the video showcased nice scenery, regardless if it was just a simple walk in the park or those nightlife images. I haven’t looked into the lyrics but based on the video, it shows Elkie trying to find herself and determine what her dreams are. It is a nice video that matches the song really nicely.
Song – 8/10 Music Video – 8/10 Overall Rating – 8/10
Vote in this year’s KPOPREVIEWED Awards and support your favourite artists. Do so by clicking here.
Continuing the blue theme for the last few reviews (Onew’s solo release, titled Blue and Mamamoo’s album review for BLUE;S) is UP10TION’s latest release, Blue Rose, which is featured on the group’s 9th mini-album. This is the group’s first comeback since the release of their special single, So Beautiful back in August of this year. The group has also been active in Japan with their Chaser comeback.
Blue Rose starts off with what seems to promise to their most edgy sound yet. And they do a pretty good job with maintaining that level of edginess throughout the song. The rapping during this start (along with the rest of the rapping) was really cool, giving the song a really rough exterior. The instrumental gave the song a powerful kick, especially during the choruses. I really liked that brief pause after the first line of the chorus, giving that striking impact to the song. The bridge was also quite nice, bringing in a minimalist dance break, which I thought was quite cool. However, there were some things that hold is back from being an amazing song. The vocals felt bland. Because the song felt like the first verse/chorus was just copied and pasted, it left the vocals hanging and not really build up all that much. I felt like they could have spiced the song up a tiny bit towards the end, which would have made it a lot more interesting.
The music video seems to show two opposing sides. The more casually dressed UP10TION seemed to represent the fugitives, while the smartly dressed UP10TION shows the Chasers (based on the teasers). The fugitives have the Blue Rose, which the chasers are trying to obtain. We don’t really see any plot development, as the teasers made it out to be, which was a mega disappointment. In the end, we just see the chasers confront the fugitives and the video ends there. Pretty boring, if you ask me. Where is the action or the mystery? Moving to more positives, I liked their outfits and sets of the video, which I thought was classy.
Looking at the dance in the music video, there seems to be a sensual side to the performance which I think fits in with their sound really nicely. I also enjoyed that minimalist dance break hat they had, which I thought was quite cool. It is something a little different to usual dance breaks (which tends to be intense and powerful).
Song – 7/10 Music Video – 7/10 Performance – 8/10 Overall Rating – 7.2/10
Mamamoo returned a week ago with Wind Flower performing the new song on some of the weekly music shows and also the MelOn Music Awards over the weekend, where the group was one of the Top 10 Artists for 2018. Wind Flower is featured on the group’s 8th mini-album, BLUE;S, which is the group’s album release for the Autumn season and is the third comeback in their seasonal comeback series. Before we get blown away, let’s dig into the album.
BLUE;S Album Cover
The album contains an introductory track (가을에서 겨울로) but like most of my album reviews, I have opted to leave it off the review.
2. No More Drama – Following the soft intro track, No More Drama jumps right at you with its title and its blowy sound. It is the track that I would like to listen on a nice breezy day as the song’s vibe fit that environment. It could easily fit onto an official soundtrack to a movie. The chorus is extremely catchy, and the upbeat nature of the song makes it stand out. It doesn’t help that the vocals were explosive. The raps started off low, which was surprising at first as the song doesn’t really call for that. However, it remains fitting nonetheless. The ending was nice, but I was expecting a little more afterwards. But still, great song! (9/10)
4. HELLO (Solar Solo) – Blue is Solar’s colour based on the Paint Me music video. So, her solo track is featured on the album. I like the bright tone that features in this track, which allows a sense of hope to be portrayed throughout the song. I would have expected an emotional driven ballad but that would have been cliché. I liked this style and direction, which was intriguing. Her vocals is at the forefront of the song and really blows you away, especially during the chorus. There is an epic vibe fitted into the song which makes this song extremely memorable. I liked the lyrics of the song, which seems to allude to the restart of a relationship. (10/10)
5. Better Than I Thought (생각보단 괜찮아) – Better Than I Thought is the song to get lost in. Its acoustic sound starts off the song and slowly the other instruments filter in, allowing the song to build-up in a fulfilling manner. Like all their songs, their vocals are on point. Moonbyul, in particular sounds amazing with both her rapping and singing being my picks for highlights in the song. I also liked the autotuned vocals effects they added to contribute to the instrumental. It gave texture but a nice detail to fill the void during those sections. (8/10)
6. Morning – Finishing off the album is this R&B ballad track which sounds like a track from an OST to some beautifully written romance movie. The vocals that Mamamoo went with weren’t powerhouse but rather delicate and fragile, which fits the meaning of the song and the orchestral-like instrumentation. Everyone shone in the song, so it was hard to really pick a favourite. It was also rather hard to pick a favourite moment as well. What makes this song so nice is that it had that swaying effect that I love when it comes to good ballads and it ended the album on a very soothing note. (9/10)
SHINee is nominated for Best Male Group and Best Album in the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Support SHINee and your other favourites by clicking here to vote.
2018 has been a jam-packed year for many groups, with SHINee being a prime example. SHINee returned in 3 back-to-back comebacks (Good Evening, I Want You & Our Page) and a special single (Countless) to celebrate their 10-year anniversary. Since then, the members have embarked onto solo promotions, including Taemin’s Japanese releases, Minho’s movie filming and the recent solo debut for Key with One Of Those Nights. This leaves just Onew who is due to enlist in a couple of days. But this isn’t stopping SHINee’s leader from launching his solo career with the title track Blue and the mini-album, Voice.
Even though I just launched the KPOPREVIEWED Awards for 2018, I am already thinking ahead for 2019. And you can just blame the one listen I had to this song. Blue is a ballad, which isn’t unexpecting. But what is unexpecting is how amazing the song is. And amazing is probably an underwhelming description. It is one of those ballads where the orchestral instrumental and Onew’s vocals tell a story. It has that dramatic flair to really make you feel emotional and if I were to judge the ballad based on that, I would say it was highly successful. The instrumental was stunning. But it is his voice that gets me. You can feel the pain. You can feel the sadness. Onew does an amazing job of bundling all of that up in a matter of 5 minutes and leaving us in awe of the song. Literally, my only complaint about the song is why we didn’t get this sooner!
Once again, the comment section for the music video theorises about the meaning of the video. And I agree with what is being said. This is Onew’s recount of the events, beginning with his hiatus due to a scandal that occurred last year. Due to this scandal, he had to go on hiatus, which is presented by the isolation in the video. The diamond represents SHINee, as there are five diamonds in the mirrors. The shooting star attracts his attention to bring the diamond outside. He proceeds to go outside, walking past fishes, flowers (which I don’t know the meaning of) and blindfolded people who seem to stare at him (maybe due to his scandal). At the end of his walk, he recognises one person (the theories suggest he recognises the late Jonghyun) which surprises him and the diamond is lit up. He takes the diamond back to his house, meaning that these turn of events have told him to take another path and to return to the world. Whether this is correct, I don’t know. Like the song, you can feel the emotions throughout the video and you can tell that Onew is acting in this video based on experiences due to it feeling so real.
Song – 10/10 Music Video – 10/10 Overall Rating – 10/10
After their mature Between Us comeback in July, Laboum has returned with a brand new song, Turn It On. This new song features on the group’s 6th single album, which is titled as I’m Yours. Since their last comeback, Laboum has been busy with their Japanese Hwi Hwi debut and ZN completed her promotions as part of UNI.T (but unfortunately did not participate in their final rounds of promotions).
Turn It On takes that mature side of Between Us and combines it with the currently trendy Latin phase that KPOP is going through. What does set this song apart is that Latin sound isn’t too strong, allowing for the mix of some pop influence to be brought into play. Sure, all of these are pretty standard sound in KPOP nowadays but it is rather fresh, if I was to describe the sound of the song. I did like the vocals in this song. Nothing that special but the vocals did feel a lot more interesting than their previous track. The hooks in the song weren’t as strong as their previous songs but there was a nice melody of them that made them appealing. I did like the bridge even though it was really short. The use of that ‘wide stereo’ filter on top of the voices was extremely fitting for the song, leading nicely to the high note and final chorus. I personally like this song but given the style they went with, I would understand why some people wouldn’t.
The music video starts off with a zombie (played by Jun from UKISS) running after one of the Laboum members (Solbin). Soyeon shoots Jun and the members of Laboum bring him back to their mansion. They begin therapy to take the zombie infection out of Jun and make him human again. They gave him music, food, smells and human touch, which caused his zombie nature to slowly disappear. In the end, however, the girls get attacked by another pack of zombies and become zombies themselves, while Jun returns to human form, not knowing what will occur to him when he meets the girls. The music video overall is quite nice and definitely well invested. The only problematic section is the credits. They could have timed the ending a lot better. The music randomly cuts off when the video ends, cutting the nice flow of the video. But other than that, I enjoyed it.
I thought the choreography for this comeback was quite classy. It plays towards this mature side of Laboum without going overboard, which I think was pretty cool. It also fitted in with the upbeat vibes of the song. I did like the bridge of the performance, which I think was their best moment.
Song – 7/10 Music Video – 8.5/10 Performance – 7/10 Overall Rating – 7.5/10
Many of your favourite rookies of 2018 are nominated including Stray Kids, The Boyz, LOONA and Nature (plus many more). If you have yet to support your favourite rookies, click here to do so now!
It is interesting to see more companies do pre-debut promotions for their groups. FANATICS is an upcoming girl group from FENT, with the currently confirmed lineup: Rensika, Doah, Chiayi, Yoonhye, SangAh, and Hyewon. While the official debut date hasn’t been set yet, the group have already kicked off promotions with a subunit. Doah, Chiayi and Yoonhye formed a subunit named FANATIC-FLAVOR and released their first single, Milkshake, last week.
Milkshake could have been better if the instrumentation was a little more energetic and fun sounding. I personally feel that the song lacked these elements, which is why I am not that interested in the song. I feel like the song could have been more memorable with more of these elements. The instrumental is synth-pop, with its sound reminding me of some arcade games (which probably inspired part of the music video). I did find their vocals a little interesting. It wasn’t 100% expressive as other groups, but the way the vocals and the instrumental blended together gave the song an innocent sound, which I think fits the concept well. And that is one of the main charms of the song. The song isn’t terrible in anyway. It just isn’t a song that I would be playing constantly. However, I wouldn’t mind putting this song once in a while.
I think the winning part of this debut is the music video. While I tend to be harsh towards cutesy concept because it is so overdone, I couldn’t help but enjoy this one due to its oddness. The girls want some sort of dairy product (let it be milkshakes, ice-cream or just plain old milk). But they face a shortage due to one tired (and possible selfish cow). While trying to steal some milk from the cow, it wakes up and then there is arcade game like fight showdown between the two, resulting in the cow being knocked down. They then successful fulfil their desires for a milkshake. The music video concept doesn’t scream norm, but it is a light-hearted takeaway from reality, which I really liked.
As for their performance, I am not really much of a fan. I don’t find it impressive but it was fitting for the song. It is cutesy but like the song, quite unenergetic.
Song – 6/10 Music Video – 8/10 Performance – 5/10 Overall Rating – 6.4/10
GOT7 is nominated for Best Male Group and Best Male Choreography in the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. If you have yet to vote for GOT7 and your other favourite groups, click on the link here to do so!
It is December! So it is time to get the Christmas tree out, hang up those stockings and put on your Christmas song playlist. And kicking off the Christmas season for this year is GOT7 with their newest single, Miracle. Miracle is featured on the repackaged album of Present: You (which has been renamed appropriately to Present: You & Me) and is amongst 12 new songs, making this album extra special if you want to give it as a gift (or receive it as a gift).
Following their Confession Song Christmas release in 2014, Miracle was expected to go down down the same stylistic route. It is a ballad and a much slower one if we were to compare. It is quite soothing and has a warm feeling to the song, which is definitely intended. The instrumental was an orchestral based instrumental, with a gradual buildup to its climax (i.e. the end of the song). I thought the vocals were nice, with Yooungjae and Jinyoung being the two members that stood out the most in the song. I liked it when the rappers started, the instrumental was kicked up a notch, adding to the colour of the song without making the rap sequences feel out of place. Based on my comments, I guess I like the song. I am still on the fence because I never expected GOT7 to do anything so ballad-y and hence this new song is foreign to me. Who knows what a few more listens to the song will do.
GOT7 plays the role of Christmas Ghosts for the young girl who is unable to play with the other children when it comes to Christmas times. The reason why? I have no idea. The entire video is rather innocent, giving the young girl a chance to experience the snow and season. Based on the ending, it does seem like it just in her dreams. I thought it was a nicely put together video, with everyone having their own thing to do around her. It isn’t a video to really play repeatedly but it was a nice video to fit in with the song and holiday.
I am not sure if this song will be promoted. My guess is it isn’t, based on the lack of promotions for Confession Song. Hence, I will skip this section.
Song – 7.5/10 Music Video – 8/10 Overall Rating – 7.7/10
We interrupt this normal program with some breaking news! This year’s KPOPREVIEWED Awards is open! Support your favourite artists by voting in this year’s survey! Click here to do so if you haven’t yet. Now, returning back to the normal news!
Moving along from that cheesy introduction, welcome back to this week’s Weekly Chart post! We wrap up November this week with an action-packed week full of comebacks and award shows. Just to quickly recap – NU’EST W, MAMAMOO, Lovelyz, Yubin, Key (SHINee), Mino (WINNER), The Boyz and Red Velvet made their return this past week. Also, the Asia Artist Awards and MelOn Music Awards happened as well, with BTS winning the Daesang award at both ceremonies.
Remaining in the top spot on the charts this week is EXID’s I Love You, for the second week in a row. Following behind EXID is NU’EST W (with Help Me) and Lovelyz (LOST N FOUND), which are new songs debuting on the charts this week. Returning to the Top 5 in the fourth position is Gugudan’s Not That Type, while completing the Top 5 for this week is Key and Crush’s collaboration for Key’s solo debut, One Of Those Nights.
25th Nov – 1st Dec 2018
Title
Artist
Status
1
I Love You
EXID
(=)
2
Help Me
NU’EST W
(new)
3
Lost N Found
Lovelyz
(new)
4
Not That Type
GUGUDAN
(▲ 3)
5
One Of Those Nights
Key (SHINee) ft. Crush
(new)
6
Loved
HIGHLIGHT
(▼ 2)
7
Beautiful Pain
BTOB
(▼ 1)
8
La Vie en Rose
IZ*ONE
(▲ 22)
9
Fiance
Mino (WINNER)
(new)
10
Spring Breeze
Wanna One
(▼ 8)
11
SOLO
Jennie (BLACKPINK)
(▲ 4)
12
Simon Says
NCT 127
(▼ 1)
13
Coffee Break
Jonah Nilsson & Lucas (NCT) ft. Richard Bona
(new)
14
YES or YES
TWICE
(▼ 10)
15
Shoot Out
Monsta X
(▼ 10)
16
I Am You
Stray Kids
(▼ 2)
17
RBB (Really Bad Boy)
Red Velvet
(new)
18
Tempo
EXO
(▼ 9)
19
SOME (You’ll Be Mine)
NATURE
(▼ 9)
20
Thank U Soooo Much
Yubin
(new)
21
Love Bomb
fromis_9
(▼ 13)
22
I Hate You
HOTSHOT
(▼ 10)
23
Regular
NCT 127
(▼ 10)
24
Paradise
TST
(▼ 2)
25
Wind Flower
MAMAMOO
(new)
26
No Air
The Boyz
(new)
27
Home
JBJ95
(▼ 2)
28
Good Night Kiss
Kim Dong Han
(▼ 2)
29
Crush
Weki Meki
(▼ 13)
30
Genie
Golden Child
(▼ 3)
Songs leaving the charts for this week are:
Goodbye Road – iKON
You’re My – Boys Republic
Airplane Mode – NOIR
Get Myself With You – S.O.U.L
Into You – Yuri (SNSD)
All Night – Soyou ft. SIK-K
She’s In The Rain – The Rose
I am ready for another jam-packed week. Hope you are too! And don’t forget to vote in this year’s KPOPREVIEWED Awards.
Did you know NU’EST W is nominated for Best Male Group in the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards? If you haven’t supported NU’EST W or your favourites, click the link here to do so!
NU’EST W has returned with their final mini-album release before Minhyun (who is currently promoting in Wanna One) returns to reform back into NU’EST. Since the unit’s inception, they have released 2 (W, Here and Who, You) mini albums, making WAKE, N their third mini-album to date. The album features two full group tracks and 4 solos from each member. Like HOTSHOT’s album review, I am excited to see what Minhyun brings back to the NU’EST. But before we can even get to there, let’s have a closer look at the album.
WAKE, N Album Cover
1..L.I.E – Starting off the subunit’s final release is L.I.E, which is a mature R&B dance track. It is on the slower side of the spectrum, but it isn’t too slow to really feel boring. There are some percussions and soft piano in the background to really make it a little more interesting and gives a nice soft tone to the song. I think one of the main charms for this song is that it doesn’t really pick up. It is one of the songs where consistency works well. The rapping was good, but I wanted more of it. As for the vocals, there was a gradual build up as we proceeded to the end of the song but I liked the fragile feel from them, which I felt was fitting for the slow nature of the song. (8/10)
3. WI-FI (Aron Solo)–WI-FI is a good song. It is extremely easy on the ears and doesn’t rely on too much to really make itself appealing. Instead, WI-FI goes for a more repetitive instrumental, featuring a staggered effect and some soft piano. While I describe it as repetitive, I actually don’t find the repetition overused or too much. Maybe that is due to the subtle nature of the instrumental. I liked his vocals, especially the more energetic ‘WI-FI’ at the end of the choruses, giving some nice contrast. Aron also taps into some rapping during the bridge, which I thought was cool. (8/10)
4. I Hate You (JR Solo) – Out of all the solos on this album. I think I have to say JR’s is my favourite. For the verses, the instrumental is quite soft, which accompanies his softer rapping technique. He also goes into vocals for the really intriguing ‘I Hate You. I Need You’ start/pre-chorus. The song remains soft up until the choruses, which blasts us with a little bit of rock and angst. I really like the ‘Nal Nal’ start of each of his lines during the chorus, which provides a very strong and appealing hook. This comes unexpectedly, and it is this unexpected nature that makes this song stand out for me. The contrast between the different sections was amazing. I also liked the ending, with the dance mashup with the rock elements (before going soft once again). (10/10)
5. You & I (나, 너에게) (Ren Solo) – Ren’s solo is a rock ballad and it brings me back the feels from Kim Sung Gyu’s solo work (which I am a very big fan of). I thought the build-up to the chorus was really nice, as it gradually introduces the rock sound to the song. Ren’s vocals were extremely fitting and the melody in the chorus was quite dream-like. A part of me feels like this is already great but I wanted more of a peak to the song. As mentioned, there is a build-up but it kind of plateaus at the end, which leaves me a tad disappointed. But overall, it is still a good song. (7/10)
6. FEELS (Baekho Solo) – I think Baekho’s solo plays towards his strength. He has a strong set of vocals which feel more fitting for upbeat styles rather than ballads (but I think that might be the bias from all the NU’EST singles I have listened to). FEELS is an R&B upbeat mixture of electronic, which sounds very good. His vocals are nice in this song, where it is even utilised as part of the instrumentation. The most surprising element is his rap, which seemed to catch all fans off guard. The mixture of the vocals, raps and instrumental creates a brighter tone and allows the song to end on a more upbeat note, rather than something slow, serious or ballad-y, which would have been the case if any of the others were selected. (8.5/10)
Last year, I gave all of you (the readers of this blog) the opportunity to vote in the very first special KPOPREVIEWED AWARDS for 2017, where every category was fan-voted!. And since that was hugely successful, it is time to vote in the 2018 KPORPEVIEWED Awards.
This year, choosing the nominees was a lot harder and took much longer than expected. But don’t you worry, I believe I chose a representative bunch of nominees throughout all the categories. I have even split some categories to make it fair (Best Male Dance Performance, Best Female Dance Performance) and added a few extra new categories for potential awards that I missed out on last year (Best Band, Most Underrated Artist and Best Album)!
Voting opens on the 1st of December (0:00 AM) and will continue until 31st of December (11:59PM), giving you all exactly one month to pick and choose who you think deserves the awards. After that, I will be creating a post that shows you who won each award (like at the start of this year).
And once again, you all will have the opportunity to choose the BEST SONG OF 2018. There are a number of ground rules for this category, however:
Select your Top 5 songs and enter them in the provided section at the end of the survey.
ONLY 5 SONGS OR LESS WILL BE CONSIDERED. IF YOU ENTER IN MORE THAN 5 SONGS, ONLY THE FIRST 5 WILL BE CONSIDERED.
Include songs that were released between the dates of 1st of January 2018 and 30th of November 2018 ONLY. Songs released in December will not be considered this year (and will be considered for next year!)
Your votes will make up 50% of the criteria, whilst the other 50% will come from the Weekly Charts.
So without any more delays, best of luck to all the nominees! Stretch your fingers and start voting!
Just before Autumn wraps up, Red Velvet has made their official comeback with RBB or Really Bad Boy. This is the group’s third Korean comeback of the year, after Bad Boy (…) and Power Up. I am a little disappointed with the title for their new track, though. I think this is the first time I have seen a group return with a recycled title from one of their own older title tracks. While I can kind of go on about this for a while, I am going to put it to the side and move along with the review.
When I first heard the song, the first thing that popped into my mind was how it had the similar vibes to Bang Bang (the collaboration single between Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj). However, the more I listen to it, the less I think it is similar. I guess it has to be due to the bold feels and the brass that features throughout the song. It also features some piano at certain parts, which you can just hear on top of the loud instrumental. The song is extremely upbeat and energetic, which fits in nicely with the other Red* title tracks the group has. I think vocally, this has to be one of their strongest songs yet. It is bold and it is definitely showcasing their vocals. We also get a high pitch notes (which doubles up as a scream in the video) from Wendy, which just comes out of nowhere. The song has an addictive hook but my favourite part is the ‘1,2,5‘ at the very beginning. Overall, a very strong comeback.
When I first saw the teasers, I thought this was going to be a copy of last year’s Peek-A-Boo, due to the horror concept. But this is definitely quite different. It is a lot bright and it has a more notable energetic tone. The video shows a more 80s horror theme, given the wolf (the actual Really Bad Boy), their outfits and the set design. And speaking about the set design, how amazing did the video look? It is extremely elaborate but similar to a set to a high school play. I thought the post-production effects and editing also made their video stand out.
The choreography for this is absolutely smashing. I really like how more chaotic this performance feels, which I think is more in line with their previous choreographies that I personally liked. And the energy from this is extremely infectious. I really liked the part at 1:49 (of the music video), where they split into small groups and guide each other.
Song – 9/10 Music Video – 10/10 Performance – 9/10 Overall Rating – 9.3/10
* The Red Side is Red Velvet’s more energetic releases, including Dumb Dumb and Red Flavor. Red Velvet also has a Velvet side, which consists of One of Those Nights and Bad Boy.
Returning for its 3rd season is SM Station! And kicking things off is Jonah Nilsson, Richard Bona and Lucas (from NCT). While we may be familiar with Lucas, we may not know too much about both Jonah and Richard, who previously joined hands together release the original version of Coffee Break back in June of this year. Well, Jonah Nilsson is the vocalist and pianist for Dirty Loops (a Swedish Jazz Band), while Richard Bona is a Grammy award-winning bassist, known for his Jazz work. So, let’s have a short ‘Coffee Break‘ and have a quick listen to the song.
I personally did not know that there was an original track to this collaboration. Basically, Lucas introduces Korean rap verses to the song, while Jonah Nilsson handles the English parts. It should also be noted that Jonah Nilsson also did the verses in the original in a similar fashion to Lucas. And have listened to both tracks, I actually like both. The original version is a lot easier for me to follow as it is in English, whereas Lucas gives the song a deep tone that sounds mature and even more classy. The song is jazzy and upbeat, reminding me of a Micahel Jackson and Stevie Wonder combination. I did like how it did not become KPOP and remained very similar to the original version. I thought the instrumental (a mixture of piano from Jonah and brass from Richard Bona and co.) was very subtle but quite dynamic in its own way. It gives the song a very cheerful and colourful tone. The chorus itself is quite catchy and that piano solo was amazing! It is a great kick-start to the SM Station season! Can’t wait to see what’s next.
For some reason, the music video goes for a hazy colour palette, which I think is a rather interesting choice. Given this song, I expected something a little more golden. While the gold is there, it isn’t the main colour. Both Jonah and Lucas participate in this music video. Lucas is trying to get his colleague’s attention, while Jonah showcases that piano solo. Lucas also showcases some dance moves in the music video but not enough to require a performance section in this review. Overall, it is a really nice video that goes well with the song.
Song – 9/10 Music Video – 8/10 Overall Rating – 8.6/10
Mamamoo ends the Autumn season with another comeback, making this their 3rd comeback so far. They have been releasing mini-albums every season for their 4 Seasons tetralogy this year, with Starry Night in Spring and Egotistic in Summer. For Autumn, the title track is Wind Flower and it is featured on their 8th mini-album, Blue:S. The only season left is Winter and my prediction is that won’t come until the very end of Winter, based on their release dates of the previous 3 seasons. But we are here for Wind Flower, so let’s dive in for a closer look.
Wind Flower is a pretty neat song. The first thing you get when you listen to the song is a blast of smoothness. The song almost reminds me of a jazzy number, but not quite. It also has an interesting blend of R&B, which brings the emotional side of the lyrics into play. Together, it creates a song that I think only Mamamoo can nail. Their vocals feel perfect for the song and the season. It goes to show that Mamamoo doesn’t need to rely on their powerhouse vocals to get the job done. I thought the song had some interesting textures, based on different vocal styles I heard in the song. The husky whispers of Wind Flower just prior to the choruses show a delicate nature, while Moonbyul’s rap and vocals during the bridge bring a little bit of coarseness to the song. The choruses themselves do pop a lot, giving the song that needed boost of energy to make it memorable and another Mamamoo hit.
The emotional side of the comeback can be seen most prominently in their music video. The members are feeling the emotions from their past relationships despite breaking up. They spend some time of the video by themselves, feeling heartbreak. But towards the end of the video, the members band together to have some fun on the streets of Hong Kong and forget about their troubles. They have fun drinking heavily (while it is depicted as alcohol, they are actually drinking oolong tea) and then some more fun eating soft serve cones from McDonald’s. I like the video quite a bit as it brings a really beautiful insight into the nightlife of Hong Kong. And the acting in some of the parts of the video are on point.
I thought the performance was quite fitting. It wasn’t as hard-hitting or sexy like Egotisticbut it had its own charms. I thought the heartbreaking summed up the song pretty well, while the incorporation of the number 2 during the chorus was a nice bounce back from that saddening theme. Also, the male backup dancers added a nice touch, especially for the freestyle bit at the end.
Song – 8/10 Music Video – 9/10 Performance – 8.5/10 Overall Rating – 8.4/10
The Boyz have returned with their fourth release of the year! I know it is a little hard to believe but let’s have a very brief look at the first 3 releases. In April, they returned with Giddy Up!. In August, the group released a special single, KeePer. And just two months ago in September, the group returned with Right Here. The fourth release is No Air, which is the title track off the group’s 3rd mini-album titled The Only.
No Air has an interesting title, so I became interested when the teasers were slowly released. Essentially, the song lyrics liken not having their significant other to having no air (They cannot live without one or the other). And like the idea of the song, the intro did get my interest up. The use of brass instruments was very intriguing. The song then takes a turn to more of a standard dance track. The chorus drop was nice but it wasn’t as explosive as I hoped for. Both the vocal work and rapping in this song were quite nice but they weren’t as strong as in the past. A similar comment can be made in regards to the main hook during the chorus, leaving the song to lack in the memorability criteria. There was a ‘No Air‘ hook after the second and final choruses but it wasn’t their best. And that practically sums up my feelings about the song. It is good but it isn’t their best.
While their choreography sets aren’t that elaborate, I like the use of the dominant colours in each set, with everything else complimenting the respective dominant colour. Like the purple made dancing in the shallow pool of water look so much cooler. For the rest of the video, I don’t really get what’s going on. I guess they are showing the ‘No Air’ side of things have killed the rest of humanity and they are left to find their one love. But that’s my guess that makes no sense.
The choreography was definitely one of the better components of this comeback. I thought the pulsing nature of the dance during the bridge was a really cool moment in the performance. The ‘No Air‘ hook dance (after the second and final choruses) also show a tough vibe, which I thought seemed cool as well.
Song – 7/10 Music Video – 7/10 Performance – 8/10 Overall Rating – 7.2/10
HOTSHOT recently returned with a brand new mini-album, Early Flowering. This is their first mini-album since the release of AM I HOTSHOT?, which was released back in 2015. Also mentioned in their latest review of I Hate You (link below), this is the group’s final comeback before Sungwoon, who has been promoting as part of Wanna One, returns to the group. With this mini-album in mind, I wonder what dynamic Sungwoon will bring back to HOTSHOT. But until then, let’s start the album review.
Early Flowering Album Cover
1..Print – Starting off the album is Print, another tropical house song. I’ll be honest, the song fits more of a Summery period. So, seeing how it is included on an album released in Autumn alongside an Autumn title track (see below) indicates that the album lacks direction and cohesiveness. But putting that aside, other than the upbeat nature of the song, the song doesn’t really have much else to really make it an amazing opener. The instrumental is pretty much standard to today’s standard and the vocals felt great for the given canvas, but don’t really offer anything big to showcase. Just another standard track to me. (6/10)
3. Paradise – Paradise feels a lot more fitting for the Autumn season, despite being an electronic based song. The instrumental is repetitive but there were effects and synths along the way that really made the song feel unique as it goes on. I hear some of these synths in the Western music I often listen to, so there is a certain level of appeal to the song for me. But the winning component of the song must be the vocals. They shine throughout the song, especially the vocals for the chorus. I like the ‘wide’ effect their vocals had, which I think would sound awesome in a concert hall. The melody also allowed for the song’s flowy nature, which was another likeable component. (8/10)
4. Better – As we go down the track list, the songs get a lot better, which is why I chose to review this mini-album. The song is very funky with its guitar and dance pop-infused instrumental. And it is this funkiness which makes this track sound so much better. In a subtle way, the instrumental makes the song very dynamic. I liked the opener (‘Better’) to the chorus which did feel a little sharp but it is one of the cases that worked wonderfully. Vocally, I think they did well, incorporating that husky and raspy nature into their voices. And the rapping here is one of their best on the album. (9/10)
5. Body Talks – Ending the album is another tropical house song. And the same comments do apply in terms of the mismatch of sounds and season. Though, this isn’t something I can’t really hold against them. I personally think Body Talks had a more interesting flair compared to the Print as there is so much more energy and the drop is more dynamic. Vocally, the song was nice, especially the vocals that end the song. I think the song could have benefited with a kick-ass rap sequence to make it even more energetic and stronger. (7/10)
Yubin has returned with a brand new single, Thank U Soooo Much. Earlier this year, the artist made her long-awaited debut as a solo artist with Lady. There were a few bumps along the road with the cancellation of the b-side single due to plagiarism concerns and a number of articles criticising her of her singing capabilities. Hopefully, this time around she won’t get the same comments with her latest single, which is featured on the mini-album, TUSM (Thank U Soooo Much).
Thank U Soooo Much takes on the disco beat that originated back in the 70s. It is quite an upbeat and funky track to dig into. I really like the whistles used in the background, which is kind of the ‘go-to’ sample if you want an addictive nature to your song. I do like that while it has that dominate retro disco feel, it doesn’t feel too much. Instead, the producer managed to keep it well balanced and free from any extremities, allowing the song to thrive and shine. Yubin sings in the majority of the song and I honestly do not understand the criticisms as she sounds wonderful in both this and her past songs. She does rap-talk the bridge, which I think is a great throwback to her more well-known side as a Wonder Girl’s member. Overall, I really like the new song.
Surprisingly, the video doesn’t really tap into the retro sci-fi imagery as much as I expected it to. The effects on the screens during the choreography shots was probably the most retro the video got. Her futuristic outfit and technology seemed to also be ideas from that era. But everything else felt quite modern. Maybe it is because the quality of the video was so high definition that makes it feel modern. I say that because some other retro-based music videos (such as SHINee’s releases earlier in the year) seem to use that home video or old cassette tape quality as a filter to really bring the videos back to that era. Overall, I liked the video though I wasn’t too sure what the storyline was going for.
The dance for this comebacks looks really cool. You can tell there is some attitude to the moves through her facial expressions, which go nicely with the lyrics. I really like how her arms flail about during the start of the chorus. It looks really cool.
Song – 8.5/10 Music Video – 8/10 Performance – 8/10 Overall Rating – 8.3/10
KPOPREVIEWED 