Tag: Chen (EXO)

For this next review, I will focus on a new release from this week, just so I don’t fall behind with the new releases whilst also reviewing past songs. But despite it being only one day into the working week, there are already quite a large number of songs to choose from to review. In the end, I have settled on CHEN’s Last Scene as the first release of the week review. Last Scene is also the title of his third mini-album and his first solo release since Shall We? in 2019. Originally scheduled for a 31 October release, Last Scene was postponed due to the tragic events in Itaewon during the Halloween weekend.

It comes as no surprise to me that CHEN once again delves into the ballad genre with Last Scene. And I love that he embraces the ballad genre each time. Ballads tend to get a bad rap, just because many find them boring, empty and commonly associated with a sad emotion (and no one likes being sad!). But I like them for a number of reasons. I won’t get into the specifics to why I personally like ballads as this would be a tangent from the review. But put simply, I love the idea of getting lost and taken away by ballads (and other slower types of songs). And I feel that CHEN and Last Scene does just that wonderfully. Listening to Last Scene, you can definitely hear how much of the balladry style showcases his vocals the best. The husky and raspy tones behind his vocals give the ballad such a mesmerizing element at the start, while his vocals just effortlessly drifted me away as the song progresses. The classical orchestral backing to Last Scene was just so enchanting and felt quite flowy. The violins were my favourite part of the instrumental and they really captivate my attention whilst listening to the song. However, the best part of Last Scene to me is the way in which CHEN’s vocals soared and followed the trajectory as the instrumental builds. It just gives body and intensity to Last Scene, and just allows the song to speak volumes.

The music video features Park Hae Soo, who for most of the video, is behind the wheel. Combined with CHEN’s vocals and the song itself, you could feel the heartbreaking emotion behind his facial expressions quite prominently. Between shots of Park Hae Soo driving, we see footage of his partner (for this music video) wandering on the beach and very much in an emotional state as well. Based on the lyrics, we can tell that the pair had broken up. Park Hae Soo does make the decision to return to the same beach, presumably to hopefully rekindle with his partner. But once he gets there, she is no longer there. This goes back to the idea behind the title of the song, that their last scene together had already passed and now everything is to fade away.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10

Chen made it onto the headlines of the KPOP industry and related media for his surprise announcement of marriage and (at the time) upcoming entrance into fatherhood. A little later into the year, Chen got married in a private ceremony and also became a father to a young girl. Congratulations to Chen and his wife! Since the shock announcement until now, Chen has been absent from the industry (though I do remember him popping up in the congratulatory video for BoA’s 20 year anniversary). However, a week ago, SM Entertainment announced the (another!) surprise comeback for Chen with Hello, which dropped today. This is his first solo comeback since the release of Shall We? and his first music release since EXO’s Obsession.

Within a matter of seconds (yep, not even a full listen to the song), I was admiring Chen’s voice and the song (in general). Hello is such a beautiful sounding song. It falls into the realm of britpop, taking on more of a ballad profile, which is expected for Chen. I really love the combination of the piano, drums and electric and acoustic guitars throughout the song. Very traditional instruments, but they all blend together spectacularly for Hello and in a very wholesome type of way. I also love how the britpop aspect of the song gives the chorus a kick, which makes the song so much more appealing. Chen’s vocals effortlessly delivers the song’s melodies and you can definitely hear the emotions in his voice. Hopefully, I am selling the idea that I enjoyed Hello. This reaction was pretty much guaranteed, given how Chen had previously impressed me with Shall We? and even more so with Beautiful Goodbye. Before I proceed with the rest of the reviews, I think I need to address the lyrics of Hello here (and not in the music video portion of the video). The emotions we hear in his voice during stems from the lyrics, which is pretty much his fears and concerns that experienced whilst wanting to say hello to fans since (what I would assume) the announcement. It actually made me emotional and Hello just felt so much more impactful, as a result.

For a ballad like this, the music video needs to be slow to compliment the song. And that is exactly what the pace of the music video was. For the first half of the video, we simply find Chen pacing around his apartment. Other than a lighting change, there wasn’t much to it the first half. My guess this was some time after leaving a lover. The world went on (i.e. the lighting changed signifying that time went by) and for whatever reason, he didn’t take action (though clearly, he still remembers this lover). In the end, he decides to write a letter to express interest. However, when he starts to write the word ‘Hello‘ to say hello to his lover, time starts to slow down due to his hesitation that he expresses throughout the lyrics of the song. The second part of the video see his possessions in his apartment start floating around. I am not exactly sure what this means exactly, but my guess is that time is coming to a definite as we shortly see those items break apart. This tells us time has stopped completely. However, Chen makes to the end of the pier at the very end, where life is quite sunny. This might signify that he moved on to continue writing the letter. However, the very end shows him in a greyscale world, similar to the greyscale we got when time came to a stop earlier on in the video, and the final few lines indicate that he did not move on from the word ‘Hello‘ that was the start of his letter. This is just my take on the video though, so I may be wrong.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10

Reading in an article a few days ago, it seems like an EXO comeback with the remaining members who are not in the military just yet is coming our way. But as we wait for that, we get an opportunity to listen to Chen as he makes his first solo comeback. He made his solo debut earlier this year with Beautiful Goodbye. Chen is also one of the first solo artists to make a very quick return after the release of their previous track. Usually, the gap is quite wide. But I am not complaining. Let’s listen to what Chen has to offer in Shall We?.

Once again, Chen gives us a ballad as the title track. But Shall We? isn’t the same style of ballad that we got from Chen when he promoted Beautiful Goodbye. Instead, Shall We? seems approach the ballad genre with a retro mindset, which is a very different approach to any ballad on the charts at the moment. So big ticks for uniqueness already. I really like the brass in the instrumental. It is a small detail in the music, but I thought it gave the song a really nice touch. The rest of the instrumental wasn’t as captivating, unfortunately. It was still good but I wanted the song to pick up a little more as it progressed. Chen’s voice is breathtaking, once again. I really like how delicate his voice gets in this song. I know his tone is a lot softer to match the instrumentation, but I feel like the same comments (as per the instrumentation) can be made for his vocals as well.  I do prefer hearing him with a bolder approach, which would explain why I feel this way. But nonetheless, a really nice soothing rack to listen to.

I found the music video to be equally soothing, matching extremely well with the music. I really like how they captured Chen in this video. From the lights in the night cityscape to the sunrise, he looked good throughout the video. The rest of the video was showing a couple loving each other, which was appropriate for the song. The combination of the two made the video more interesting if the producers opted for one over the other. And it is always nice to watch a music video that doesn’t end in heartbreak, which is surprisingly rare (from what I can remember).

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10

As groups progress with their careers, we see a lot of the members branch out into solo careers. EXO is a fine example, with many of the members excelling at their solo careers, such as acting, collaborations and OSTs. What we have not yet seen from the members in Korea is actually a solo album! Lay took the honours as the first member to have a solo album, but that was released in China. But today, Chen will be the first Korean member to release a solo mini-album, April, and a flower, today. The title track from this mini-album is Beautiful Goodbye.

Given Chen’s amazing OSTs in the past, it was highly expected that Chen would go down the ballad route. And Beautiful Goodbye is a breathtaking ballad. A few reviews ago, I mentioned that there are the types of songs that you have to stop what you are doing and listen to it that way in order to fully appreciate the song. This is another perfect example of this. Beautiful Goodbye features only piano in the instrumental. As it is the only instrument in the song, it is extremely striking especially during the moments when the song ‘builds up’or peaks. Chen’s vocals compliment the piano. It doesn’t push himself in this domain nor does he reach ‘powerhouse’ mode. Instead, I find his voice to be very moving and also well-balanced.  This combination works in harmony and it leaves us with a fantastic song to listen to.

I also like how aesthetic the music video is. It isn’t artsy in any way but rather it is simplistic. It is all shot outside, with a very large tree-trunk like structure in the centre of the video. Within the centre, we find Chen and a piano player, whose piano is embedded into the structure. Surrounding them is are many female dancers, all dressed in a pale pink-ish colour that really works well with the setting. That is pretty much it to the video. I came across a news article today that stated that the video took 6 hours of filming and that Chen was concerned about whether he conveyed the right emotions. Well, those 6 hours paid off and Chen did wonders in the video.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10