Tag: MXM

MXM has returned with a brand new single today. Knock Knock was previously released as part of the duo’s first studio album, More Than Ever, back in August of this year. Today, the duo dropped the TAK remix version of the song. For this review, there may be some comparison between the two versions, as I don’t review the remixed versions of any songs on this site. MXM previously returned with Ya Ya Ya in August, as well.

The original version of Knock Knock had a light feel and almost a bright atmosphere during the verses. And that was quite nice. It is just the EDM in the song didn’t feel grand but rather typical. While I never wrote an album review for this release, I did like the fade out and its transition to classical did give it a defining feature. The remixed version is a complete change. It featured a more intense dubstep sound and this resulted into a darker vibe from the song. And I actually like this version a bit more as dubstep isn’t something that I hear all too often. The vocals and rapping were practically the same between the versions, where both sounded quite nice. What I was personally interested was the ending of the song, which I mentioned above. While they did keep some of that piano as heard in the original, they incorporated some synths in order to keep it from being too distant, which makes the song well balanced. Overall, it was quite nice.

Fitting in with the darker sound is the darker visuals. MXM’s releases for this year (besides Gone Cold) have been quite bright and colourful. Here, there is a particular hazy filter placed over the top of the video, which made everything feel darker and dull. The sets were typical of most music videos but they felt fitting for the aesthetics of the video. In the entire video, I thought the entire sequence where the duo danced by themselves (i..e without the backup dancers) looked quite cool and basically summarised the entire vibe of the music video in a matter of seconds. It is a good video, fitting for the song.

It would be disappointing to see a dance routine for a song titled Knock Knock without some knocking. But don’t worry, there was some knocking action in the routine. While I liked that, I thought the performance was really well done. When the music got intense, their moves did as well. When the music was lightened, it felt lighter and the moves were a lot more fluid. While that seems to be a no-brainer, there have been a few performances that don’t follow this and I find such dances lacking and incomplete. But not this one!

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10

I was not aware that MXM made their comeback yesterday. It did not appear in my subscription box at all and only saw their release while I was browsing Twitter in bed (Yes, I have a Twitter – Follow it here!). So apologise for this day late review. But MXM is officially back with their first-ever full-length album, More Than Ever, and the title track, YA YA YA. They previously promoted with Gone Cold and Diamond Girl earlier this year.

As soon as it starts, you will notice YA YA YA has a playful tone to it. I personally thought Diamond Girl was pretty playful but this song has a more light-hearted feel to it, which makes it likeable from the get-go. I like the brightness of the song, which aided in that light-hearted feel just mentioned. The song takes on a hip-hop sound. The instrumental is very typical but I liked how it doesn’t employ too many synths nor does it feel heavy. I liked the use of the pipes, which gave it an intriguing side. The rapping was quite good and the vocals were pretty nice. I particularly liked their ‘YA YA YA‘ hook throughout the song. It is plain and unimaginative but its simplicity makes it work and stand out. The odd sample of classical music (my brain isn’t registering what the piece is but it very familiar sounding) was a rather unexpected turn but it wasn’t necessarily off-putting. Overall, YA YA YA was a very enjoyable song.

The music video contains very cool graphics. I applaud the people behind this video because it looks very unique and cool. It gives a modern look to the video, despite it being shot on a basketball court and in plain coloured rooms. Besides that, it was a light-hearted video, fitting for the song. However, it lacks interesting moments, making it a tad dry after a few replays.

The performance was literally a massive smile from start to end. And that really makes you want to smile along to the song (and their performance). I feel like they could have put their backup dancers in something a little nicer than tees with the name of the song printed on it. The chorus showed cool footwork and I don’t think they rested one bit during the performance.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.7/10

 

Just a few weeks after making their comeback with Diamond Girl, MXM has returned with a new single, titled as Gone Cold. It is the title track off their special single album, Rematch. This single album serves as a dedication to fans ahead of their upcoming official fan meeting.

Gone Cold is a complete turn around from their Diamond Girl song, which was just literally a few weeks ago. Taking on a more mature and emotional tone, the duo attempts the R&B style of music. And they do a decent job with it. The vocals were nice and the rapping was excellent. I like it when they sing together with that vocalist style, layered on top of the rapper’s deep and husky voice. It isn’t the most impressive song from the duo, mainly due to the fact that lacks a strong enough hook to make it a memorable song. Instead, it just stays very neutral and feels like your standard R&B track. The instrumental was okay but it felt very dry and boring for the most part. While there were some things I liked about the song, the dryness of the song does outweigh its positives. For that, it isn’t a song that I necessarily would go search for but wouldn’t mind it popping up on playlist every now and then.

Watching this video made me realize how youthful they look. I just haven’t noticed this aspect of them until now. It is also ironic how I didn’t notice that they were youthful in their energetic and brighter concepts but rather their mature one. Moving away from that, I found the video to be bland as well. I think I attribute this to the song, however, because I would say differently if the song was a really nice sounding ballad. Despite that, I did like the various camera angles and the fading in and out of the black and white filtering throughout the video.

Song – 5/10
Music Video – 5/10
Overall Rating – 5/10 

Did your favourites win at this year’s KPOPREVIEWED Awards? If you haven’t checked out the winners yet, click on the link here to find out who ultimately won! 

MXM have made their return with Diamond Girl. This is their first comeback since their debut last year with I’m The One. For those who may have missed their debut, MXM is a duo consisting of Lim Young Min and Kim Dong Hyun.

Diamond Girl is an extremely funky track that gets you grooving along to it. It is super catchy, as you would expect with something so funky and retro. The instrumental consists of many components that give off that retro vibe, such as the high pitch synth (sounds like a traditional synthesizer sound) in the chorus (at 0:54), the many examples of brass and the good old cow bell. I also loved that coil sound at the end of the bridge. Not sure if you would say that is retro but it was definitely attention-grabbing for me. The repetition of the ‘Diamond Girl‘ feels so energetic. I thought the vocals were really nice. But once again, the raps stole the show for me. Particularly the raps that featured in the second verse. Overall, the song was really cool and definitely landing on my playlist.

For the music video, Diamond Girl seems to reference the pawnbroker whom in the main character that the MXM boys are trying to impress. She also gives out diamonds in exchange for their property. I guess they want to see her more so they gather everything they own to give to her. I also assume the video is set in space, giving they have flying cars and the freaking purple moon in the background at the end. The video was actually quite nice to watch and felt like it complemented the song. You could feel the chemistry they have together in this video, which makes it even better to watch.

I don’t have any specific comments regarding the performance of this comeback. I do like it a lot. It matches the energy from the song, which is a definite plus.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 8/10 
Performance – 7.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.4/10

MXM is a brand new duo from Brand New Music to enter the music scene. The duo is made up of Im Young Min and Kim Dong Hyun. Both of them participated in the recent show Produce 101 Season 2. And while I’m The One is their official debut title track, they released Good Day and I Just Do in July this year, kicking off their careers.

I’m The One starts off pretty standard and I initially thought it was just going to be an okay song. But once we hit the chorus, the song ended up being much better. I like the direction the song went and how catchy it became especially with their ‘I’m The One’ repetition. I like the freshness of the song, fitting in nicely with the now gone Summer season. Favourite part was the bridge. The raps and the vocals were quite good. But they weren’t great. And that leads me onto the main issue with the track. It could have been kicked up a notch and make into a more epic song. But it seemed like they played it safe. It ended up being a little predictable and a little experimentation to give it some flare or make it stand out of the crowd. But I am not to trouble by it and I just can’t help but go back for some more.

Fitting in with that Summer vibe, the duo’s music video does the job perfectly. It isn’t the most interesting video out there but the brightness literally makes the video pop out. I don’t have much else to say about the video though.

The performance that accompanied this song was spectacular. And it is not only them but they were in-sync for the entirety of the video, along side their back dancers. Even though it is something that is seen commonly, the presence of a group in sync with each other looks amazing, regardless of the moves pulled off.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8/10