It has not been a great week for me. But now that the work week is over, I am jumping back on board to review some new releases from this week. First is KANGDANIEL’s return with Electric Shock and his 5th mini-album ACT. This is the soloist’s first return since SOS mid-last year. It is also his first comeback since closing down KONNECT Entertainment and signing on with Artistic Round Alliance (ARA).

Even when not posting on the blog, I check out all the new releases. Electric Shock was no different when it officially dropped earlier in the week. My first impression was that Electric Shock just didn’t get anywhere. It has the quintessential KANGDANIEL sound, mainly because the track serves as a vessel for KANGDANIEL’s consistent and unfiltered vocals. Personally, I didn’t mind that. He does sound good throughout the song. However, it didn’t help that the rest of Electric Shock (from instrumental to hooks) was weak and lacked… well… electricity. The mid-tempo pop instrumentation was just too consistent from start to end, and this admittedly did drag down KANGDANIEL’s vocals. Sure, it was subdued and laid-back, but I think more oomph could have really boosted Electric Shock to better proportions. With such a title, you expect some spark to the song. But that was noticeably missing from the first pass of Electric Shock. I do detect a slight groove to the instrumental, but it was not enough to compensate for the rest of the song. The melodies and hooks were mildly memorable, but not the song relied on the stock standard hooks that we have heard time and time again. Similar to the instrumental, these also could have used some spark. Overall, Electric Shock comes off as a skippable track. Some of the side tracks on his mini-album definitely could have served better as the title track.

KANGDANIEL looks for something stimulating in the music video. He plays two characters in the video. The primary character is the nerdy and secluded KANGDANIEL, an assistant on the music video shoot. The secondary character is the cooler celebrity, KANG DANIEL, with whom is familiar. The nerdy and secluded KANGDANIEL has this electrical shock ability that makes him feel awkward and isolated from the rest of the world. As part of his job as an assistant, he gets to watch the cooler celebrity KANGDANIEL and wants to be like him. But as the video progresses, the nerdy and secluded KANGDANIEL has his moments that make cooler celebrity KANGDANIEL’s music video shoot more fun and exciting. Through this stimulating experience, he quickly learns that he is unique in his own way and doesn’t need to be cool to be comfortable with himself. As for celebrity KANGDANIEL, his music video looks more exciting, cooler and better.

There is something so clean and with ease about the heart shape KANGDANIEL makes with his hands that makes that part of the choreography stand out for me. As for the rest of the routine, some bounce to it also looks easy and effortless. But altogether, it seems complex and challenging to pull off. His charisma and charm also come through the performance.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.2/10