Tag: Lee Jonghyun

CNBLUE has returned with their 7th mini album, 7°CN. This is their first comeback to the Korean stage since You’re So Fine, back in April of last year. Since then, the group had another (5th to date) concert tour and released more songs in Japan.

This song is amazing. Am I too straightforward? At first, it sounded a little awkward to me. CNBLUE is a band and for the longest time focused on more traditional instrumentals when it comes to bands (such as guitars, drums, keyboards, pianos and vocals). But the chorus this time is dominated by synths and electronic sounds. This isn’t the first time the band has gone for this style, but it is done wonderfully in this song. It keeps true to the band’s roots and the rock sound that I yearn to hear from CN Blue each time they come back, something that was missing from their last comeback. The chorus is made to headbang along with, something that I have been doing when the song pops up on my playlists or as the next automatically played video on YouTube. Per usual, the song is dominated by Yonghwa’s vocals, with a small distribution going to Jonghyun. I am a little disappointed because it has been a while since we have heard Minhyuk or Jungshin in their title tracks. But this song suits Yonghwa and Jonghyun’s vocals very much. There is a big difference between their singing abilities, but in this song, both voices worked well with each other. Everything was really catchy and addictive. And I mean everything (vocals, beat, instrumental). It’s a really good track and is a track that I would be willing to recommend to new listeners of KPOP.

The music video was interestingly shot. I personally thought it was a cool video to watch. There isn’t much to it. For the most part, especially, the chorus focused on the band. The camera circled the band, who were playing the instruments. It complimented the more upbeat and faster tempo of the song at that point. The verses slowed down a bit and showed more of the individual members. They spoke on the phone to their lovers. They used a flip phone and a brick (for those who do not get the term ‘brick’, it refers to the old mobile phones that resembled the shape and weight of a brick) for those scenes and Jonghyun was featured in a phone booth. Next, you would tell me this video was shot 10 years ago. There was a lack of colour, but that didn’t ruin the video. Instead, it had other effects on the video. Either the scenes were presented using a black and white filter; or while filming, they directed quite a bit of light to focus only on one area. It looked stylish and focused the attention of the viewer at one spot, where the member(s) were in the scene. I just was not into the overlaps of scenes and images (see feature image above). It made it look too messy. The idea behind them was nice, but it just looked messy. Overall, the video fits the song perfectly and vice versa.

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

So much work to do and yet here I am procrastinating. It is funny. When I don’t have anything to do but write reviews, I procrastinate then and find work that I have put off for weeks and months. Wasn’t actually planning on writing a review until tomorrow since today was extremely busy, but hey, CN Blue cannot wait. Yep, the band is back with a brand new mini album. That being said and all this talk about being busy, the boys are extremely busy with promotions and also solo work.

It is officially Spring and you can tell by listening to this song. CN Blue usually goes for a powerful rock / pop track. Something with a little more energy and bass is a sound that I would associate with CN Blue. However, this time around, they went with a song that has a mellow feel to it (but in a cheerful sense). This is the song that you would sit outside on a grassy field, with blue skies all over and there is just a nice breeze. That or cheery blossoms. Oh wait the song. I really do like the song. I was kind of shocked when I first heard it, but I grew to like this song. I don’t love and I don’t think it is their best song ever, but it is still a good song. The vocals were great, though the small sections of rap or the short instrumental we got for the bridge were kind of awkward. It has that “throw your hand in the air” kind of feel, but they are just hanging down near my hips. Though, I do love the instrumental. Combining that band feel with the saxophone did wonders to my ears. It isn’t overpowering and the volume of the vocals and the instrumental is just right.

The music video was boring. The guys are in this lobby hotel. Minhyuk is getting his hair cut. Jonghyun is getting this poor kid to polish his shoes. Jungshin accidentally gets locked in the elevator. Yonghwa is the singer by the bar. Okay. A girl walks in and each guy is suddenly drawn to her presence. She some hows manages to interact with all of them indirectly (by giving people around them flowers). Then she goes and gets changed, and each of the guys decide to sit there and wait for her to come down and blind them with her beauty. Might have added that last part. But there wasn’t anything in the video to make me go wow. The video just had me thinking “So what?” throughout the video. It wasn’t climatic and it just didn’t do much to portray that spring feeling. I did like the set, very colourful. And there is what I liked the best regarding the video. Their clothing isn’t that great as well, but very retro.

Overall, great song. I’ll pass on the video though. 5/10

CN Blue is back with a brand new album. This year, the members have focused mainly on solo work up until now. They have returned to acting and also launched solo careers in Yonghwa’s case. He made his overdue debut with One Fine Day at the start of the year. The band itself has been busy in Japan, releasing singles after singles that topped charts. They also have had many concerts in the few months in between Yonghwa’s debut and their second album release.

This song is a great song. Their last few songs have been quite mellow and more ballad like. This song picks it up quite well and adds that Summer feel that I don’t see much in CN Blue’s songs. This song is catchy and addictive to listen to. We don’t really see much bands in KPOP, so everytime we get something from CN Blue, I get excited. This song gets me really excited. It kind of reminds me of the tune of their debut songs and the few songs they promoted afterwards. I love the “ooo~”s that we get throughout the song. Jonghyun’s and Yonghwa’s voice compliment each other a lot in this song. In the past, Jonghyun was given a small part of the song, but in this song, he has parts that are spaced out more. Jungshin’s part, which was the “Somebody help me” was great as well. I am disappointed that Minhyuk did not get much of the song beside the drums and the “ooo~” that we aren’t really sure if it is his. They also nailed the English this time around. It was a great song and a nice throw back to the era of CN Blue which I liked.

As for the music video, Minhyuk’s arms. Damn, someone has been to the gym. Hahahaha… It is weird that the girl was there one minute and all of a sudden she disappeared, with a glass slipper to replace her. Like I get it for Minhyuk’s part where he looks away and then when he looks back to see that she is gone, but honestly Yonghwa’s part where she was halfway through shaving his non existing beard and then all of a sudden he leans forward and she is gone. What a teaser. And where on earth is that small laundromat? I have never seen a place look so small. Essentially, two washing machine are found in that small room and it looks so tight that they barely have any room to stand, yet somehow they made some room to sit down on the floor and chill for a while. Jonghyun’s part was also weird. He leans to the girl for the kiss, but she just vanishes and leaves a slipper behind. Jungshin probably got the short end of the stick and the only form of skin-ship with the girl, was a simple bump. But I love how dark the rest of the music video was. Does it match the song? Probably not. But I thought the test looks quite nice and reflected the mysterious nature of the girl that disappears and randomly leaves glass slippers. And how many pairs of those shoes does she have? Like why are there so many glass slippers at her disposal?

Beside that shocking music video review, I thought the music video was enjoyable and the song was incredible. CN Blue never shocks me. 9/10