INFINITE / The Chaser

I think INFINITE should just claim ‘elegant pop’ as their own sub-genre. There’s something so sophisticated yet approachable about their tunes. Always well produced, always of the highest quality, yet catchy enough for anyone to sing along to. And while I don’t mind when artists prance all around the musical map (SISTAR are a K-Pop group who play well in various genres) there’s something to be said for an act who can cultivate their own unique brand and build on the formula.

Much like SHINee took their version of modern Michael-esque R&B to the ridiculous extreme earlier this year, INFINITE combine familiar sounds from past hits and craft something new from the parts. A bit of the 90’s synths of “Be mine”, the dynamic string production from the middle 8 of “Come Back To Me”, the early 00’s bubblegum choruses of “She’s Back” - put into the machine, shined down to the sleekest metallic finish and popped out as this new single. Of course, the process is easy to mess up, but producer Sweet Tune (KARA, Nine Muses) is like a Korean Xenomania in their prime. The signature is always there, but the best songs are allowed to have their own personalities. 

I like this single a lot for INFINITE and think it’s a much stronger comeback than their last release “Paradise”; a song which also took cues from old material but to me sounded like a retread rather than something fresh. I do wish however that this video focused more on the (gorgeous) outdoor scenes, as the indoor dancing set-up is a bit stale and K-Pop by-the-numbers. 

SISTAR / Alone

If “SO COOL” succeeded because it was the flashiest song in the room, then “Alone” succeeds because it’s almost the opposite. SISTAR are still as bold as ever in their goals (you’d have to be bold to make this dramatic a shift in sound from one single to the next) but it would be easy to miss “Alone” entirely on first glance. It isn’t the song making a scene in the middle of the floor, but rather the glamorous wallflower chilling in the cut, tucked away in the dark secret area of the V.I.P. That’s not to say it’s anonymous or boring, in fact its mystery is what makes it perhaps the best SISTAR single to date.

Take Dr. Dre’s plinky plonky west coast piano line and throw in one of the sickest drum beats this side of “1 Thing”, and we have the fundamentals for the most gangster production K-Pop has seen yet. For as much flak as they get, Brave Brothers have yet to do SISTAR wrong. The structure put together here is particularly successful; the chorus repeating TWICE each time is a stroke of genius, excitement builds, and a proper tune is allowed to develop. “I’m falliiiiiing down, I’m falliiiiiing down” might just be their best hook to date, and certainly their most heartbreaking. 

But still, as impressive as all that is, it’s still about the quieter moments. Hyorin’s whispered words indicate as much from the very start, and the rest of the song follows accordingly. The sexy softness of their tone is a far cry from the girlish rah rah of SISTAR’s past, but their words are as passionate as ever, just filled with remorse and soaked with the haze of alcohol. The choking restrain makes their cry more intense, not less. 

Finally, the rap break comes, and at last, the song is allowed to breathe. The tight coil of the choruses comes flying apart, and the drum beat, now fully unleashed, plays freely under the breezy rapping. This might just be the best part of all. Balance has been achieved, preventing the song from sounding stuffy, or too serious. 

Eyes half-open, “Alone” rolls glamorously across the finish line, ending in the same place where it started - Hyorin’s murmur. You wouldn’t have heard it half-way across the club, but as the night ends, you’re glad you took the chance, and came a little closer. 

4minute / Volume Up

With their latest single “Volume Up”, 4minute manage the incredibly difficult task of sounding current, while at the same time, not sounding like an exact replica of the sources from which it pulled. It’s a latin floor-stomper that doesn’t sound like a retread of every other latin floor-stomper of the last two years. It’s got a sax, but doesn’t use it like all those other songs did. They’re a girl group singing a dancey tune, but don’t sound like any other girl group singing any of those other tunes.

4minute have always have a flare for heart-stopping uptempos (check their resume), and they use that same drama here, but it’s different this time. It’s smoother, and more refined. It rolls with little interruption; no stupid break after the chorus, right back into the action. Not even a traditional rap break so to speak of. Even when Jihyun’s sax-y middle 8 slows things down, it doesn’t come to a complete halt, maintaining a certain sensual smoothness that you could imagine the whole floor slow-dancing to.

I’m just impressed by how restrained this is. Last year “Mirror Mirror” felt like 80 things were clanging together fighting for a place in the same song, which sometimes can be fun in Pop, though not in that case. In “Volume Up”, there’s no doubt where everything should be and everyone hits their cues right on time, never for a moment stepping out of spot. And I think maybe that is why this is the most daring 4minute single yet. 

SPICA / Painkiller

“Russian Roulette” is still almost my favorite K-Pop tune of the year, and now SPICA are back to blow socks off again with a new track which bumps just as tough. “Painkiller” is at least as good as their last single and had my shoulders bopping from first play; always a good sign. Leader Kim Boa is still very much the backbone of things, but I’m starting to take note of the other girls more and more. Joohyun especially is given increased priority this time; her tone, raspy and comfortable (but never lazy), flows like warm honey over the orderly bounce of the beat, and acts like a foil to Boa’s tighter, more controlled delivery. 

Last time I was indifferent to what SPICA brought to the table visually, and still mostly am (this video could be intercut with scenes from about 12 other K-Pop videos and you’d be none the wiser), but when the music is so good the visual becomes less important. I do like what Maddie had to say about their style in her post though; “unsexualized (but not unsexy)”. To me that just makes the whole 90’s connection all the more true. Ignoring lyrical content; TLC, the Spice Girls - never particularly pushing SEXY above all else in the way they dressed or in their videos (though TLC sexed up more as the 90’s rolled on, admittedly), but at the same time not UNSEXY or shying away from that either. Just… not trying too hard in any direction? Letting their natural ‘charms’ (to use K-Pop speak for a moment here) shine on their own?

Anyway, this sloppy comparison is to basically say - SPICA, putting sweet tunes over sex appeal, while not purposely hiding their femininity or natural ‘swag’ / sexy. If that makes any sense. And though I previously suggested it would take time for SPICA to develop their own image, maybe it’s fine the way it is now?

SHINee / Sherlock

SHINee usually operates in 2 modes. Pure, smooth Michael-esque R&B, or hard, metallic electro-R&B. This new single “Sherlock” falls into the in-between zone of those two extremes. It’s powerful, like “Lucifer” before it; it’s got the steel, those stadium-filling vocals, but done in the style of their formative hits, pulling from “Love Like Oxygen”, and a bit from “Juliette” too.

Much like Jackson moved from boyish radio hits like “Billie Jean” or “P.Y.T.” to more aggressive, funkier productions in his late 80’s and 90’s stage, SHINee see this as an opportunity to further their transition from teen idols into adult artists (even baby Taemin got his baps out for this promo shot!). If “Replay” was SHINee’s Off The Wall phase, and “Lucifer” their Thriller, then “Sherlock” might be their Bad, their Dangerous, in a sense. The buoyant, manipulated hip-hop of “Jam”, the slamming force of “Bad”, and reaching even further into the 90’s, a bit of the surreal pop of “Scream” - all found in bits here. 

Like all transitions, it could be a bit smoother, and “Sherlock” is quite possibly their least accessible hit to date. Not that I don’t love it, because I do, but it does feel like it’s missing just a tiny bit of that ease which made “Lucifer” such a ubiquitous breakout moment for them. But still, this is the right move for the right group at the right time. SHINee are still trying to play outside of the box, and that makes me happy, especially when they could have just come back with Lucifer 2.0, or even worse, Hello 2.0. 

Staying true to MJ - here’s the dance version music video which SM just put online today. SHINee, a sick ass beat, and a place for them to boogie; K-Pop doesn’t get much better.