[Double Review] +DONE161201+ & +REWIND170205+ – CL

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CL makes her grand comeback to the industry with the release of +DONE161201+ and +REWIND170205+ yesterday. This is CL’s first comeback since leaving YG Entertainment last month and since the release of Hello Bitches in 2015. The two songs the former member of 2NE1 released yesterday consisted of two dates, which signify when they were completed. These two are also the first two of a series (In The Name Of Love) of track that will be released by CL herself in the coming weeks, though we don’t know when the next ones will be drop yet.

Both DONE and REWIND do not follow what CL released as a solo artist under YG Entertainment. They don’t take on board any hip-hop influences or sounds. Instead, the two track sounds more like pop tracks. They are good songs, reminding me of CL’s rough voice (which has definitely been absent from my playlist for some time). And both tracks a lot better than CL’s solo debut track (which I reviewed once and have never gone back to listen to it) DONE features an instrumental with an interesting hard vibrating synth. It plays throughout background and is an odd choice for a sentimental track. But it works relatively well, especially when CL starts rapping. I also liked the melodic touch the chorus had, which the synths also paired well with. Her voice is great in this song. REWIND is similar but it feels a little more weighed down and the instrumental feels more straightforward, going with a simpler, typical and less memorable mix. This results in a song that is quite bland. But I really liked the melodic flow of the chorus and her rapping seemed to have a better kick to it, then in the previous song.

It is often hard to judge videos of this kind. Obviously CL uses both videos to reflect upon the past 10 years, so it would be cruel to which is better or how they are flawed (if they are). So I will briefly run through what they had instead of laying down any judgement. REWIND is simply a collage of pictures throughout CL’s career, put together to ‘look forward to the future’. DONE features a lot of CL’s friends, lipsyncing to the song and is shown in a phone format (and felt like an advertisement for an Apple phone). Some familiar faces include Taeyang, Lee Hi, Park Bom, Minzy and Dara (though I might have missed some myself).

+DONE161201+
Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8/10