Girls’Generation (SNSD) just marked another milestone. In
the midst of peer group hiatus and disbandment, SNSD managed to reach 10th
years anniversary of their career.
SNSD celebrated 10th years anniversary on Saturday,
August 5th 2017. In order to celebrate this special event, the girls
released their newest album called Holiday
Night one day before.
Through Holiday Night, SNSD promises to bring back their old
sound. It seems they want to remind public about what makes them popular in the
first place. Are you ready to get nostalgic with SNSD? Check out my review of
Holiday Night here……………..
Girls Are
Back
Girls Are Back is a strong opening for Holiday Night. This song combines R&B
and funk genre. Bass, guitar, and drum become its main instrumental, which
created punch to the song dynamic.
Girls Are Back dynamic continues to be interesting because of SNSD vocal. Each
member successfully plays her part well. They know how to differentiate between
strong and soft tone in singing. The girls able to complement each other well.
Plus, they surprisingly nail rapping part. It keeps the song interesting.
The last punch of Girls Are
Back is its lyrics. Just like the title, this song is a declaration of SNSD
comeback. They want everyone to watch and pay attention to them because they
are back. I love this confidence and yes, we are ready to hear the rest of
Holiday Night!
All Night
All Night is title track of Holiday Night Album. Through this song, SNSD
tries to play with retro and modern type of music. They mix disco with
electronic dance music. Check out my review of All Night along with its music video here.
Holiday
This is another title track of Holiday Night album. Holiday brings nostalgic feeling to
early days of SNSD. Check out those catchy hook part and strong beat. However,
SNSD tries to put a spin by channeling retro vibe. Curious? See the full review
here.
Fan
SNSD throws a surprise with Fan.
It is an electronic pop song, which dominated by synthesizer, bass, and guitar
sound. The usage of these instrumental is unique on this song. Instead of
creating modern vibe, it tends to be more old school type.
Fan reminds me with 90s era pop song. Aside from its music, the way
SNSD sing the song supports this theme too. They show nice harmonization and
little bit of talking at the end of several parts.
Meanwhile for its lyrics, SNSD gets sentimental. They talk about
how fans always guide their path and become their place to lean on. This is
another unique aspect of Fan since
other groups usually sing this kind of lyrics in emotional ballad. As a result,
Fan stands out and not becomes usual
pop song.
Only One
SNSD slows down a bit by offering medium tempo type of songs
through Only One. Similar with Fan, this is another 90s inspired track.
Those lovely harmonization and simple acoustic guitar sound brings reminiscence
feeling.
This added with Only One sweet
lyrics. SNSD mentions their closeness bond. They feel that they know each other
really well and grateful for their existence. It’s a song that nice to listen
to.
Still, Only One has
several lacking part. The chorus is quite let down after its nice verses. It
sounds generic and could not pick up the song. Moreover, there are too many
‘Only One’ words. It sounds repetitive and could make people bored.
One Last
Time
One Last Time is the first ballad track in Holiday Night album. This song brings
us back to early 2000s era since it combines pop and R&B genre. Catchy
piano melody represents pop music while strong beat gives R&B flavor.
One Last Time arrangement is quite simple. This becomes advantage for SNSD to
showcase their vocal strength. All members’ vocal improves, particularly Seohyun, along with their ability to
display emotions. We could feel their sadness because of separation, which is One Last Time main lyrical theme.
Sweet Talk
If One Last Time represents
emotional side of R&B, Sweet Talk does
the opposite. It is a strong and sexy track. Bass and guitar sound dominates Sweet Talk, which is effective to build
up the song. This added with interesting vocal arrangement. Each SNSD member
takes turn to sing and talk during verses.
Sunny shines the most because of her vocal versatility. She knows how to
use her light tone well. It is SNSD powerhouse vocal, Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun that find difficulties when
sing Sweet Talk. The high note does
not always match these three. Plus, it sounds too similar, which makes it hard
to differentiate their voices.
The sexy vibe of Sweet Talk continues
to emphasize through its lyrics. Just like the title, it is about how SNSD
wants the boy not to be shy and flirt with them directly. It sounds mature,
especially coming from Seohyun as youngest member. Guess she is all grown up
after all ;)
Love Is
Bitter
SNSD tries out jazz genre with Love
Is Bitter. This genre represents through the usage of piano and trumpet
instrumental. It sounds playful yet festive at the same time, especially during
chorus part. SNSD vocal suits this type of song too. Hyoyeon and Yuri becomes
the biggest surprise. Both nailed their chorus part!
In contrast with its light music, Love Is Bitter actually has sad lyrics. It tells explains that love
does not always equal happiness. Love slowly fades away and becomes bitterness.
The opposite theme between music and lyrics creates interesting point to Love Is Bitter. In fact, it is actually
bittersweet just like the song title.
Love Is Bitter was pleasant listening. However, there is a chance that it could
make people bored. The music keeps playing out similar melody throughout the
song. There is not much going on since SNSD vocal does not have interesting
change too.
It’s You
Similar with Only One, It’s You is another early 2000s inspired
track. It has strong beat and synthesizer as its main element. This added with
sweet harmonization, which sounds like bubblegum pop song at that era. The
lovely theme also showcases through It’s
You lyrics.
Yuri writes this song, which is about how SNSD want to stay
together with their fans and never change. It’s simple lyrics, but SNSD manages
to make it more personal with several gestures. For example, the Korean title
of It’s You mentions ‘Sowon’ word
that describes pronunciation of their fans, Sone. Then it also talks about pink ocean, which is the light stick
color during SNSD concert.
Although sweetness becomes highlight, SNSD still spices up some
parts of It’s You to make it
different. The tempo picks up and the synthesizer sound changes during chorus.
Moreover, the vocal part on bridge seems unique yet old school at the same
time.
Light Up The
Sky
Light Up The Sky is the last ballad in Holiday Night album. This song brings out
nostalgia feeling since it resembles SNSD songs on their early debut days. Once
again, the girls showcase beautiful piano melody and strong beat throughout the
song.
Light Up The Sky manages to stand out among other ballad songs in this album. Aside
from bringing nostalgia feeling, this song also has great dynamic. The verses
are solid while the pre-chorus serves as effective build up. The chorus becomes
strongest part where SNSD vocal soars along with its dramatic music. This added
with catchy hook part that will instantly stuck in your head.
The great dynamic also supported by SNSD vocal arrangement. The
girls’ vocal pairs up nicely, which makes their different tone complements each
other. Plus, they know where to put emotional punch.
SNSD tries to describe the touching lyrics of Light Up The Sky through their singing. The song shows their wishes
to be together with fans as time goes by. Even though drifting apart is a
natural process, SNSD still hope fans do not forget them.
Holiday Night finally shows how SNSD want to take their music. The
girls present great balance between sweetness and versatility. The first one is
SNSD signature style since debut. The girls maintain their sweetness theme
through lovely melody and catchy hook part in most of Holiday Night songs.
At the same, SNSD challenges them by singing various types of
song. From jazz to disco to sweet
bubblegum pop, SNSD eats up all of them. It shows their maturity as performers.
The song transition does not sound jarring because each song showcases similar
nostalgia or retro theme.
Consistency while also adapting trend was SNSD key of existence in
K-Pop music scene. This direction does not change anytime soon. The girls have
not giving signal about shifting their style. This is actually not a bad thing
as long as the girls continue to evolve.
Rating: 4/5
Favorite
Tracks: Girls Are Back, Holiday,
All Night, Fan, Love Is Bitter, Light Up The Sky
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