[Review] 9MUSES - Drama

After a year of inactivity and losing members, 9MUSES have returned with "Drama" along with 2 new members: Keumjo and Sojin (from project group Nasty Nasty). Now I've been on the 9MUSES hype train for quite some time, and after watching them climb to success in 2013 only to fall apart and off the radar made me quite sad. However, I'm going to approach this comeback objectively first, before weighing in my own opinions regarding the group.

The song itself is quite good. "Drama" is carried by the pretty vocals of 9MUSES, with Kyungri and Hyemi at the top of the list. There's a variety of structure in the song and all the members do well in filling those roles out. Having said that, "Drama" is rather bland and while the "only you~" hook is catchy, nothing else really makes this song unique, per se. Past releases like "Wild" and "Glue" had a signature 9MUSES sound to them, and while this song is most like "Dolls," the chorus is not nearly as powerful and the rapping is too segmented to be very effective. More on that stuff later.

Let's talk about the new members. Visually, Keumjo sticks out rather unfortunately. Everyone on 9MUSES has this elegant mature air around them and I just don't think Keumjo has that. She looks far younger and while you can also make that argument for Minha, Minha is still very mature in her beauty which Keumjo lacks. Sojin is easilly 9MUSES material but only if she didn't cut her hair. Watching her perform "Knock" with long hair really gave her that presence and while she's still very pretty with short hair the long locks would suit her much better and make her fit in aesthetically a lot more. As far as vocals are concerned both Sojin and Keumjo blend rather well with the rest of the cast. They have nice airy (breathy, even) voices that compliment Kyungri and Hyemi. I see a handful of comments comparing Keumjo to Sera in terms of vocals and honestly I don't think they're remotely similar: Sera has clarity whereas Keumjo has power. It's really not comparable.

Minha has made some strides in vocal performance and she sounds good here. However, it's practically a crime that Hyuna didn't get more lines. Hyuna has such a rich voice that really shone in "Dolls," so I wanted to see more of her in "Drama." It's also kind of a shame that they're shaping Keumjo to be the new lead vocalist, as Hyemi more than deserves that spot in the limelight. If Hyuna has been underutilized, Kyungri is overutilized. Kyungri has all her standard vocal parts but also has a portion of the rap. I really don't want Sistar19 syndrome in a group with 8 members and plenty of talent. Erin should have handled all the rapping to herself, and that's what I expected with Eunji's departure. While Sungah does a commendable job with her lines, Erin is one of the best available and not using her to full potential is really disappointing.

The MV is pretty much the baseline of past 9MUSES MV's, that is to say they're 9MODELS and they all look good, even if some of the outfits are a little questionable (Kyungri's half-bangs for example). Also of note is that the facial expressions in the "plot" series were rather awkward and in general made me chuckle but maybe that's what they were aiming for? I'm not entirely sure. Choreography looks nice. There's a lot of variety like the song itself though I can't help but feel the dance was made underwhelming on purpose, perhaps to emphasize the new members' vocals or something.

I would hesitate to call "Drama" safe, given the new members and new roles. However, the performance is very much a 9MUSES standard, even if members like Hyuna and Erin are being overshadowed. In the end, with pleasant visuals and a synchronized sound, "Drama" is a good start to hopefully a strong rebound year for 9MUSES.

[ Overall: 80 / 100 ]

[Review] HIGH4 - Day By Day

The boys on HIGH4 are back with "Day By Day." This group first debuted with "Not Spring, Love, or Cheery Blossoms" earlier in the year, partnering with IU and then later on Lim Kim for a pair of impressive songs to start. "Day By Day" follows up on this by stripping down to the basics and focusing on what these guys are good at: vocals.

Sunggu and Myunghan already mesh really well, but in a song that's very simple and straightforward they're both at their best here. Verses are good, choruses are good, and adlibs are good. I never doubted their vocal capabilities from the start, and out of their handful of releases thus far "Day By Day" is easily the song that compliments their strengths the most. Moving away from the vocal performance, the rapping is still decent. Alex and Youngjun are both mediocre at best, and their insertions to this song could have been entirely omitted though that would leave them in an awkward position. Maybe if this group was just Sunggu and Myunghan they'd have a lot more success musically, I'm not too sure. This awkwardness is compounded in the MV, where during the chorus they have Alex in front. He's not actually singing, so he's just sort of...there. In front of the cameras doing nothing is pretty damn bizarre and awkward. Every HIGH4 video seem to like to hide someone until halfway through the song. First it was both rappers, then it was Sunggu, now it's Youngjun. The simplistic style of the video does well compared to the soft song, aside from the chorus / Alex shenanigans mentioned above.

It's a simple song with a simple video. I feel like the vocal half of HIGH4 is far superior and suffers a lot as a consequence of having rappers in the group but they're able to barely pull their weight and make ends meet. "Day By Day" might be their best sounding song, but "A Little Closer" was able to be more balanced.

[Overall: 80 / 100]

[Review] Sonamoo - Deja Vu

 is the newest girl group on the block, and already the hate is up very high. People are complaining about everything. From the concept, the the name, to the logo. It's just proving the point that as time goes on, fans get crazier and crazier. All the arguments are pathetic. I'm totally down to see more girl groups take this route instead of instantly choosing super cute or super sexy. Sure, they're very obviously in a similar vein to B.A.P, and admittedly this is quite the awkward time to be pushing out a girl group counterpart with the whole B.A.P lawsuit and all. But last I heard, Girls' Generation, 2NE1, and f(x) were never hated on for being counterparts to Super Junior, Big Bang, and SHINee. Lastly, people actually give a shit about colours? What a joke. Anyways!

This is a fresh debut, so let's talk about visuals. Everyone with long hair is flawless. Naturally, you see lookalikes when first introduced, and the similarities like D.ana with Nana, Sumin with Hara, etc. That's a good start. I don't think either Eunjin or Newsun can pull off that short hair look, though Eunjin is better by far. Briefing over the choreography and song, I would hesitate to call them badass, but they're definitely distinct and exude power. It's a solid start for them, and honestly they don't have the rookie vibe or look like a group that's brand new. Personally I like seeing groups come out strong like this, should give them a lot of attention and staying power.

I'm gonna skip over vocals for a minute and talk about the rap really quick. D.ana is really good. Like, surprisingly (suspiciously?) good, though to be fair, Hana, Zelo, and Yongguk are all under the TS flag and are decent to superb. Low voiced female rappers are so rare and D.ana isn't some mediocre rapper either. All her lines are fresh and strong. Newsun is alright. Not bad, but definitely overshadowed by D.ana. Makes me wish D.ana was the only rapper so she could take all the parts and have longer raps. I suppose drawing parallel with D.ana and Yongguk is a must but as I said, if D.ana wants to add her name to the "low voice rapper" list with Yubin and Bora, be my guest.

A key difference between Sonamoo and B.A.P is that nobody on Sonamoo stands out vocally. They're all pretty average. Sonamoo are also much more similar to each other as far as sound. B.A.P had a few contrasting voices led by Daehyun but Sonamoo lacks that. This hurts them a fair bit but given the strength of D.ana they're more of a performance and rap-oriented group, just like B.A.P. Still, the adlibs at the end were nice, And when you have a strong hook and killer instrumental, sometimes all you need are passable voices.

There was some diverse choreography in this song. They weren't overly sexy (though there was a fair amount of butt-shaking), and certainly not cute, but once again I wouldn't call it badass nor would I call it a clone of B.A.P's debut. B.A.P's choreography in "Warrior" was really flashy and definitely had a style whereas the dance in "Deja Vu" is a little more varied, which isn't bad at all. As for the MV, it's what you've come to expect of Kpop, with flashy lights, solo shots, fancy sets, and even the special effects. I mentioned this earlier, but Sonamoo don't look like rookies. They've got charisma and personality and will definitely control the stage when they perform.

I already had some bias going in because I was stupid enough to read netizen / fangirl comments before actually watching the video, but I'll say with confidence that Sonamoo are debuting right and I hope to see them continue on this path rather than shift to the copypaste concepts we've seen time and time again. Powerful rapping and solid dance, supported by good-enough voices and of course pretty faces. Sure, this group may have given us some deja vu but it's the good kind.

[ Overall: 87 / 100 ]