Red Velvet’s sweetheart Joy teams up with 2AM’s Im Seulong in a bittersweet duet titled “Always In My Heart”.
This SM Station single marks the first collaboration between the two groups and hopefully the first of many.
“Always In My Heart” has the ability to bring out smiles but also tug onto the heartstrings, making it a nice song to listen to during the evening.
Review
The MV features Joy and Seulong exploring the past highs and current lows of a romantic relationship. There is a warm, sweet vibe during the good times where the couple flirts and plays around the apartment together. They pulled off the cute scenes brilliantly, eating popcorn, snoozing on the bed and going on night walks. In terms of the post-break up scenes, Seulong’s acting experience was felt and seen. He executed the crying and brooding expressions well. Joy’s reflecting scenes turned out to be petty and angry rather than sentimental. Despite the nine-year age gap, their chemistry was solid and believable. Visually, their looks complimented each other and they did well to capture the bittersweet theme of the song. Overall, the MV was impressive and almost appeared like a mini-drama.
Joy and Seulong are vocalists in their respective groups and are not known for powerful vocals. They both have a soft, delicate approach to singing, which blended well in “Always In My Heart”. The song actually sounds similar to some of 2AM’s previous releases, as it is a fresh ballad with a sad twist. It is in a pretty comfortable range for Seulong, who harmonised well with Joy especially in the verses. Joy’s pure tone is enough to make the song sound great despite some strained high notes in the chorus. The highlight would be the bridge, where the duo’s vocals become more emotional and lifts up the intensity before dropping back to a mellow feel at the end. Overall, Joy and Seulong delivered a sincere and vocally smooth song that is very easy to listen to.
REPLAYABILITY: GREEN
A heartfelt track that is worthy to be replayed 1000 times over
