Taeyeon (SNSD) – Page 4

It has been over a year since we heard anything Korean from this band. SNSD has had a rough year, with Jessica, now a former member, announcing that she got kicked out of the band. It is a long story, one I don’t want to type out. So essentially, SNSD is down one member, making them an 8 member group. This is the first major release from the band since the shocking news came to light. And some fans have noticed that Jessica was probably meant to be a part of this new song, with footage of her singing the same notes and words from this song. Anyway, it is such a pity she had to leave.

But a review is a review. And this song is freaking awesome. I totally love this song. From start to end, I just love this EDM track. It is pretty full on from the start to the end. Honestly thought that SNSD would have a little problem with this genre, but now, they seemed to do just fine. A new thing that this song attempts is the changing of tempo or the speed of the song. The song is quite fast paced, but it slows down to those part just before the chorus. Vocally and instrumentally, those were most favourite parts. The vocals of each girl was spot on. Even Hyoyeon got more lines this time. I thought this was a song that did a pretty damn good job of distracting me from the lack of Jessica’s vocals. I think she has her place in the song somewhere, but the 8 girls pulled it off very well this time around.

As for the music video, glad they moved out of the box. Now, I think it time to move out of that square. I honestly have no clue what is going on with the video. Yes, the song fits the scenery and all that quite well. BUT, why on earth are the girls dancing in a the middle of a mining area or an industrial area? It makes little to no sense. I honestly expected a lot more from the video, considering the latest changes that SM has been making to their artist’s music videos. For a song titled as “Catch Me If You Can” and given the fast pace nature of the song, I thought of running away from something, like EXO Baekhyun’s teaser for Call Me Baby. And those orange jackets… They were more like a hit and miss. Sometimes they do it, sometimes they don’t.

The dance for this song was pretty good. I was very impressed. It matched the speed of the song and also the modern nature of the song. I love the different angles of the choreography. The music video had pretty good camera work, which emphasised a lot of the dance moves.

This song and dance was perfect. I would not change it for the world. That is not the case, however, for the music video. Great sometimes, but didn’t do well the rest. 8.5/10

My question is: Which 2015 Girl’s Generation song that has been released was your favourite? You have 4 options. Choose wisely.

Interesting Note: This song was released in both Korean and Japanese. Promotions would only be focussed on the Japanese version though.

F(x) has to be one of the most overlooked bands of Korean Pop. Well, not overlooked by fans but by their own company. Last year, F(x) made their comeback with Red Light, but promotions were cut short after Sulli “went on a hiatus” and that is basically code for “going against your company”. But now, I guess we will see the revival of F(x) with Amber, the group’s resident rapper, making her solo debut with Shake That Brass, which features SNSD’s Taeyeon. Amber is the first member of the group to undergo formal promotions for solo work. Other F(x) members are widely known for their OSTs and also acting works.

I think anyone listening to this song could tell it is very Americanized. There is no KPOP feel to it, but really a very big mass American appeal to it. In my last review, I did talk about the ongoing trend about mashup between various genres. For this song, I think all of the sounds went really well together. This song flowed soundly and I could not feel awkward or did not cringe at some places. Amber’s rap is pretty good and I really love the “na na na”part. That is pretty cool. Taeyeon’s part was okay. I am sure it could have been left out and Amber put in another rapping segment or another “na na na” part. As for the title, I am 100% Amber changed the wording around to avoid getting cricisted and banned from the networks. That or she really wants to shake some brass. Literally. But it was a very catchy songs and those trumpet sounds were really appealing to my ears.

This is one very bright and colourful video. You can tell that Amber brought the youth to her video. I like it how she invited most her friends to the shoot. It is pretty smart and at the same time, shows that she is very connected in the industry. So many people including Jackson, Joon from G.o.D, Rome from C-Clown, Min and Jia from Miss A, Brad from Busker Busker and many more celebrities that I cannot name from the top of my head attended. I love the little comic sound effects that they added in. That laundro-mat scene was pretty interesting. I would like some glasses that gets everyone to party, but that last part was embarrassing. Guess the glasses last only a few times. I like it how they took the gold brass colour and used that throughout the video. I believe in every scene there was something gold or made of brass. Nice video.

The dance was cool. I honestly don’t know what to say. It guess it is catchy. I just can’t really imagine a different dance routine in place of this one.

A very vibrant and colourful comeback. 8.5/10