May 1, 2013

[Review] Jay Park - Joah


Vocals: 20 / 25
I’ll be honest with you here. I never liked Jay’s voice. I found it higher in range, less flexible than most, and usually tend to gravitate more towards his rapping than singing. I considered Taeyang from Big Bang a better vocal substitute for pretty much all of his solo work. The only instances I’ve enjoyed his vocals were when he was just starting out solo (“Nothing On You”) or when he was being carried by Junsu (“Again & Again”). With this, however, I am pleasantly surprised. Excluding the short spread of falsettos which I will pretend didn’t happen, this is a good showing by him throughout the verses and chorus. However, those falsettos were really unsettling and also unnecessary and so bring this score down a significant amount.
Music Video: 25 / 25
As far as artful goes, this music video brings it all. Creativity, colour, realism, and simplicity combine all together for a fresh music video. Everything is filmed outside (or at the very least not in an obvious decorated box) where the scenery is nice and gives you room to breathe. The clothes Jay has are pretty average, adding a sense of connectivity (that’s a word right?) or familiarity with viewers and fans alike. Walking around, being with the girl of interest, hanging out with people, are all elements modern music videos lack. Even the ones that are filmed outside usually don’t have this level of flavour (Big Bang’s “Bad Boy” for example). I don’t really care about production, this type of music video will look better than any enclosed room other entertainment companies can conjure. Oh yeah, and the girl is super cute, too.
~
Overall: 90 / 100
A bright message, coupled with light vocals and a fantastic music video make this one of my favourite Jay Park songs. I wasn’t too moved by really anything he had released since his departure from 2PM but this turns things around. I hope Jay will release music similar to this in the future, because it seems like it’s very well received thus far.

No comments:

Post a Comment