Hyorin – KPOPREVIEWED

Hyolyn made a surprise comeback with Bae. The announcement of this comeback was out of the blue as she only released See Sea a few weeks back. But I am not complaining because it isn’t Summer without a comeback from any Summer Queen and I will gladly accept multiple if the opportunity comes up.

Bae is another song to add onto the Summer playlist. It isn’t the most experimental or unique track, opting for a more traditional dance-pop style song featuring very Summery and vibrant instrumental. The song itself doesn’t take any moments to relax, going straight in with a consistent and energetic tune. And the consistency isn’t a flaw here, with the song’s melody being a major driving force that made me enjoy the song. The song didn’t feel repetitive whatsoever, which I thought was interesting, given how consistency tends to make songs repetitive. I think Hyolyn’s vocals make the song feel different during each section, as she fits perfectly into the song. No flaws or awkward moment presented itself making this another amazing track from the widely known vocalist. Her rapping was also quite unexpected but felt very needed halfway during the song, which gave the song a little texture. In summary, Hyolyn aced Summer, once again.

I saw a few articles today which described the music video was retro. And many elements within the video were quite retro. From the diner and the roller skating rink, that element is visibly present. However, what I liked within the video as well, was how well they made sure to emphasise that this is a video within the present time and that it was modern. I think that is partly due to the people within the video (including Hyolyn herself), who dressed in outfits that aren’t retro but more of this era. I thought that was quite cool and made the video quite nice, overall.

The choreography to this was quite nice. There isn’t a live performance but I would love to see her and the backup dancers perform at the bar, exactly like in the video. It looked awesome and is my pick for the best part of the dance. Furthermore, I thought her chemistry with all the dancers were quite nice, adding an extra element to the video.

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

Making a very hot comeback at the start of this week is Hyolyn with Dally. This is Hyolyn’s second comeback since leaving her former company, Starship Entertainment, after the disbandment of popular girl group Sistar. Dally is also the second part of her three-part Set Up Time project. The first being To Do List, which I haven’t written a review for. She also recently featured on GOT7’s pre-release track, One and Only You.

Dally, to me, seems plain. I felt like the instrumental was quite generic and doesn’t really give much impact to the song. While there was some build-up, it didn’t feel that captivating for me. Gray’s featuring raps did enhance the song from a standard hip-hop track to something with a little more energy. It just wasn’t enough, however, as the song returned to its initial vibes whenever Hyolyn returned. There was a changeup towards the end when they stripped the most of the song’s instrumental, which did give some nice contrast. What I did like the song were Hyolyn’s vocals. Somehow, she manages to fit into whatever genre song she is making a comeback with, which definitely proves how versatile her vocals are. I liked how raspy her voice is throughout the song and the ad-libs that featured were also nice touches. If only the instrumental was stronger and more interesting, I think I would have liked the song a lot more.

Hyolyn attracted attention for her teasers and will definitely attract some attention for her music video. I am not too fussed about the sets and her outfits, which all seemed fitting for the concept and song’s sound. If I didn’t know any better, it felt like a commercial for some urban or fitness wear. I want to focus more on the dancing, which dominated the video. Well, you don’t really need to focus too much to see what is going on. It is the reason why the video got a 19+ rating. There was a lot of butt action in her video, which felt bold and definitely took hold of your attention. There wasn’t much else to say about the performance, except for the very obvious statement that it was extremely sexy.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video + Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7/10