Release Date : December 4 2015
Tracklist :
- Dear Santa
- I Like The Way
- 겨울을 닮은 너 (Winter Story)
- Merry Christmas
- 첫눈처럼 (First Snow)
- Dear Santa (English Version)
Total Runtime : 00 : 21 :27
Recommended for : Those who like TTS, still in the Christmas mood or you just need a change in genres!
NOT recommended for : Those who dislike cheerful, slow tempo type of people.
Come on, girls!
Taetiseo (Girls’ Generation Sub-unit) are back with a long-awaited Christmas album, titled Dear Santa.
Member Seohyun participated in the writing of lyrics for the Korean version of Dear Santa, which describes a request to Santa Claus for making a wish to come true on Christmas.
1. Dear Santa/Dear Santa (Eng)
The song started off slow, like a typical ballad accompanied with soft soundings of the piano being played. However, that didn’t last long as the song started sounding to be merry, fast & upbeat, completely leaving me off guard & surprised. With Tiffany’s gentle touches to the song (aka random english lines), the whole song sailed smoothly as the three of them harmonized their vocals, making the song pleasant for one to hear. I am surprised how Taeyeon & Seohyun managed to sing the English lyrics perfectly, considering that they are non-English native speakers but it was just, wow.
2. I Like The Way
The starting was absolutely fun & jumpy, making me bop along with the song. The girls do sound genuinely like they have fun while recording this as their cheery voices fill the air. However, I do notice that it’s a little slow for me in the sense that I was trying to get into the mood the girls are trying to create, but I couldn’t really catch up with them. It kinds of drag the whole song down. Nonetheless, TTS’ vocals really flow well with this upbeat song and it’s just literally one word– fun. This song is a great song to listen to, especially when you are in a great mood. This retro sounding song would boost your happiness meter a lot more! “I like the way you make me feel ~”
3. Winter Story
The song started off slow (a drastic change from the previous track), nonetheless it was good, as it gave a warm feeling as you unconsciously nod your head along to the beat of the song. Taeyeon’s voice is very suitable for this song as the soft sounding voice of hers makes the song feel smoother & better. But of course, Tiffany and Seohyun had their own respective tones, which makes the song sound more of its own kind. It reminiscent of APink’s Fairytale Love, even though the song wasn’t overwhelmingly similar. The vocals were soothing and it made me fall deeper into the song, relaxing me completely.
4. Merry Christmas
This song had a soft & melodious beginning, making the song flow well with good harmonizing & overlaying of voices. The constant clacking sound makes it interesting as well. Those alibis made the song sound better, along with the christmas effects which makes one feel into the joyous season. It’s like a lovely ballad that showcases TTS’ strong emotions, making it pleasant for one to listen to. The girls’ voices are especially crystal clear in this track, adding onto the feel of this song.
5. First Snow
This track has a gentle dance tone, which reminded me of a typical girl group ballad song, except for the rich vocals of TTS. It has a romance tune as well, with the lyrics talking about ‘with your broad shoulders come embrace me’ and ‘white light that shines in my heart’ and many more. In midst of the song, as it progresses to the climax, I feel my nerves relaxing almost immediately as TTS pumps up the song, making one listen to them comfortably. In my opinion, I feel that this song, especially the overdubs in the chorus, has a powerful feeling of TTS tramping over the others as they take over the world.
Personally, I am not a big fan of Girls Generation, neither am I a fan of their sub unit TTS, but rather of a casual one. However, I jumped upon this opportunity to review this album because I thought it was awhile since I actually listened to a full girl group album. I am pretty neutral with this release because I am not a big fan of Christmas albums, but I must say the tracks were surprisingly refreshing, which was a big change for me & I am starting to grow fond of it.
The team has decided to kick off this new system, which is to assign any three colors according to the following categories, Replayability, Cohesiveness and Originality. So put it in simpler terms, Green means excellent, Yellow means fairly alright while Red is uh, bad, never replaying the shit again.
Replayability – YELLOW
Will play it again but perhaps only some of the songs may be sprinkled into my playlists
Cohesiveness – YELLOW
Mix & Match, most of the songs were alike but some songs seemed to be thrown in to thicken up the album.
Originality – YELLOW
Sounds familiar, but fresh enough.
