With Eunkwang, Changsub and Minhyuk currently in the military, BTOB has been very absent from the music scene. From what I know, Peniel has released a couple of singles recently. But none of them was really catered to a Korean audience. Other than that, the rest of BTOB have been M.I.A in the music front. That was until Monday, when Hyunsik made his official solo debut with Dear Love and his mini-album, Rendez-Vous.
As part of the vocal line up of BTOB, he makes his solo debut with a power ballad track. So there isn’t any surprise there. But I think Hyunsik did a lot in this track that really differentiate it from the rest of his team’s vocal line’s solo work and from similar solo artists. Firstly, the slow rock nature of this track was amazing. It does start off sluggish and slow,\. But once you listen to the entire track, you would understand why it started off and kept that same momentum coming at us. It actually lets the song develop as it progresses, similar to a cup of tea. The longer the tea brews, the deeper the flavour. I think the next element that has to be mentioned is his vocals. He is often overlooked when it comes to BTOB releases. But Dear Love proves to us that he has a lot of skills when it comes to singing. I really liked the chorus of the song, which one of the sections that really showcased his powerful vocals and technique. Interestingly, the ‘peak’ of the track is featured in the middle of the song (as opposed towards the end like other tracks), where he manages to showcase that amazing high note. I also enjoyed the ending of the track, which sounded like a western slow rock/ballad track. It is a great track overall.
Watching the video, it felt like the potential for the next romantic movie, particularly since space-themed movies have been on the rise recently in Hollywood. When I saw the astronaut gear in the concept teasers, I took them as a grain of salt, mainly because they tend to trick us. So I didn’t expect this intergalactic mini-movie. Hyunsik plays a lonely astronaut who has a very boring life in space. One day, he comes across another person in space, who is in a similar boat (or ship hahaha…). Despite being in two different spaceships, the two bond with each other and this develops as the video goes. When the two decide to finally decide to meet in person, tragedy strikes. His female companion gets sucked into space, while he is blown back into his ship. He loses her, as a result. Sometime later, he lands on a planet and recognises a familiar shape, which at the end was confirmed (via his smile) to be his friend who was sucked into space. The ending shows two planets coming together, showing that the two finally met despite the evens in between. I thought it was a nicely thought out video and the sets were very intricate, which I really liked.
Song – 9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.4/10
KPOPREVIEWED 