It takes eight years for YG
Entertainment to debut another boy group after Big Bang debut in 2006. On August 12th 2014, they
finally debuted a new boy group called WINNER.
WINNER released its debut album called 2014
S/S album with its two title tracks, Empty
and Color Ring.
WINNER first introduced on YG Entertainment’s reality show
competition called WIN that aired in
2013. Originally named as Team A, this five members boy group had to compete
with another team, Team B, to debut. Just like what we already know, Team A won
this competition based on public votes and changed their name into WINNER. The
boys also starred on a reality show called WINNER
TV before they debuted.
I was really anticipating WINNER debut despite not watching their
reality show and having little information about them. I was really intrigued
by their simple, yet artsy teasers and debut concept. Beside, the fact that YG
dubbed them to be different from Big Bang made me curious too.
So, when I finally hear their debut album, I must say I am
satisfied with it. Want to know why? Just read my review below.
WINNER opens their debut album with their first title track, Empty. Short story about this song
first, this track already caused mixed reactions from fans before its release. It was because the song composed by B.I. and
Bobby, who are the leader and rapper from Team B. Some fans have been
complained that YG gives B.I. and Bobby too much spotlight compared to WINNER,
who actually won their competition.
But those fans must have take back their anger again now because Empty proved to be a beautiful song. It is
a slow pop/R&B song, which dominated by acoustic guitar along with R&B
beat. It is very catchy too, especially the “daradadadada” part.
Empty also able to showcase each
members vocal and rap characteristics, which is a good thing for a debut track.
You will notice Minho heavy rap
voice, Seunghoon light rap voice, Jinwoo and Taehyun soothing voice (although sometimes I still find it hard to
differentiate their voice), and Seungyoon
raspy voice, which I think shines the most in this song.
I also love how each rap and vocal part able
to complement each other, especially during the exchange part. Rather than
sounds disjointed, it sounds lovely and flows nicely. It also prevents the song
to become boring despite the similar beat throughout the song.
As for the music video, it is beautiful too. I love the tone color
of the music video, which is soft blue. It shows the vulnerability and fragile
aspect of this song. I also love the usage of various settings from bedroom,
station, cinema even laundry. The music video represents the song theme well
too. The song talks about how the boys’ live feel empty without their
girlfriend. Throughout the music video, the boys always alone and looks sad. My
favorite part would be Jinwoo’s cinema scene. It’s done beautifully and able to
affect people’s mood.
The second song, Color Ring,
is also the title track of this album. For this song, Seungyoon takes part in
the composition. Color Ring opened
with gorgeous piano line followed by guitar sound. Unlike Empty that still has R&B vibe on it, Color Ring is more into slow pop-rock territory.
Color Ring is a title track material. The song is catchy and easy to
remember, especially the chorus part. You will sing along with this song after
listening to it. However, there is a main problem with this type of song. The
strongest point would be its catchiness and there is nothing else to look at
beside that.
Color Ring almost falls into that category, but thanks to the rap part, the
song is safe from that. Seunghoon and Minho rap part gives extra punch to the
song and keeps this song away to be a boring song. Once again, WINNER continues
to show how the vocal and rap part could complement each other well.
As for the music video, it could convey the song message well. Color Ring tells a story about a boy who
is still longing for his girlfriend eventhough they already broke up. On the
music video, the longing itself represented through the phone; how each member
holds his phone almost at the entire music video. It is like they are waiting
for the girlfriend call, which apparently relates with its lyrics that said, “I’d
rather hear your voice than this song”. Wow…I love when they relate music video
with the lyrics even if it is on the small details!
Color Ring music video still maintains the gloomy tone just like in Empty music video. However, they use
bold color tone this time such as dark green and brown that more suitable with
the song theme, which are longing and regret. The setting also more focuses on area
that people spend their daily life such as apartment and street.
After going on angst mode on the first two tracks, WINNER shows
their playful side through Don’t Flirt,
the third track. I love this song since the first time I listen to it. It is a
catchy song with fun beat. You will constantly sing along to this song
especially the “o o o o” part.
Don’t Flirt reminds me so much with G-Dragon’s Who You, which apparently also one of
my favorites from his last year’s album. The piano line for this song gives the
similar old school and playful vibe. Beside that, the clapping part gives
similar vibe too. But the different thing between this two songs are Who You is more into pop song while Don’t Flirt gives out more reggae vibe
through its guitar and bass sound.
As for the vocal, I love how they give Jinwoo time to shine
through this song. His “nasally” voice sounds really suitable for this type of
song. Meanwhile for the lyrics, it is really honest, yet funny at the same
time. Poor boys got frustrated because their girlfriend kept lying and flirting
with other guys.
For those of you who miss YG hip hop/rap song with full of
confidence lyrics, you will like listening to I’m Him, which is a solo song from Minho. I’m Him is like the male counterpart of 2NE1 CL’s Mental Breakdown(MTBD). The strong, yet simple beat gives the similar vibe like MTBD. It is
not really surprising since Teddy also produced this song.
Since the music and beat is simple, I’m Him able to let Minho’s rap shine. Minho is a former
underground rapper along with Block B’s
Zico, P.O., and Kyung, so it
is not really surprising to hear how good his rap is. But what makes me impressed
is his talent in writing lyrics. I’m Him still
talked about bragging himself, but the lyrics are not commonly used in other
rap song that I often heard. It is creative, but still making sense. It really
shows how wide Minho’s vocabulary of words is, which I think is important for a
rapper. Promising debut from him and I’m looking forward for his next hip-hop
track.
The fifth track, Love is a
Lie, is Minho and Seungyoon composition. It is another post-break up song
where the boy still wants to be with his girlfriend. But this time, WINNER
plays out with electronic/euro dance genre. Although this song heavily
dominated by electronic sound, it does
not sound too noisy. It still brings out the calming vibe through their vocal
and simple piano instruments, which makes it pleasant to ear. Beside that, Love is a Lie is very catchy too. The “Love
is a lie” part is addictive; you will constantly singing along through it.
My biggest problem with this song would be how it sounds too similar
to Big Bang usual electronic songs. You could easily imagine Big Bang sing this
song, even if you close your eyes while listening to it, you could mistaken
this as Big Bang song. I think WINNER needs to work out more on this type of
song to differentiate them with their senior.
Another member solo song on the sixth track. It is maknae Taehyun
time to shine through his self-composed song called Confession. It is a sweet ballad song which dominated by piano and
string sound. It is quite standard formula for ballad song. However, Confession is more than that.
The strongest point of this song is Taehyun vocal. He played out
his vocal and emotion well on this song. It sounds really sincere and soothing.
I can tell how much he loves the girl, which is the main theme of this song,
only by hearing his voice. This is a plus point that you will get if you
composed your own song; you will able to maximize your strength.
We go back to another pop/rock/R&B influenced song along with
its post break up lyrics on the seventh track, But. This track also composed by Taehyun. WINNER goes full band on
this song with electric guitar, drum, and bass sound. I love this song since
the first time I heard it. But is
very relaxing and smooth to ear.
But also continue to show WINNER strongest point, which are
pop/rock/R&B mid tempo song along with the exchange between rap and vocal
part.
The next track, Different,
gives out hip-hop/R&B vibe through its beat. This song composed by Minho
and Seungyoon. Eventhough it is hip-hop R&B influenced track, there is
still pop rock aspect on this song through its acoustic guitar line, which I
really love.
Different is another ear-catchy song from WINNER. The song flows smoothly.
Meanwhile, the chorus is easy to remember. Also, both the rap and vocal part
once again able to complement each other.
Different still has sad lyrics, which about a guy who wants the girl to stop
loving him since he always hurt her. However, it gives out different vibe. Compared
to the previous tracks, which sounds more vulnerable, Different brings out their anger and frustration sid, especially
through Minho and Seunghoon rap. It sounds tougher, yet emotional.
Tonight is the third Taehyun’s composition on this album, which also
another post break up song on this album. This song sounds familiar to fans
since Taehyun already showed it to Yang Hyun Suk on one of WINNER TV episodes.
But, he made it as his solo.
Tonight screams out classic R&B song with its simple beat and minimalist
sound. It also mixes with electronic sound and saxophone sound during the
ending chorus. I always love when there is saxophone sound on a song. It makes
the song sounds more unique. Unfortunately, they cannot maximize the usage of
saxophone on this song, so it does not add anything new to the song.
Tonight is nice and easy to listen, but unfortunately, there is
nothing stands out from this song. It only becomes another typical R&B
song.
We finally come to the last track of this album, another Minho and
Seungyoon composition called Smile Again.
This song brought back memories from fans since they composed and performed
this song during WIN competition. However, the album version arrangement is
quite different from the original arrangement. It sounds more polished.
Smile Again is another electronic/euro dance inspired track just like Love is a Lie. While Love is a Lie able to mash the song
elements well, Smile Again still
sound disjointed between the vocal and rap part. Beside that, I also feel that
this song is still lack of punch.
On the positive side, I love the lyrical theme of this song. It
asks people to stop being sad and smile again. This is very refreshing after
having angst mode almost throughout the whole album. I think it is a great
thing that this song being put at the last track. It pumps up people spirit
again.
2014 S/S album is a pleasant surprise from WINNER. It is a solid album with
beautiful songs and lyrics. The genre is not necessarily fresh, but it is fresh
among K-Pop boy groups nowadays.
I also like how four members participated in the production
process for each song (too bad Jinwoo did not participate, hopefully he will
participate more on the next album J). It affects a lot on how they present the song. Beside that, the
members seem to already found their signature style in composition. Minho and
Seungyoon is more into pop/rock/R&B/hip-hop sound while Taehyun is more
into pop/R&B/ballad. It is a great thing if they already found their own
style and hopefully, they could explore it more in the future.
Most importantly, with 2014
S/S album, WINNER reminds us again that K-Pop music does not always mean upbeat
song with noisy sounds and confidence lyrics. The slow tempo song with
minimalist sound and vulnerable lyrics is a part of K-Pop too.
There are still many things that they need to improve, but
overall, it is promising debut from WINNER. I will definitely keep an eye on
them.
My Favorite
Tracks : Empty, Color Ring, Don’t
Flirt, I’m Him, Confession, But, Different
Rating : 4/5
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