Category: Reviews

[Review] Without U – Romeo

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“Romeo is back ~” (if you guys don’t get it, it is the opening for this song).  Totally the right line to use to open this review. This is Romeo’s 4th mini album to date, which is titled as Without U, as well. While Romeo is a lesser known KPOP group,  it usually takes one song to thrust them into the spotlight and Miro is just that song. Miro was released back in June last year (I only reviewed them in December). However, it was not their latest release (before this comeback), as they later returned in August with Treasure.

If you want your pure KPOP fix, this song probably has it all. The first time I ever listened to this song, it reminded me of the bright and vibrant times for boy groups. It has the exact same feel. While I do prefer boy groups with a more tough and dark sound/concepts, it is always nice to have some music that is lighter in sound. It captures the similar song style that the boys have done before. That being said, the song doesn’t necessary show a new side to them, music wise. The instrumental was quite good (love the whistles)  during the chorus)and the chorus was probably the best part of the song. The verses felt a little dry and typical. While the vocals suit the song quite nicely, the rapper felt more suited for that tougher and darker sound. But while I do find some flaws in the song (here comes my hypocritical moment), I actually enjoyed listening to the song. Why? Well, my exact reasons were written at the start of this paragraph. It is a familiar sound that sounds, which is nice once in a while. Actually no, it is much needed, especially after listening and reviewing to all the songs recently released.

The music video is your typical KPOP video. While there is a plot this time around (well, a more understandable one), it is pretty generic. The main couple has a little awkward tension between them. I am a little confused on how they manage to get back together, though. Like he participates in a dance battle and she liked his dancing… So, now what? That ending scene where they just stand there and awkwardly look at each other doesn’t help. Anyway, let’s talk more about the video. The acting of the people in the background looked out of it and they made me cringe a bit. The black and white filter was used to make things look a little edgier and while it did have that effect, the song just didn’t suit it as much. Overall, the video felt generic and bland. I don’t think there is any other way to put it.

I think the video would have been better with just choreography scenes. It is honestly a pretty cool dance, but quite forgettable. Every time I watch the performances, I don’t really remember much at the end. The start (where there are whistles) looks pretty intense, but it does show off their skills and potential. It may not be memorable, but the dance does the job and suits the song quite nicely.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 4/10
Performance – 6/10
Overall Rating  – 6/10 

[Review] Never Ever – GOT7

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GOT7 has finally returned with the third part of their Flight Log era. Their comeback is highly anticipated and everyone has high expectations for the comeback, due to the success of Hard Carry and Fly. Their mini album, Flight Log: Arrival, features the title track, Never Ever. Sadly, Jackson ran into a little health scare during the week, causing him to now miss out on the first week of promotions. Hopefully, he will recover soon and rejoin the promotions. (I was going to pull off “they landed safely” pun here in the introduction, but that seems to conflict with what the 3 music videos are telling us.)

Never Ever, to me, falls in between Fly and Hard Carry. Both contains EDM elements, as does this song. But what separates them is the intensity. Fly seems to be more of a chill track, while Hard Carry is quite intense. Never Ever isn’t as chill as Fly or isn’t as intense as Hard Carry. Hence why I think it lies quite nicely in between both songs. The song is interesting. I love everything about the song, minus one vital part. The vocals, the raps, the instrumental, the beat. Everything sounds really amazing. Yugyeom’s intro was jaw-dropping and the way some of the members dragged out the words in the song sounded nice. Just the chorus lets me down so much. The songs instrumental builds up quite nicely to the first chorus and you expect the beat to drop. And it did drop. Just in an anticlimactic way. It was choppy and it felt very empty. As if there was more to the chorus and they just left it out. I liked the vocals but not the instrumental for the chorus (nor the background “ooooaaaahhhhh”s). The song was produced by JYP. And I am not putting the blame on him because he has produced some amazing songs out there. But there might have been a reason why he stopped producing songs for JYP artists and why they went elsewhere to get songs (or write songs themselves). But honestly, everything in the track, besides the chorus, was fantastic and I will be replaying the song constantly (too late, already started) with or without the chorus, just to hear the rest of the song.

From what I observed in all the music videos released by GOT7, the HD quality just keeps on getting better and better. Maybe the lighting was better in this video. But never have I seen the colours so bold or striking. Check out the leaves in the glass cube or the white hospital hallway. Also observed were the connections between the Fly and Hard Carry videos. Fly was connected to Hard Carry via the scene where Jinyoung body would fly up, while he was lying down. Never Ever brought a lot of elements that made Hard Carry, such as the glass cube, Youngjae smashing the glass cube and the underwater scenes. Fly told us that Jinyoung’s friends had died. Hard Carry seemed to have told us how they died. And Never Ever seemed to tell us how Jinyoung was brought to life. The scenes in Never Ever was a little confusing but I think I got the connections between the other videos down pat (do comment if I am wrong. I tend to be wrong 99% of the time when it comes to deciphering what music videos are showing us). It is still a great video to watch, though. The visuals of the video and the group looked really nice. To me, GOT7 just continues to get more handsome with each video.

From what I see, the choreography fits the song. Some of the moves looked pretty cool. But as a whole, it seemed to lack something. Both Hard Carry and Fly had the right level of impact for the respective song. Here, it doesn’t seem to be as impressive and impactful as their past dances.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 4/10
Overall Rating – 7.25/10

[Review] Rollin’ – Brave Girls

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Brave Girls have returned with a brand new track. Rollin’ is their first song of the year, and it also marks another lineup change, with Yoojin leaving the group and Hyeran on hiatus. Currently, the girls are promoting as a 5 member girl group. They returned to the scene last year after a 3-year absence from the stage, with Deepened and High Heels.

If I were to pick a word that I use so many times, it would be ‘amazing’. Oh, that is also what this song is. Amazing. When I first heard the song, I dug it. I fell for it. I loved it. And now, after so many replays, I think I am obsessed. It has a simple club beat, but it also throws some tropical house sounds in the instrumental break. While the music suits more of Summer, it manages to work for me. Maybe it is because we (Australians) just escaped the Summer, so the feels are still there. Given their more recent songs, I didn’t count on hearing such a great song for them and I glad I didn’t avoid the song. The vocals were clear as day and all the other elements go well with each other. But there is something that puts the cherry on top of the song. That is the really catchy and addictive “rollin’ rollin’“. It brings a smile to my face and it makes me sing along to it. Like the word, the instrumental, at that moment, gives off that rolling effect. It may sound simple, but it goes a long way. Hence why I totally dig this track.

The official music video is rated 19+. Brave Entertainment also released a “clean version” of the music video. I only glance over of the clean version but the only difference between the rated version and clean version are scenes scattered throughout where all members are sitting with each other and they were filmed wearing revealing clothing. I personally don’t see anything graphic (or worth labelling as 19+) about them, like many Korean music videos that have a rated warning, such as Nine Muses’ Wild. The video was made using a green screen, which makes them looking like they are dancing in a room, outside in a storm. While that does sound cool to an extent, it also seems very odd. However, the darkness seems to fit well with the song. There is just something about it that clicks right into place. The majority of the video consist of choreography scenes and a few more closeups sprinkled throughout. Yeah, it isn’t anything impressive, but overall, it is an okay video to watch.

I would say I love half the choreography and dislike the other half. The “rollin’ rollin'” part where the girls are on the stools looked amazing and matched the song’s vibes at that part. The verses looked bland, but it too fit with the song. The part I dislike is the instrumental breaks. The dance at that part was far too slow for the beat, and it made the performance feel too slow.

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

[Review] Wake Me Up – B.A.P

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B.A.P has returned with a brand new single, Wake Me Up. Following their active promotions of Feel So Good, That’s My Jam and Skydive; this is the group’s first release for 2017. This comeback also marks the return for Bang Yong Guk, who for the Skydive promotions, took some time off due to mental health concerns. And like BTOB’s recent release, I will be doing a review for the entire single (all three songs) and that should be up sometime next week.

The track takes me back to their Young, Wild and Free days. It returned to their days of rock based instrumentals, with electronic synths and hip-hop vibes. The song itself oozes with darkness, another aspect that you would always expect from a B.A.P song. But the difference between this song and (for example) Young, Wild and Free is the intensity. Everything in the track is held back. This ranges from the vocals to the raps. It isn’t as intense as their previous tracks, but by holding back, I feel like it delivers a stronger impact with the message. While I did say they hold back in a few aspects, their vocals and raps are still top notch and have been manipulated to work wonderfully in the song. I did enjoy the build up to each chorus. It isn’t as powerful in other electronic based songs but the same effect can still be felt. The song does open with an interesting sound, that also echoes throughout the song.  In my opinion, Wake Me Up is a great song but it isn’t their best song yet. B.A.P is the best at making explosions in music that leave you gasping for more. If the track was delivered as a more intense and aggressive track, I think I would have enjoyed it even more.

Now, I mentioned the message of the song in the previous paragraph. The lyrics talk about wanting to wake up as a new person in a world that is full of judgement and pain. This is shown beautifully in the video. Body image, mental illness, paranoia, anger and (not exactly sure but) violence of some sort. Each of these people feels like that if they woke up a different person every day, their problems would be forgotten. However, with the help of B.A.P on TV, everyone in society decides to fight these judgements and be who they are. Like what everyone else is saying, they are starting a revolution.  I hope I didn’t butcher the meaning the video, but that is what I got, with the help of comments and research. And even if I am wrong, I can agree it is a very dark and profound video to watch. For what the song lacks in intensity, I think the videos makes it up quite nicely. The car smashing scene was probably the peak of the video, which matched the small instrumental part that was in the video. The acting in the video is incredible. I really liked how B.A.P have taken a step back and only participated in the vocals/close ups, not any acting scenes. Though that does happen time and time again, it also reminded us that anyone can suffer from the problems above and the ending of the video showed that there will always be people out there that share the same concern with you.

The choreography was also intriguing. Not in a bad way, though. I actually quite liked it. Per usual, everything was fitting to the song, which is by far the most important aspect of the dance. What makes it interesting is the chorus. I don’t know what they are doing but it looks like they are holding onto someone and trying to wake them up. Or they are slowly crouching down into their hands. I am a little unsure but it looks superb. The way they incorporated Bang Yong Guk without making it hard for him deserves praise as well.

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

 

[Review] Movie – BTOB

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BTOB has made their return to the stage with their 10th mini album, Feel’Em and the title track Movie. They last promoted I’ll Be Your Man in November of last year and Remember That in March of last year. The group was also active in Japan during 2016 with multiple releases. And if you are looking for an album review for their 10th mini album, which will also include their pre-release track, Someday, expect it this weekend, if time permits.

Movie brings the guys back to their fun and lighthearted days in music. While you may argue that is probably every other day in their lives, I am referring to the period where they released songs like You’re So Fly or Beep Beep. Unlike though songs, the group utilises a more funky instrumental, which uses more standard instrumental rather than synths or any electronic sounds. That alone brings out the lightheartedness and brighter vibe. While BTOB has shown off their vocals through their past releases of ballads and subunit releases, the group’s vocals for the song are quite underwhelming. The same goes for their raps. While both fit the song quite nicely, I personally wasn’t blown away or impressed with what I heard. However, the vocals and raps do show how much they have improved and grown since debut. There was, however, parts of the song that I enjoyed quite a bit. The small sequences that Ilhoon and Minhyuk have after each chorus, for example, do seem like they mismatch with the overall sound of the song. But for some reason, it fits in quite nicely and gives off a much-needed ‘palate cleanser’. In other words, the parts do keep the song interesting and make the song, along with its catchy chorus, quite memorable. For how long though, I don’t know. It all depends on their promotional cycle now (and my randomising playlist for 2017).

Like the song, the music video also goes for a more fun and lighthearted concept. The video itself is about the guys having fun by filming themselves. However, in their minds, their acting is Oscar award worthy. Oh, how imagination can take you a long way. The video is quite heavy on the comedy and it actually makes the video worth watching. While the sets and individual scenes plain and boring, their comedic acting (or is it really acting? These guys are already like this in the real life – or at least when they are off stage) save the video from boredom. But as I just said, there isn’t anything else that is flashy or impressive in the video.

Likewise, the choreography didn’t stand out. It isn’t as memorable or catchy as some of their previous dances. The song doesn’t really have any parts that could lead to a more eye-catching choreography, but what we see is something that fits the feel and sound of the song. I do think they also inserted a bit of their previous choreography for I’ll Be Your Man. Not sure if it was just a coincidence or intentional.

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 5/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10

 

[Review] How Can I Say – DAY6

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DAY6 had been going at 2017 with monthly releases. Now that March is here, it means that DAY6 has a brand new song out for all of us to hear. How Can I Say follows the success that I Wait (January’s release) and You Were Beautiful (February’s release) have created and passed on.

I like the song a lot. It gave the group a chance to return to their rock side, which you could also hear in I Wait (the group’s January release). Actually no, it gave us a little something more than what we got in I Wait. The instrumental here is a lot more impactful, compared to their last two monthly releases. It also gives me an excuse to headbang along to the song. The sound and genre itself isn’t something that is attempted regularly enough in KPOP and it has been a while since something along the lines of this has been released (the main KPOP bands have not been around lately). Hence, there is a somewhat fresh vibe, which is something that the group continually delivers with their releases. The vocals are quite smooth and they sound very nice. Sadly, the track isn’t as memorable as you would have expected. While the headbanging does a lot, listening to the song made me come to realise that something was missing from the track. Even if the track isn’t your cup of tea, it is another track that DAY6 can use to prove their versatility and expanding music domain.

The music video accompanying the release of How Can I Say is pretty good. There is a reason why I don’t see the video as fantastic or as excellent, but let’s start off with what I like in regards to the video. I did like the visual effects that were used. They made the transitions between different scenes look quite nice and more appealing. I liked it when we hit the chorus, the video became a little more chaotic with its imagery and visual effects, which definitely suits the song at that point. The only problem is the simplicity of the video. While a nice simple video can go a long way, I am starting to be somewhat concerned for DAY6’s videos. Sure, the director and producer may have thought the simplicity of the video would have been a more artistic approach. But a part of me feels like it was done due to a lack of ideas. Who knows, I might be wrong. But since they are coming back each month, their music video budgets won’t really be incredible. And there is only so much one can do with a limited amount of money. I personally hope that the videos don’t become too repetitive and similar to the rest because that could become the downfall of this monthly release plan.

Song – 8.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Review] Fingertips – GFriend

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GFriend has officially returned with a more confident and mature image. GFriend is probably most well known for their school trilogy, which ranges from Glass Bead to Rough. Their most recent comeback was Navillera in July of last year.

When I first listened to the song, I wasn’t that amazed by it. I thought it was kind of childish and unsatisfying. It also has an entirely different sound to their typical songs, which made me sceptical with their latest comeback. But once again, I gave it a few extra tries. But then those initial feelings were just lost and I fell for the song. It is incredibly catchy. The “Tang Tang Tang” chorus entrance was fantastic and it just made want even more from the song. I loved the mini rap line that Umji received. GFriend hasn’t really rapped before in any of their title tracks in the past, so it caught me off guard. Sure, their previous songs didn’t and probably wouldn’t need a rap sequence. But I was blown away with that one line. I wasn’t much of a fan of Umji’s singing vocals, but everyone else sounded amazing. The track is a lot stronger, regarding sound, which is something that I think made the song sound quite epic. The instrumental of the song delved into the funk genre. The guitar riffs are something that I noticed in the song and once I picked up on those riffs, it genuinely felt more like a typical GFriend song. (The girls have used guitar riffs before, especially in the instrumental for their dance breaks). I would have liked an added layer of epicness to the instrumental break for their dance break. In the song, it felt so sudden and would have been nice if there was a bridge between the song and the dance break. Overall, another amazing song that GFriend can add to their portfolio of hits.

I had to take a step back when I saw them bring out the guns in the teaser. The concept of the video felt so foreign but at the same time, felt very fresh for the girls (and probably much needed). I think the video alludes to the old friendship between them. Throughout the video, the girls seem to battle it out in gun battles that highlighted the intensity between the girls. Eunha is the hunted one. Sowon and Yuju are hunting her down. SinB and Yerin are protecting her (or also hunting her down). Umji seemed to have moved away from the group. At the end of the video, we see the clock hands move backwards and we time travel back in time to when the girls all used to friends. Not sure if that is the actual plot, but that is what I got from the video. The space setting made the video look quite cool. I know this sounds sad but the highlight of the video was definitely any choreography scenes in the mirror set. It looked fancy and impressive. And it seemed to be very matched the video’s concept quite nicely.

I really liked how they incorporated the guns into their choreography. Sounds very shady but it gave a nice tough vibe. There was also parts that did seem a little cute, but I don’t know if that was intended to be perceived that way (or I have an odd definition of cute). Their dance break, once again, amazes me and is the one thing I look forward to with every GFriend performance.

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

[Review] Eyez Eyez – VICTON

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VICTON has made their first comeback with Eyez Eyez. For those who missed the group, they are a 7-member boy group under Plan A Entertainment. Their debut song, I’m Fine, was released in November 2016. Eyez Eyez is the title track to their latest mini album, Ready, which was released last week.

The song shows a more edgy and tougher side of the guys, something that their debut song didn’t have. And while this is an okay song, I don’t think it has what it takes to top their pre-release for their debut, What Time Is It Now. The songs are similar in ways but different in other aspects. But I am not here to compare songs. Eyez Eyez uses a more disoriented sounding instrumental, which can be attributed to the warped synths and it delves into the EDM route. It doesn’t sound like a mess, which I am sure, some people would have thought initially. While the EDM genre is expanding, it is very common to hear the same sounds again and again. And with many groups, particularly newer boy groups, going down the EDM route, this song doesn’t really stand out for me. Sure, the instrumental may be a little unique but there is a layer of air that makes the song feel a little generic. The vocals and raps were okay. I just expected them to be more explosive with this song. They do sing at a more powerful level for the chorus, but to me, it sounds like they are only doing that to get on top of the instrumental, which during the chorus was the main thing you could hear. Other than that, I did think the first line of the chorus was catchy enough and that alone brought me back to the song a few times.

The music video doesn’t really stand out. While the song does sound a little more untraditional, the music video feels very generic and lacks appeal. The song is made up of choreography scenes and a lot of close-ups of the guys at the train station. Not really the first place you would think of to put a bunch of guys trying out the tougher and edgier concept. The video relies heavily on the use of post-production effects and filters. They do a lot to the video and keep it somewhat interesting. Yeah, also gives me something a little extra to talk about.

The choreography was pretty good. It isn’t memorable as much as other performances but at least it gave a worthwhile visual to watch as part of their music video. The knife-like choreography puts them up high with other boy groups (that are known for their impressive sharp moves), but VICTON now needs to show that same aspect off with a more memorable and impressive choreography.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 4/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 5.5/10

[Review] Fine – Taeyeon (SNSD)

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I recently reviewed I Got Love by the solo queen herself, Taeyeon from SNSD. And with that amazing song as just her pre-release for her very first solo album, there are obviously high expectations for her entire album. But wait, this just marks her first solo album, My Voice? Given her status as a digital chart killer and the many (ain’t going to attempt to list them here) songs that she released? Obviously, this is long solo album is long overdue. If that is the case, I smell an album review coming up.

Fine is her title track for this album and it is one fine track (no pun intended… obviously). The song sounds like a Taylor Swift influenced track, with the acoustic guitar and pop ballad vibes, something that I will admittedly say that I miss from the world class act. This song takes it back to her solo debut days for me. The structure is quite similar and the way she delivered the songs are almost the same. But what makes this song good is that it focuses on good music and if we are talking about Taeyeon, amazing vocals. Her vocals in this song will blow you away. The track does start off slow and quiet. But as she launches herself into the chorus, she obviously doesn’t hold back. The chorus itself is quite different to the verses, as it is layered with bass and more instrumentals (other than the acoustic guitar). Towards the end, when we get to the peak of most songs (prior or during the final chorus), she takes it one step further with amazing ad-libs and high notes that literally took my breath away. Taeyeon has put out tracks that have disappointed me before, but when it comes to songs just like this one or any of her ballads, you can probably never go wrong.

The video itself shows Taeyeon walking around and clearly having thoughts in her head. From the rest of the video, we can probably tell that those thoughts are in regards to her lover, who has left her. We see try her best to move on (through scenes of her walking around the store and on the streets) but memories of him just start coming back to her. Now, to address the scenes where everything appears sketchy and unrecognisable (to her). I think they mean two things. The first is that everything around her is different now. Life with her boyfriend is different to life without him. The second is that she is slowly moving on (as indicated of the scenes towards the end where the sketchiness comes back, but blots out his face). We see her still thinking about him while she works on set. But she pushes through, finishing the photoshoot as professionally as she can after taking some time out. In the end, we see her pull out a glass and drink water from it, opposed to drinking whatever from plastic cups when she was with her boyfriend. This signifies that she has moved on completely. What I love about the video is its aesthetics. It makes the video look wonderful and gives it another level of depth. It’s not your typical ballad video, but the way everything came together (camera shots, transitions, filters, editing etc.) really captured the emotions from both her acting and the song itself. Just another video made for Taeyeon that makes the standard for all videos harder to reach.

I just saw a live performance on YouTube today of the song and wow. Do expect an album review to come out either later today or tomorrow.

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

 

[Review] A Girl Like Me – Gugudan

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Gugudan has finally made their first comeback since debut. Last year, the group made their debut with Wonderland. I am mot sure why they didn’t return during the year, but I assume that since some of the members were apart of I.O.I, this had an impact on their schedules and potential comebacks. A Girl Like Me serves as the title track for their second mini album, Act 2. Narcissus.

A Girl Like Me gives me flashbacks to KPOP in the past. The song’s instrumental itself sounds retro with its use of synths. They managed to keep their brightness from their previous comeback and show a more mature sound (and improvement) at the same time. But what makes the track so good is that it brings back memories of past KPOP tracks. This track could have easily passed as a song on F(x)’s or Red Velvet’s albums. That might have come off as an insult (but I hope it didn’t). I only included that statement that because both F(x)’s and Red Velvet’s albums always include high-quality songs, good enough to be title tracks. Vocally, it is much better than what they presented in Wonderland. It is really catchy and while it sounds like it could become very annoying, it isn’t (and that is a big plus). The rap bridge, along with the change in instrumental was amazing, which is topped off with a very suitable ad-lib. Yeah, the song is quite short (under 3 minutes) but what they have given us here is of an amazing standard. And more importantly, I really like it.

Like what I mentioned, the girls have channelled that brightness from their song into their video by using bold colours (that were bright as well!). The video suits the song quite well. The song itself (I should have discussed this before, but I felt it would fit in here) is in regards to a guy who is too into himself and doesn’t notice the girls. So, evidently, the girls put them out there by making them more pretty. Modelling, painting self-portraits, vlogging and photocopying your face. You know, the usual. While its plot line and meaning go hand-in-hand, the video didn’t captivate me and bored me a little. It isn’t a superb video, but it does get the job done at promoting the song.

The choreography is similar to the video, in the sense, that there wasn’t anything impressive. But it was also similar to the song, in the sense, of its maturity that it brings. The dance itself also includes themes related to the lyrics and video, which is quite cool as well.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 6/10 
Performance – 6/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] WoW! – Lovelyz

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Lovelyz has finally made their comeback. After their Destiny comeback last year, the group has been absent from the spotlight. I personally liked Destiny a lot and wanted to see more from the group. They recently had their first concert. WoW! is the title track for their second album, R U Ready?.

The song is quite interesting. I listened to it for the first time (when it was released) and it felt very underwhelming. But after coming back to the track a few days later, I noticed that it had a classy vibe and mature sound to it, which reminds me of Destiny. The more you listen to it, the more you shrug your doubts away and start to realise how good the track is. That being said (I probably haven’t listened to the song enough times yet), the song did sound weak. I feel like if the track had more of a stronger (and maybe deeper sounding) foundation, the track could would have sounded a lot better (but then again, I ain’t a music expert). Their vocals weren’t really shown off in the song, which did make it disappointing because we have yet to hear a track that vocally shows them off. But within this track, there were catchy moments which I really liked, like the start. I keep on going back to the track because I mainly can’t get that start of the song out of my head. The track is probably one of the smoothest tracks that I have ever listened to in KPOP. From just listening to the song, there doesn’t seem to be much going on with it. But when you pay close attention, you can hear a lot of subtle sounds in the instrumentals. Personally, they make the song quite interesting to listen to.

The music video looks pretty cool. While I am not a major fan of their close close-ups, it does a lot of charm to the video. The paper cut-outs of the girls did add cuteness to the video, but I didn’t understand why they were needed in the video.  But the aspect that I loved even more are the scenes inside the house. It looked very cool, especially towards the end where the girls are essentially running out of frame but their paused versions remain behind. I genuinely loved all the scenes inside the house. I don’t know if it is the content or just the quality of the scenes that I am drawn to, but either way, it all looked amazing. The editing of the video has to be talked about as well. Especially during the bridge of the song (or the part where each member had a line – just before the final chorus), where they filmed each member in a circle. It looked like multiple shots were taken (as some of the members ended up freezing while still on screen), but the editing made it look as smooth (as possible), channelling the smoothness of the song.

I really liked the slow motion running that they incorporated with in their dance. It was matching to the part of the song. The rest of the dance looked alright. It isn’t as impressive as their last comeback, but the weak nature of the song (which I mentioned before) does limit their choreography to an extent.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8.5/10
Performance – 6/10
Overall Rating – 8/10

[Review] Let Me Love You – Junggigo & Chanyeol (EXO)

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Another cross-company collaboration has been unveiled (last week). Last time it was Soyu & Baekhyun’s Rain. Recently, I reviewed Honey Bee, which featured Luna, Solar and Hani. Now, Junggigo and Chanyeol from EXO has come together to give us a new song. Both of these artists are quite successful in their solo work. Junggigo is one-half of the ‘Some’ collaboration and Chanyeol has been ranking high on the charts with his solo OSTs. Hence, making this song something to look forward to.

Let Me Love You is a ballad and RnB infused track. It sounds very smooth and ‘easy on the ears’ (if you understand what I am trying to get at). The song itself is pretty simple, with no aspects of the song overcomplicating it, hence something that is quite nice to listen to. The song also is the type that gets you swaying along to the music. That is one of the signs it is a pretty good ballad, in my point of view (which when I say it, sounds a little odd). Both Junggigo and Chanyeol sounds amazing in the song. This is expected of Junggigo (just haven’t been digging his recent releases) but I get surprised every time I hear Chanyeol sing, though. He is a rapper in EXO yet he has a very nice voice when singing, which was unexpected when I discovered that he could sing. There really isn’t much else to say about the song. I will just happily listen to the song in the background, while I continue on with the review.

When I saw images of the music video, I thought the song was a soundtrack for the new Power Rangers film that is due to come out this year (who else is excited about the new Power Ranger film?). But then it turns out to be just a simple music video with a Power Ranger type of setting. The video does make me chuckle a bit, though. The moustached Power Rangers battle a giant cockroach. Actually, now I think about it, the Power Rangers are probably just pest control dressed in funky clothing to make their work a little more interesting. But it turns out there is a romantic twist with the guy playing the cockroach having a mad crush on one of the rangers. It seems like she is also interested as she is the only person to pay attention to him (the other rangers and staff don’t seem to care about him). While the two hang out, everyone packs up, leaving the two ‘friends’ behind. They spend even more time together, to the point where the girl can’t seem to kill her love when they working on set for the film or show they are shooting. They are a very cute couple and watching the guy walk around with the costume on made me go “awwww” for most of the video. Couple goals 2017? Wait… Sorry, it should be #CoupleGoals2017. That’s the way to write it in 2017.

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

[Review] Honey Bee – Luna (f(x)), Hani (EXID) & Solar (Mamamoo)

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Honey Bee is a cross-company collaboration, which features Luna (from f(x) – whose is under SM Entertainment), Hani (from EXID – who is under Banana Culture) and Solar (from Mamamoo – who is under Rainbow Bridge World). The producer of the song (Park Guen Tae) is under Mystic Entertainment and is the same producer/writer for Baekhyun and Suzy’s collaboration, Dream. 

Just by looking at the artists who participated in this song, you can definitely expect an amazing song which shows off the vocal abilities of each person. Sure, you may not expect Hani to be in that mix but she did a really good job of the song. She gave the song stability and kept the song grounded. Solar and Luna were exceptional in the song themselves but they kept making the song go higher and higher via their high notes. Hani’s vocals is sort of a platform to start at and as the other two hit the higher notes (starting from Hani’s level), it highlighted the high notes and allowed the song and vocal talents to further blow us away. The song itself uses a heavy dosage of saxophones, which gives off a nice jazzy vibe. I love the snaps in the song, as it was definitely needed to make sure the saxophones don’t dominate the song. The song does seem to lack something and it goes back to the vocals. The song needed something deep, either some bass or deeper tone. It just kept on getting higher, which in the past, I would have love. But since listening to more songs, I am starting to love songs with a much more darker or even gothic sound (I am referring to songs outside of KPOP here). It probably weird to want a deeper tone (probably just a phase) to accompany this song. It probably won’t work because it would just make the song feel standard. But what the girls have presented us with sounds pretty good and do showcase their vocals.

The music video is okay. It was shot in a bowling centre, which also showcases pool and possibly other games. Maybe it was meant to add to the fun vibes the song had going on. The girls each add their own charm to the video, in my opinion. Luna had a very mature yet charismatic gaze, Solar had a bright smile and Hani made the surroundings a lot hotter (and sexier if you didn’t understand what I meant). I liked the one shot video layout that featured for part of the video.  It was definitely lacked a lot and honestly, I thought it could have used a little more colour to match that fun and vibrant vibe. They didn’t have to go full on bright because it wouldn’t match the sensual nature, but a little more probably could have lifted the video from the darkness it suffered. But besides that, I don’t have much else to say about the video.

The dance is quite simple. A lot of hip snapping to the side and running on the spot. But in a more dancey way and not exercising/sweaty way.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Choreography -7/10
Overall Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] Sketch U – 100%

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100% is back with a brand new mini-album, Sketchbook. This is the group’s first comeback since their return from hiatus last year with Better Day. During the time since their return, 100% debuted in Japan with How to Cry.

The group has returned with a more vocally centred song. While the group has continually returned with songs that are more dance centred, their last comeback showcased a very big improvement in vocals. Likewise, this comeback showcases even a larger improvement of their vocals. The song itself sounds is a ballad mixed with rock and orchestral sounds. The instrumental itself is quite good to listen to. However, as mentioned already, their vocals are the main show. They sound amazing in this song. Particularly the chorus, where they sing in falsetto. It gave me chills the first time around and it probably will do the same thing to you guys. The rap sequences fit very nicely into the song. I am just not of the fan of the jump from the second (and last) chorus of the song to the rap sequence at the end. It felt a little awkward. But I think that is me being a little picky. Talking about second choruses, the song ended surprisingly fast, which does let me down a tiny bit. But they probably decided to do that to save their vocals because I am quite sure it is not normal or healthy to sing like that 3 times in a short span of time. But regardless, the song is something that you guys need to check out because it sounds amazing.

The music video is a little less impressive. There are no “high notes” here. The video is quite fitting with the song, however, playing towards the emotional side of the song. The majority of the video is split into two. One side shows the guy (with the girl) when they were together as a couple and the other side shows the guy after the breakup (which was the first thing we saw). It was quite interesting to see the two sides of the video interact with each other (like when the post-breakup guy holds out his hand when the girl approaches the guy pre-breakup). It adds a little twist to the story, something that hasn’t been done before, I believe. The video features the same set used in KNK’s U performance video. I am not troubled by that, just pointing that fact out. The set looked a lot cooler with the piano at the centre and 100% situated around it.

There is no choreography for this comeback. Just them singing their hearts out on stage, which suits the song a lot more than any choreography that they could have intended to include.

Song – 9.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

[Review] Kiss On The Lips – MelodyDay

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Two weeks ago, I reviewed the pre-release for MelodyDay’s latest mini album. The pre-release, You Seem Busy, featured Jung Ilhoon from BTOB. Now, they have released their mini album with the title track of Kiss On The Lips.

Kiss On The Lips is a fair attempt at the reggae genre, with a more tropical feel to it.  It isn’t terrible but the release for it is a little off. This sound suits more a summer feel and it is barely Spring in South Korea. Moving away from that, the song gives off the same vibe as Why So Lonely by the recently disbanded senior group, Wonder Girls. The song has a few nice rhythmic portions, such as the “Ringa-ringa-ring” parts in the song (and is one of the catchiest phrases of the year). However, the song just doesn’t seem to stand out. To me, it sounded like the girls held back with their vocals. They needed to give the song a boost of some sort (either vocals or a build up within the instrumental) but everything felt too consistent. There wasn’t much of a buildup in the song and that did leave the ending to be quite lacking, as that tends to be where songs peak at. The ad-lib at the end was present and it could have given the song that powerful boost (provided they had built up appropriately to it). But instead, it sounded distant. It was as if I was listening to the song (with no ad-lib) on the train and someone from the next carriage started to randomly hit that high note. Overall, in my personal opinion, if they managed to give the song a boost and geared towards a release date during hotter months, the song would have been better received.

The music video was lacking as well. As much as the song didn’t stand out, the same goes for the video. But there were things that I liked in the video. First of all, it reminded me of the Wonder Girl’s Why So Lonely video. Not sure if MelodyDay is doing it on purpose but the vibes from the two videos are quite similar. Moving along, I like the colour filter that they used. Surprisingly, I thought the dullness and pastel like effect matched the song quite nicely. That might come across as a criticism but honestly, it is a compliment. The fake set was obviously and it is unavoidable to notice. But the use of lighting in the video, alongside the set, was something that I thought was quite cool. Especially the dance scenes on the beach. The lights are usually on the singers, but instead, they highlighted the background. It gave it a very sophisticated and polished feel. Everything else felt like a bore, though.

The dance was the best part of the comeback. The girls have gone for a more sensual dance, something that we haven’t seen from the girls. While the dance moves aren’t necessarily new, the moves seemed to match the song perfectly. Especially for the “Ringa-ringa-ring” parts.

Song – 6/10
Music Video – 6/10 
Performance – 8/10 
Overall Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Rain – Soyu (Sistar) & Baekhyun (EXO)

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Another collaboration between two of the biggest idol names in the business at the moment. Soyu (from Sistar) has many collaborations to her name, such as Some with JungGiGo and Stupid in Love with Mad Clown. Baekhyun (from EXO) collaborated with Suzy for Miss A for Dream and have participated in OSTs for popular dramas in the past. All the collaborations and songs that the two have participated ended up being successful and high charting songs.

As expected given their portfolio, the two went with a ballad. It is one of those extremely slow ballads that people tend to shy away from. Even I do that to some of the songs of that nature sometimes. The combination between Baekhyun’s sweet vocals and the huskiness you hear with Soyu’s vocals is something you expect to be fantastic. And for the latter half of the song when they sing together for the final chorus, we got that fantastic feel. But the start of the song just didn’t have that same feeling. You could hear their vocals in the purest form (i.e. there is nothing shadowing or covering their respective parts) and that is good. But with a slow ballad, that seemed to drag out the song. While I am not too troubled by that now, it was something that I had to get used to after multiple listens to the song. But there is something else. Changing from Soyu to Baekhyun felt too instant and too fast. There was a second of silence and that was it. That silence felt like it two songs were ‘joined’ together as the two have different voices. A nice transition that eased in Baekhyun’s part would have made the song nicer as I felt the song needed that transition.

I am not a big fan of the video. There wasn’t anything of interest in the video. I just play the video mainly for the song. But you guys may like it. The video simply shows a young girl wandering around in the rain (or course with an umbrella). We do see that she is thinking about someone as shown via her drawings in her book and on the blackboard. While the video is not my cup of tea, the video is beautifully shot. Just by watching the video, you can’t help but smile when the girl in the video is happy and joyfully jumping around, which is quite cute.

Song – 7.5/10
Music Video – 5/10
Overall Rating – 6.5/10