Tag: CIX

[Review] Numb – CIX

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2019 has been a big year for rookies, particularly the ones formed featuring the members of Wanna One. All of the members have released music in the past year and many have or are gearing up for their second comeback. Joining this list is CIX, which features Bae Jin Young. Alongside ‎BX, Seunghun, Yonghee and Hyunsuk, CIX returns today with Numb, and their second mini-album, Hello Chapter 2: Hello, Strange Place. This follows CIX’s Korean and Japanese debut with Movie Star.

Numb felt like a smooth song at first. The verses give off a nice melodic feel, which made the song feel promising for me and potentially a great followup to Movie Star. But the EDM drop that featured in the song dispelled this quite quickly. It did break that promising feeling and it feels very different to their debut track. But it isn’t all bad news. Instead, it introduces a new level of intensity, which makes the song feel intriguing. It all leads the song into unexpected territory for me (relative to how the song started). I just felt there should have been a transition between the verses and chorus to make the song feel more cohesive. Instead, the chorus is literally detached from the rest of the track. I also felt like the song could have been a little more catchy as I find it hard to identify any strong hooks in the song minus the foreign influence in the chorus. The vocals and rapping are great. The lyrics of the song also seem to add an extra layer of tension, with it looking like the lyrics are taking a stab at modern societal pressures of students in a school setting, around friends, bullies and overall doing well at school.

The music video even goes to that length of depicting a school setting. But in a very dramatic and almost apocalyptic way. I think it shows the members being friends at one point. But I think the way the Korean education system operates is a competition between students to see who is the best, with parents assisting their children in any way possible to place their kids on top of the others. It seems like this drove a stake into the friendship of the members, as seen by the building being torn apart with two students on each half of the building. Using the school logic, if something was to happen to the other then you push ahead to place higher than them. But Bae Jin Young takes a stand in the music video, offering a hand to the friend who would have fallen to their death in the music video, which I think is a subtle way of saying that things should be just that one way. It is a video concept that depicts the problem in an extreme manner. But it effortlessly makes the point clear.

I thought the dance for this was really good. The chorus routine was very powerful, fitting for the EDM that the song opted for in that section. The verses were good but I don’t think they were amazing standout parts like the chorus. I also think the choreographers/company are favouring Bae Jin Young a little too much. He was in the centre of the performance a fair bit, leaving the best of the members with little centre time. Not his fault though, as this would be at the discretion of their company and production team. 

Song – 7/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 7.7/10

[Album Review] Hello Chapter 1: Hello, Stanger (1st Mini Album) – CIX

Posted in Album Reviews, KPOPTagged 1 Comment

It is always exciting to write album reviews for groups that had just debut. As there is a very high chance that I will be following their careers through albums reviews for as long as they are around. CIX debuted two weeks ago with Hello Chapter 1: Hello, Stranger. They have also won a music show award with their new track, Movie Star. This made them the fastest male group to win a music show award after debuting (i.e. 7 days). Let’s see the album that helped contribute to this win!

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Hello Chapter 1: Hello Stranger Album Cover

1..What You Wanted – Kicking off their debut mini-album is What You Wanted. The song has a very nice sleek feel. The instrumental is very standard and feels very weighted. But this is a good thing as it gives rise of their ‘downward melody’ that they feature in the chorus. And this downward melody was very catchy, meaning the album opened with a memorable tone. Likewise, the vocals were quite good. The rapping was a little hit and miss for me. I thought the first half of the rapping was good. But things got messy during the second half of the chorus. (8/10)

2. Movie Star (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review for Movie Star. (9.5/10)

3. Like It That Way – We move to something a little brighter through Like It That Way. The instrumental primarily features a reggae beat. There is a little more percussion to it as the song progresses. But overall, I would consider the track to be light in terms of its tone. Other than that, I thought the singing was okay. It doesn’t really showcase anything new, which is my overall impression of the song as well. The rapping manages to give it a little more definition. But it really isn’t enough to really make it memorable. It is more of a skippable song if I was to describe it in some way. (6.5/10)

4. Imagine – And now we move onto a track with a more upbeat nature, in conjunction with the song’s previous brighter tone. With the way the song directs itself to the pop genre, I already find it more captivating than the preceding track. There are a little disco and groovy influence on the song instrumental, which really helps make the song slightly more memorable. Unfortunately, I did think the member’s vocals were a little weak. I think if they managed to boost their vocals with some sort of definition aid, I think they would have stood out more. With that said, I find the rapping and Jinyoung’s whispering in the bridge to be my picks for more captivating moments of the song. (7.5/10)

5. The One – To me, The One finds itself within a very typical territory. It does have a feel of a ballad, as it does lack loudness and energy. But the instrumental was more dance centred, with synths present and an R&B tone to really bring everything together nicely. I find their execution of the different elements to be very interesting. I have been unimpressed with the vocal work for the last two tracks on the album. But I found the vocal work to be very nice here. Sure, there aren’t new techniques being shown off. But it sounds really well balanced over the synth R&B instrumental. The rapping had some oophm to it, which I thought was very cool as well. It ended the album in a wholesome way, based on its message as well. (8.5/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8/10

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Hello Chapter 1: Hello, Stranger Teaser Image

[Review] Movie Star – CIX

Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged 3 Comments

It is time to look closely at a new debuting group! CIX (Complete In X) is a 5-member male group debuting under C9 Entertainment, consisting of Lee Byoung-gon, Kim Seung-hun, Kim Yong-hee, Bae Jin-young and Yoon Hyun-suk. Several of the members are familiar faces we have seen previously throughout the industry.  I think the majority of fans will recognise Bae Jin Young, who is a former member of Wanna One (and made his solo debut a few months back). Byoung-gon and Seung-hun were previously on YG Treasure Box but failed to join the lineup of Treasure13 (another upcoming group). They made their debut today with Movie Star.

Two words that I have been using often to describe songs this year is smooth and sleek. Both these words are great descriptions for Movie Star. But I think an even better description is that the song is rather seductive. The way Jinyoung started off the song with his deep voice was very appealing. It is a side of him that we have yet to see, so there is an intriguing side to it. The rest of the song falls in place quite nicely. The song builds up in aesthetics with its rather typical sounding dance instrumental. But there are some small details within the instrumental that draw my attention. The vocals take a soft approach, which I think compliments the seductive and aesthetic nature of the song. Even the melody does the exact same thing. The rapping adds that dynamic touch (its that other word I word too often) that feels like ‘icing on the cake’. I really like the outro, which really draws the song to a close in a fitting fashion for fans who want to listen to just that tiny bit more.

The music video takes what I mentioned above on board and manage to transform it into a very appealing visual aid for the song. Each member is quite handsome, so the music video already has that box ticked. Somehow Jinyoung makes a jumper with many holes in it look fashionable, proving my point. The music video sets look really cool. And with the different camera angles, the video shines quite cool. I really like the use of white and black in the video, along with that one dominant colour when it comes to coloured lighting in the video. I find this is very stylish and modern.

The choreography also encapsulates what is said above. The moves play on that seductive nature of the song. But it keeps it relatively simple, which matches the more aesthetic nature. You don’t need bold moves to really show off style and this proves just that. Well played by CIX and their choreographers.

Song – 9.5/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9.6/10