[Review] Secret - I'm In Love

Secret is back, and after Hyosung’s decent “Goodnight Kiss” we are graced with “I’m In Love”, complete with English intro by Hyosung. Secret continues to bounce back and forth between aegyo and mature, and “I’m In Love” was poised to deliver the latter.

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Vocals: 9 / 10

Secret (read: Jieun) is just divine. Alright to be fair Hyosung is a really good compliment voice to Jieun, and Hana has shown she can pull her weight since the days of “Poison” and “Talk That”. Poor Sunhwa though, poor girl is more Dasom than Dasom was in “Touch My Body”. If anything, Secret’s vocal composition has never really been kind to her, oh well. Back to Jieun though, this girl is pretty much perfect. She has a very clean voice but can always reach for those high notes to make you shiver. I’d love to give this song a perfect score for vocals but the bridge just doesn’t work for me. The tempo change is too sudden and doesn’t blend with the rest of the song. Coincidentally, I think the bridge in Hyosung’s “Goodnight Kiss” meshes better with this song.

Dance: 7 / 10

Meh. Some parts of the dance were better than others. The more graceful lying down on the ground and some of the shifting around positions was pretty good but most of the other movements seemed erratic and not well focused. Maybe I’m just lying to myself but I have yet to watch the dance practice video so I may be completely wrong.

Rap: 8 / 10

Hana is a staple in the top 10 of girl group rappers, so I was quite disappointed in the rap for a few main reasons. The first is that, like the bridge, the tempo was slower than the more frantic pace of the rest of the song. Second, it was way shorter than anything could do her justice. Last, the rap seemed pretty tame and Hana is capable of fantastic ferocity in her raps. Not so much a swing and a miss as it was an awkward hit to the side.

Music Video: 6 / 10

I have committed to giving a score of 6 for any stereotypical video (which includes boxes, solo shots, fanservice, etc.) and adding or subtracting from there based on stuff like outfits, appearance, etc. Speaking of, the girls look great. Not a fan of Hyosung’s bangs (didn’t really work in “Love Is Move” either), but everything else is genuine eye candy. Hana is probably my favourite visual out of the group, and has been since “Poison”. Anyway there isn’t much to be said about the video besides Secret being smirky and emotional. How lame.

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Overall: 76 / 100

Secret comes back with vengeance, striking hard with a mature and sexy sound in “I’m In Love”. While not the superstar that “Love Is Move” was, it can remind us of how a consistent sound and Jieun’s incredible vocals really really help Secret when they’re being serious. …please no more aegyo stuff. Secret syndrome has existed for too long.

[Review] Hyuna - Red

Continuing with the “red” releases, we have Korea’s #1 sex kitten in Hyuna, with “Red”. Playing off a children’s rhyme, Hyuna is looking for a chance to redeem herself, since I consider her career on a downward trend with both 4minute and solo releases since “Change”.

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Vocals: 9 / 10

To clarify, I’m only considering the prechorus as the vocals. Everything else is either rapping or chanting, which is obviously not singing. Anyway, this prechorus is glorious. It’s probably the best of any song released thus far this year, and still contests for one of the best all time in any Korean music. It’s just that good. The crescendo / buildup is pristine and right before the active chorus, there’s that shouting / howling going on which wasn’t as terrible as I thought it’d be. Probably makes more sense given all the monkey references.

Dance: 8 / 10

This dance was just casual twerking to me. At the very least, this choreography was a lot more tame than I had expected, coming off the heels of “Bubble Pop” and “Ice Cream”, both of which are releases I don’t want to watch more than once so I’m not going to backtrack and check. There was that one move where she does a split or something? Seems random and out of the blue. Still, the fact that I went in expecting some Stellar or 4Ladies’ choreography and was surprised is a good turn of events.

Rap: 8 / 10

Despite Hyuna’s nasally voice, the rapping was pretty good here. The flow is good and Hyuna shows that she’s still the lead rapper in 4minute, since I don’t think Jiyoon could do as well as she did. The chanting of the chorus is energetic and all, but severely weakens in the 2nd half. As for the chorus itself, I know it’s referencing a children’s rhyme, interchanging her own name within the lyrics, so talk about serious product placement. The amount of times you’ll hear “Hyuna” in this song is way more than the amount of times you saw “body” text in Sistar’s “Touch My Body”. As amazing as the prechorus was in “Red”, the rapping more than holds its own.

Music Video: 7 / 10

Standard boxes, multiple camera angles, and extreme fanservice are the trifecta of Hyuna’s videos and there’s no changes here. Considering the excessive use of “Hyuna” and monkeys, there were quite a number of both in this video. Despite the monkeys and crazy partying in the video, it’s pretty bland. I won’t call it boring since the partying looked fun and saying that’s “boring” is just being rude. Nonetheless it’s a pretty mediocre MV but I will give bonus points for the monkeys.

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Overall: 80 / 100

“Red” is certainly no “Change” (Hyuna’s best solo title), but it’s actually a solid song that while a little repetitive, has good rapping supported by a beautiful prechorus which holds onto the hype and high energy feel of the song. It’s not much of a change of pace as it is a different step forward for Hyuna, who has failed me the last couple of years.

[Review] f(x) - Red Light

With Sulli’s “recovery” (might write a blog about this, not convinced yet) and f(x) taking a hiatus, I figured let’s backtrack a little and talk about the recent release of “Red Light”. The girls have been on a confusing roller coaster, with a strong showing in “Electric Shock” followed by a weak rebound in “Rum Pum Pum Pum”. Hopefully “Red Light” will bring the cycle around.

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Vocals: 5 / 10

This song has around four phases, all with different tempo, melodies, etc. and the transitions are mediocre at best. Some of the earlier transitions are good, but towards the end everything seems to fall apart and collapse on itself. I don’t know why but S.M. really struggles with effective transitions compared to YG (2NE1’s “I Love You”) and JYP (JJ Project’s “Bounce”). If this series of lines sounds familiar, that’s because I used the exact same lines from SNSD’s “I Got A Boy” review. This song in a nutshell is a version of “I Got A Boy” specifically tailored to f(x). So with all that being said, it’s not very good. Individual pieces could potentially work well if the whole song was in the same vein but that’s not the case. The bridge is beautiful, and much like EXO’s “Wolf”, is amazing and would’ve really complimented a good song. But unfortunately, this isn’t. And unlike “I Got A Boy”, none of these individual mini segments are as good. There’s some form of rapping but they’re minimal (also not that good either) and not worth talking about.

Dance: 7 / 10

Not sure how I feel about this dance. It’s not quite the usual “f(x)” choreography if I may coin that sort of term. Either way, the MV never gave too much vision of the dance but unusual dance is not the same as bad dance. For recent comparison, it’s not extremely awkward like Sistar and it’s not cute like Girl’s Day. It’s serious and kinda refreshing and there’s many changes of pace, but this works better with choreography than vocals. All in all an average showing here from f(x).

Music Video: 8 / 10

What the hell is happening in this MV? There’s dark colour schemes and burning books and everyone has an eye patch sometimes and their makeup is weird… This is all happening in some broken down warehouse, too. Kudos to the girls for not using a box set for the 30th time. And honestly I appreciate a video with so much stuff going on I can’t follow much more than the bland stereotypical video of close-ups and boxes. Victoria looks flawless per usual, but again, the weird makeup and eye patches were confusing. Oh well.

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Overall: 67 / 100

S.M. is struggling this year. And that’s a phrase only speaking from a music frame of reference, not including all the political problems. Anyway, “Red Light” is a flawed variant of the already poor “I Got A Boy” of their labelmates from a year ago. A good quality video and excellent bridge is not able to rescue the jarring sound of the rest of the song. It’s honestly an improvement from “Rum Pum Pum Pum” but not by much. Here’s hoping this isn’t the end of f(x)’s light.

[Review] Girl's Day - Darling

Girl’s Day is certainly in the limelight. After landing on my radar just last year, they’ve catapaulted themselves forward with solid title track after title track. When news of this summer release being a return to their roots, that being aegyo, I worried I wouldn’t like the backtracking. Boy was I wrong.

Vocals: 9 / 10

When I first discovered the group in “Expectation”, I thought Minah wasn’t all she was hyped to be and that the other members were still good in comparison. “Something” pulled me away from this opinion and “Darling” rather cements it. Minah is really good. Sojin could pretty much only stand on the sidelines this time around, with the chorus’ range possibly being one of the highest ever. Minah continues to be the strongest with excellent delivery and beautiful high notes at the song’s conclusion. Line distribution, however, is still a weak point of Girl’s Day. Yura and Hyeri have shown us tme and time again that they have the capable support voices but just aren’t ever given enough time to prove so. This is made harder by the extremely high ranges of “Darling”, some of which even Minah is clearly reaching for. All in all though, a graceful synchronized sound carried by Minah.

Dance: 8 / 10

Girl’s Day have discovered the jackpot blend of sexy and cute for choreography. No one with a right mind can argue that the 4 girls shaking their butts at the camera is overly sexual, and it’s just damn cute. Something new this time around was the use of male backup dancers, like the lucky men who got to carry Sojin! But besides that, standard choreography for Girl’s Day or any girl group, to be completely honest.

Music Video: 10 / 10

Girl’s Day. Summer fun. Music video. I could stop writing here. But write on I will. Much like the dance, Girl’s Day grabs the elusive sweet spot of blending cute and sexy together flawlessly. For starters, the outfits were perfect. At least, the white and red dresses were pristine. I was not convinced by the yellow and white tube dresses (I have no idea if that’s what they’re called but whatever) though. The rest of the video is pure fun. Enjoying the free time by baking cupakes, getting ready, throwing darts, etc. etc. Put simply, the BTS could be just a free party film of sorts.

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Overall: 94 / 100

On paper, “Darling” isn’t something extraordinary. Routine carrying from Minah with loveable Sojin support. A dance that is both cute and sexy, and never weighs down too far on either spectrum, all wrapped together in a delightfully fun music video. Yet, this score speaks for itself, in that it’s outstanding. Girl’s Day show us that despite the sexy releases of 2013 on, they still have the cute and quirky qualities the aegyo songs of older years past.

[Review] Sistar - Touch My Body

I can’t believe this is only the 2nd Sistar song on my blog (discounting Sistar19). I didn’t review either “Alone” or “Loving U” but here we get the attempt “Touch My Body” at challenging the summer spectacular that was “Loving U”.

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Vocals: 10 / 10

Hyorin and Soyu’s synergy has always been on spot but I think this song really brings this out to the extreme. They just really damn good together. Damn damn good good damn good damn. Good. Line distribution is always a problem for Sistar who never give Bora any love but my goodness is that Dasom hitting a power note? Really happy to see / hear this, considering Dasom is the poster girl for “bland” idols. This instrumental is delightfully sassy and fun and definitely adds to the vibe. The saxophone is just excellent and unlike the sax in Secret’s “Poison”, I wasn’t fearful of how overboard it could be. A qualm I have is the bridge, which could be excellent if not perfect in another song but just didn’t seem the mesh here.

Dance: 4 / 10

This was extremely weak choreography, and it’s been a while since a song’s dance was the worst part. The butt shaking not only looks uncomfortable but isn’t even attractive. The arm waving throughout the verses isnt much better. Of all the Sistar choreography thus far, this is the most disappointing and appears to be the most forced / least natural, which is a shame. What I did like about the choreography, however, were the multitude of solo shots of the members doing the dance inbetween shots of the full team choreography. That, combined with the various positioning changes with their backup dancers (V-shape, backup dancers behind, in a line, etc.) redeem this, but not by much.

Rap: 8 / 10

Bora at her finest? Debatable, but definitely in her comfort zone as far as pacing and delivery goes. Hyorin also joins (as usual) for a little intersection, but this time around her part is all singing and not rap singing. The rap was well setup though, and I think that the song could’ve benefited from having a longer rap. If anything, just extend both Bora and Hyorin’s parts for another measure or so and this would have the possibility of a perfect score.

Music Video: 10 / 10

Okay so the sets are still boxes, and merely give the illusion of being outside. This is certainly weaker than the video of “Loving U” which was actually filmed outside in Hawaii. But it’s still colourful and suited for the summer. “Fun” is the word I’m looking for and this video is exactly that. The party room during the end with cameos from Jun Hyunmoo, Kim Bosung, and Noh Hongchul were awesome, since the party theme is very real and this for sure was the most enjoyable. Kim Bosung does a good job with the saxophone and makes his moments on camera seem authentic, and even if that weren’t the case, just adds to the lively MV. If I were to complain, would be regarding the excessive “Touch my body” text essentially spammed throughout the video. The phrase is already repetitive in the song so I felt this wasn’t necessary.

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Overall: 80 / 100

If “Loving U” was “perfect summer fun” then “Touch My Body” is “good summer fun”. Not quite as solid as their previous summer title track but a well done job nonetheless. The vocals from Hyorin and Soyu are as good as ever, while the rapping is also just as good if a little short. The MV is fun, flashy, and colourful wth guest appearances only adding to the party. Unfortunately, their pathetic choreography wrecks their potential and will probably prevent me from watching lives.

[Blog] New Muse

So towards the first months of 2014 we received news that 9MUSES would be losing Eunji and Sem through “graduation”. “Graduation” happens to be a substitute word for “getting the hell out” a neither would be renewing their contract. At that point in time, I’ll admit, I was saddened by the news but not entirely devastated. 9MUSES’ inability to keep a stable roster has been shown time and time again, year after year. Their management claiming this is a “graduation” system is complete bull because (a) this group was never marketed as such (think After School) and (b) Sem and Eunji clearly wanted to just GTFO of Star Empire. Sem was a support vocalist and Eunji is second to Erin in the rapping, so their contributions were solid but nothing extraordinary. The problem lies in that 9MUSES had a very successful 2013, stringing off releases from “Dolls”. Losing members after gaining such momentum was going to hurt them a fair amount.

Then came Sera. Now I’ll keep what I want to say simple. Sera may be better off as a soloist or without 9MUSES, but 9MUSES won’t be as better off without Sera, at least not immediately. Sera’s presence was so important as the de facto leader and the vocalist with the most strength. Hyuna, Hyemi, and Kyungri are all very capable singers but they are more of the airy sultry type vocalist (especially Kyungri mmf). Sera’s voice is very pretty and delicate, but able to stretch out for power if necessary. This void is likely to be felt for a while unless the new recruit is a vocal specialist.

Speaking of the new member. On the bright side, while 9MUSES has a horrific track record for maintaining members, they clearly are prepared with some quality trainees. Hyuna, Kyungri, and Sungah were all new members at some year or another and they’ve been key components of the 9MUSES machine ever since. I’m tempted to believe this new Muse is gonna blow the 3 outta the water. Let’s hope so.

The vocal lineup is still strong and consistent and almost no other girl can compare to Erin for rapping. What 9MUSES really comes down to is this: can this new 6MUSES bring quality tracks like “Gun” and “Wild” to the table? Nothing says otherwise, but we’ll have to see how the new Muse and new MUSES will develop.

[Blog] Youngji's Debut

(Okay so I thought this was going to be posted on the 5th because I set Tumblr to automatically publish this for me but I guess that isn’t working? Anyway here are some thoughts on KARA and the newest member Youngji.)

So Youngji was recently chosen to be the new KARA member. With the departure of Jiyoung and Nicole, KARA will now be a roster of Gyuri, Seungyeon, Hara, and Youngji. I’ll admit I didn’t catch much of the audition process (at all, actually) but the placement and timing is really what I wanted to talk about.

As someone who joined the Hallyu Wave in late 2009, this is the first experience of being introduced to a new member in a staple group. I was a little late to the TVXQ and Super Junior shenanigans, though I was still too uninformed to really make note of. I shared the mentality that when first introduced to the new trainees / prospects, why didn’t DSP just make the new group with these girls and keep KARA as 3. I mean honestly, aside from transition vocals and some subpar rapping, that’s all that Jiyoung and Nicole’s roles filled from a music standpoint. Youngji doesn’t need to be a killer vocalist with Seungyeon and Gyuri still around, and KARA’s music could do without rapping to begin with. Something also of note is that Youngji’s DOB is 1994, which means she’s the same age as Jiyoung. I think it may have been a little awkward if anyone younger than her was chosen (which essentially left her and Sojin only) with such the age gap, but other groups have done that before (2NE1).

Probably what bothers me the most is that this member addition is coming after such a long period of stasis. The last time new members were added was 6 years ago (Hara and Jiyoung) to replace Sunghee. Now again, this was all before my time, but having such a disruptive moment after the stability of the group (after they have established themselves as a top tier girl group) really fogs up the future. I know most netizens and K-netizens were torn but they’re all crazy anyway so I’m not going to bother comparing schools of thought. But overall it just seems like a questionable decision to (a) add a new member at this point, and (b) have that member be from a selected pool of trainees who could easily be their own group. I think 3 or more members used to be in some project group that was disbanded?

What about Nicole and Jiyoung? Nicole’s been showing off some practice videos of choreography and the like. If the girl is going down the path of a dancer, good for her. I still value vocals the most, so I’d be pretty excited if she worked on that a little. Less rapping, more singing, honestly. As for Jiyoung I’m pretty sure the girl has disappeared off to London to become a [s]wizard[/s] student I wish them nothing but the best, and will for sure keep up with Nicole and her exploits assuming they’re good.

KARA’s music as a whole has been a little inconsistent for me since I discovered the group with “Lupin”. “Damaged Lady” and “Pandora” were good, great even, but “Step” and “Jumping” weren’t as well received. If Youngji’s addition to the team means a shift in the right direction and more solid releases, then I’m all for it. But for now I will remain neutral until given evidence to believe otherwise.

[Review] Jiyeon - Never Ever

Jiyeon was the last of the trio of Duble Sidekick releases to premiere, and with this being Jiyeon’s first foray into solo work and curious teaser imagery, this was the song that needed immediate strong impact. Would such be delivered?

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Vocals: 9 / 10

Jiyeon has a very soft voice, and this was played to the best possible outcome in “Never Ever” (side note: I don’t like when songs have 2 distinctly different titles. Is the song name “Never Ever” or “1:01”? Neither are wrong or bad song titles, it’s just confusing to have 2 of them). There isn’t anything extremely fancy, nor would I believe such parts be possible for Jiyeon to pull off without serious strain but the song is pleasant on the ears and flows very well. The deep gasps and breathing that not subtle at all were extremely bizarre. They didn’t really add anything to the vocals or enhance the instrumental. / background. The English “I wanna be with you, but I will pray for you baby” seems a little odd at first, but I assume the praying is for the better of the significant other now that they are apart. This is a very memorable song with a strong hook without being overly loud or dramatic, which is impressive.

Dance: 8 / 10

I do enjoy some symbolic choreography and that’s what Jiyeon shows. The usage of a “mirror” and a backup dancer playing essentially an equal part to Jiyeon is quite excellent. The display of “one by one” in the chorus regarding writing letters is solid, though the other moments of the chorus could’ve been better. I’m not entirely sure what the pelvic choreography was used for outside of just pure fanservice, and the same could be said for the moves at the beginning of each chorus. Still, this style of fanservice is more aligned with Sistar’s work than the rather extremes.

Music Video: 10 / 10

What a beautifully crafted MV. I honestly didn’t expect this. The repitition and representation are all on the mark, while attention to detail like with the flowers and etc. were bonus points on an already polished video. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who thought of Slender when the man’s face was empty / obscure, which added a clean touch to the “nightmarish” sense describe by the lyrics. I do question the necessity of having Jiyeon get wet other than, again, fanservice, and were there moments in that MV where it was raining inside? While questionable, still leaves us with a perfect MV score.

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Overall: 90 / 100

Based on score alone, Jiyeon is the clear winner but there’s really more to that. Jiyeon has a song that will loop in your head, with an artisticly and aesthetically pleasing MV. Above that, “Never Ever” shines in the areas that the other 2 songs have trouble: there’s no awful breaks or mismatching of lyrics and video in “Goodnight Kiss”, nor is there a lack of anything memorable or poor MV decisions in “G.NA’s Secret”. Jiyeon has made an excellent solo debut and I hope Hyomin’s is just as strong if not stronger.

[Review] G.NA - G.NA's Secret

G.NA’s new title song sounds like something out of Secret, for, well…obvious reasons. G.NA’s career to me has been a rollercoaster, mostly on the downwards trends with more cutesy songs that aren’t appealing to her voice. Outside of her debut, I can’t think of another title track that has ever floored me. We’ll see how “G.NA’s Secret” fares.

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Vocals: 8 / 10

G.NA is a talented vocalist simply underutilized. That’s how I’ve phrased my common opinions on this girl. This song starts off as no exception but does have some good quality moments like the bridge, and the chorus itself isn’t even too tilted on the aegyo side of things. This may be the closest I’ve ever seen G.NA attain the “balanced aegyo” that A-Pink seems to do so flawlessly song after song. Her voice is a natural blend of purity and power, and this song is a very good representation. Even with that said though, the collection of cutesy giggles and such don’t help this score.

Dance: 7 / 10

I was originally not going to mention the choreography and split the vocals and MV into 25 points each but then I realized there’s actually quite a lot of dancing going on in this. As for the dance itself, it doesn’t deviate too much from G.NA’s norm. I liked the choreography of the 2nd chorus where she brought out a little Wheesung with the male and female counterpart backup dancers (I don’t really know how else to call that, so coining it a “Wheesung” will have to do). This is, however, a dance that needing bacup dancers is a must, as it’s a pretty uninteresting dance when done solo.

Music Video: 7 / 10

Consistency is a very good aspect to see in this video. Come to think of it, most of G.NA’s videos are pretty solid in this department. Extremely disturbing, awkward, and unnecessary were both the male salesman and whoever was playing as the bunny. I don’t see how you require a bunny suit to just hand out fliers advertising a party. Is that what people are doing these days? At least the party seems to go smoothly. The pervy disturbing moments actually mess up this score a lot, as it would’ve been a very sweet and generic MV otherwise.

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Overall: 74 / 100

How amusing that G.NA and Hyosung matched scores with very different songs. While Hyosung played to strong choreography and minimalist vocal requirements, G.NA relied on her consistent vocals and decent-enough music video (which could have been so much better). This song does manage to hit that sweet spot of aegyo that won’t make me turn down the song like mentioned before, but does leave much to be desired out of G.NA’s vocal potential. It’ll be very interesting to see how Jiyeon measures up.

[Review] Hyosung - Goodnight Kiss

We’ll start coverage of the Dube Sidekick solo releases, in chronological order, so we’ve got Secret’s fabulous Hyosung. While known best for her body, Hyosung more than holds her own as a support vocalist to Jieun. Will her solo debut play to her strengths or fall flat?

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Vocals: 7 / 10

Hyosung is more than able to get the job done. Breathy husky vocals which provide a sultry sound which we’ve seen past glimpses of in “Poison”, and given the soft sounding lullaby feel this is quite a good match. The problem is the choice of awkward breaks that make me cringe and add no real value to the rest of the song. The “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” chant during the prechorus was for a lack of a better word weird. It does fit in with the title of the song but I’m getting memories of an elementary school chant instead. The chorus itself is quite good if not for that horrible “Boom boom zoom zoom” English that was thrown in. Also of note is that Hyosung’s English is quite solid. I don’t think many of the words used were very difficult for Korean speakers but credit where credit is due. Pretty much every bridge was awful and should have been removed, otherwise this would have been a fairly good song.

Dance: 9 / 10

This dance is furious! Note that I didn’t say “all over the place”. I haven’t seen any lives of this song yet but this is some seriously impressive choreography. Hyosung might be the “lead dancer” on Secret but Secret’s choreography has never been this intense. Even when compared to “Poison”, which is the closest equivalent to the dance in “Goodnight Kiss”, the former seems way more tame. Excellent job here.

Music Video: 6 / 10

While Wheesung’s “Night And Day” video sort of had an open ending plot that could be pieced together, “Goodnight Kiss” is a difficult puzzle to keep track of. Is this an affair for the groom? Were they previously in a relationship? Nothing is very clear and the video just bounces between the “plot” and various shots of Hyosung (I don’t really have to comment much on this, Hyosung is gorgeous). What further complicates any understanding of the plot is that the lyrics do not match the video (or dance). At all. If you just looked at the lyrics, I could easily see a sweet ballad form off them, but instead we have this… I see many people comment on how Hyosung just can’t keep her hands off her lips the entire video, which while overboard, is some form of continuity since last I checked you need lips to kiss. If the plot were expanded upon, or if something that better matches the lyrics was shown, this could have been a really good MV.

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Overall: 74 / 100

Can’t say that I wasn’t a little disappointed with how poorly the audio of the dance breaks messed up the song. There was some promise from Hyosung but I think the unfortunate combination of horrible breakdowns and a confusing / misplaced music video keep “Goodnight Kiss” from being a breakout song.

[Review] Wheesung - Night & Day

Wheesung is back! You’ll notice I didn’t say “RealSlow is back!” because that name is too obnoxious. After military service, it seems he hasn’t missed a day with “The Best Man” EP. But let’s talk about the title track!

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Vocals: 25 / 25

If Wheesung had room for improvement, that’d be quite the sight. Wheesung is a clear master of the R&B / soul ballad, and his emotions and power are clearly felt from his voice.

Wheesung’s English pronunciations are pretty flawless, especially the crisp “knight” at the very end. Non-English speakers tend to leave off syllables at the end of words, but Wheesung does a fantastic job.

Dance: ?

So I could talk about the choreography. I could talk about how Wheesung’s formula of having alternating dances between female and male backup dancers has been since in videos prior to his military service. But there’s a problem. Wheesung doesn’t really actually do any of the dance. He’s pretty much sitting in the center of the choreography, making some efforts to stand up and or make dramatic movements, but…I don’t think it’s very viable to even rate this, so I won’t.

Music Video: 23 / 25

When I discussed Huh Gak’s “It Hurts” in [Spotlight], I noted how ballads have a platform to work off for their videos. Wheesung grabbed some promising idols in Yura and CAP and both acted quite admirably. Although I think CAP isn’t very capable of controlling or adding facial expressions, Yura is pretty smooth. The whole MV is filmed very well, although the slow motion reverse shenanigans may have been a bit drawn out. The ambiguous ending was…interesting. On one hand, it lets the viewer decide what truly happened or will happen. On the other, I enjoy videos who have straightforward and understandable plot.

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Overall: 96 / 100

Wheesung is back in force, with explosive and emotional vocals that haven’t been rusted by time in military service. He’s acked up by choreography he never actually dances, and the support acting from Yura and CAP who create an appealing music video. “The Best Man” EP is full of goodies, and “Night And Day” is just the start.