S.M. is a machine that doesn't stop. They have been dropping solo efforts left and right all year and now Luna finally gets her chance at a solo, after having watched Amber get her debut last year. Unlike what we've come to expect, Luna would pursue a dance track as opposed to what most people associate her with: strong vocals. Luna was technically recruited into the company as a dancer so I have no qualms about this at all. I just want to see Luna excel because her talent has not been used much within the confines of f(x) except recently. Oh and she happens to be my favorite member of the group.
We may have been promised a dance track, but did you really think Luna would push her vocals aside? She's never been a lightweight in terms of singing and this is another highlight to add to her resume. "Free Somebody" in essence takes the strong instrumental like that in "4 Walls" but instead of graceful voices, you get Luna at 100% power. Luna has always been a rare exception in that her reach notes don't sound as strained compared to other singers. This has been what I've heard since their debut, and I can't explain why that is the case. Regardless, she sounds really good here. She's powerful and emphatic, and this is where she differentiates from Tiffany's solo. 2016 is a fantastic year for underrated singers, as we've seen Eunji and Luna get solos, and Linzy get more opportunities. More of this trend is greatly appreciated.
There aren't any lives of this song yet, and I'm not sure if there even will be, but the choreography at a glance is quite powerful. The moves are strong and it matches Luna's fierce vocals. Various hand motions aren't as funny-looking as say, those of Jessica's choreography. Luna appears to do a good job with the dance. But ultimately, it's difficult to gauge this choreography because unfortunately, we don't really get to view much of the dance for MV-related reasons which we'll discuss next.
For starters, Luna needs to ditch that wig. It's not very flattering and neither is she with that look. ...that is a wig, right? I've honestly had a problem with her face ever since "4 Walls," as she really doesn't look like the Luna of the past. But plastic surgery or not, that wig is not helping her either way. There's a rough semblance of a plot in "Free Somebody," where Luna meets a handsome fellow in an elevator, exchange stares, and then jumps into his mouth, turning into an anime character? I don't really know what happens after that, besides some slightly awkward acting. S.M. saved on their budget by making half of the video in animation. It's pretty trippy and not much of the CG parts make sense at all (why are they naked at the end). I don't like this because we are shielded from seeing more of the choreography. Another decent chunk of the MV is just a camera rotating around the elevator and you can hardly see what's happening inside. This was a very lazy effort for an MV and even the DHL and Powerpuff girl shirt isn't going to help much.
With "Free Somebody," Luna shows us that when produced properly. you can indeed have a song that plays to both her vocal and dancing strengths. Within f(x), everyone knew she had these talents but their music had yet to really show such. What prevents this song from getting that little extra nudge is the extremely questionable decision to make half the video an anime sequence, which was not helpful in both obstructing more of the choreography and being bizarre to begin with. Nonetheless, strong efforts in both the singing and dancing departments make Luna's solo debut one of the best ones out of S.M. this year, and they have had plenty of solos to consider.
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