Release Date: June 26, 2017
Tracklist:
- Singing in the Rain (진솔)
- Love Letter (김립, 진솔)
Total Runtime: 00:06:40
Recommended for: those who dig future bass music sans The Chainsmokers’ antics, and contemporary groove pop. Also for Blackberry users, and most importantly newly converted LOONA fans who seek more credentials from the group before going full-time fan mode.
NOT recommended for: those who seek originality, or something fresh and new to bop for. Also not for LOONA akgaes, and the envious beings.
Blockberry Creative’s entire investment LOONA is now back with another banger, this time in an ethereal form of their newly revealed 7th member, JinSoul. All the members have proved their mettle and worth with their own début songs. JinSoul’s predecessor, Kim Lip and her game-breaking song Eclipse had set the bar high for next members to follow. With such expectations to succeed her blonde counterpart, can JinSoul delivers and stands above her hype?
Track Review:
Track 1 – Singing in the Rain (진솔)
Before I proceed, I’ll include Blockberry Creative very own description (you could say half review) for Singing in the Rain. Simply because the label basically do everything for everything these days. Which is kinda cool and reassuring for LOONA fans because the group hasn’t yet to make their official début, mind you.
As described by Blockberry Creative in the group’s official Facebook page, Singing in the Rain is a future bass track that fires up speakers with its accelerating tempo much like a pulsating heart drives by excitement (I rephrased the original sentence accordingly). Future bass track is a trending genre as of late, with the likes of Flume and The Chainsmokers bringing it to world’s attention. The wildfire won’t stop there as it transverse into the realm of Korean Pop. JinSoul is here to leave an impression. And she did it immaculately.
First few seconds, there are bits of Kim Lip’s Eclipse. Similar, but different. Pretty subtle way to make it different because these two members somehow correlate to each other in styles both musically and visually. Albeit compared to Eclipse, Singing in the Rain has an extra milage in terms of being more repetitive. Due to the redundancy, the track can be tedious after a few listens. When we need a saviour, JinSoul offered herself to help. With her vocal colours. This girl really can sing, and she did it ever so well in this track. The verses are quite bland and forgettable, and its choruses (I’d add the bridges as well but on low priority) are the song’s saving grace.
The bridges connect perfectly with the choruses, but the verses really take away the fun by a notch. And down another notch once I stumbled upon one of K-Pop’s biggest pet peeve, unnecessary rap parts. I get that the label wants to show what JinSoul is capable of other than being able to sing and dance well, but there’s no need to ruin an already good song. Rather, add something to make it less dreary other than rap parts. If they insist, make the rap parts better. I remain unsure of her rapping skill but it assuredly doesn’t show well enough in this song (to be fair).
Track 2 – Love Letter (김립, 진솔)
Luckily for us, the single’s second track is an absolute gem. According to her label, Love Letter is a supporting track ‘performed by JinSoul and Kim Lip that sounds like a ballad number, although it is actually a groove song, created from the clash (more like a mix) of the two girls with their unique and distinct styles. Sounds tacky alright, but allow me to describe it myself. Love Letter is a mid-tempo dance pop track that incorporates light but fast snares and minimalistic beats. This song is a perfect example of simple is better (most of the time).
Their voices fit like a glove and they harmonize like a champ throughout the song. JinSoul has a deeper tone than Kim Lip, and that makes the track better because it makes you aware of it being a duet song. It’s not easy for female singers especially those in K-Pop world because most of them more or less have the same voice. I might be wrong about this but that’s how I interpret incoming input (the singing) from my continuous listening to K-Pop songs. I don’t rule out the fact that it might be an overproduction from composers alike. Hint, chipmunk and forced high-pitched voices.
If a duet song from a group that hasn’t yet to make their official début sounds like a chart topping song, imagine LOONA as a whole. I’d be awestruck and mesmerized.
