The girls are back in town
Girls’ Generation Holiday Night SM Entertainment
ANY Sone, as dedicated fans of Girls’ Generation are known, will tell you that the K-pop girl group is made of the stuff of legends.
Perhaps there’s more to that statement than mere fanatical biased opinion. After all, Girls’ Generation has always been credited for paving the way for many girl groups in the relatively boy group-centric K-pop universe.
The maddeningly catchy Gee is still widely regarded as one of the genre’s most iconic numbers, and the song IGotABoy made history when it won Video of The Year at the first YouTube Music Awards in 2013.
Holiday Night, the eight member outfit’s sixth Korean album, comes ten years after the release of the group’s anthemic debut song Into The New World and two years after their last and fifth studio album Lion Heart.
If anything, the 10-track collection plays more like a special commemorative record instead of one that seeks to create new hallmarks.
The girls – Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun – deserve as much. After all, most girl groups in South Korea barely make it past their seventh year.
That observation is most telling in the sonic stylings of the album’s dual singles – Holiday and All Night. The overtly cutesy Holiday relies on a super saccharine chorus (“Ho-ho-holiday!”) to deliver the punch, while the sexier All Night has that 80s disco vibe to it.
You won’t find any flavour-of-the-moment sounds here, only retro-tinged party songs and ballads. And as far as B-sides go, Holiday
Night doesn’t disappoint.
Opening get-the-groove-on track Girls Are
Back features solid vocals, setting aside the fact that SNSD (as the group is also known among K-pop listeners) is back and ready to party over solid vocals. Meanwhile, slower jams like Only One and One Last Time, prove that the girls can do substance just as well as superfluous. Sweet Talk (co-penned by maknae Seohyun) on the other hand, teases further on the group’s sassier hip hop image along the vein of past hits like You Think and Run Devil Run. Elsewhere, It’s You (with lyrics by member Yuri) and closing number Light Up The Sky are triumphant celebrations of the group’s longevity.
Jessica
My Decade Coridel Entertainment
THERE are singers, and then there are personalities. And on the third solo studio effort from former Girls’ Generation member Jessica Jung (known professionally by the mononym Jessica), the songstress’ artistry is up for debate.
Sure, the 28-year-old does songs with great pop sensibilities. Debut Fly and the wintry
Wonderland have the kind of sing-along quality that makes them perfect for radio. That instant catchiness is written all over
My Decade’s opener and lead single Summer Storm. With its soaring drums and synths, there’s an effortless anthemic feel-good drive to the track.
Jessica certainly knows how to make pop glitter. But all that glitters isn’t always gold. The major gripe with the former K-pop idol, much like her previous releases, is that her songs usually lack individuality.
Most of the numbers on My Decade sound like they could be on any singer’s album.
Beautiful Mind is a pleasant mid-tempo number that drips with sweetness. It’s a decent and pretty predictable pop track that doesn’t take any artistic liberty. Then there’s
Saturday Night that sees Jessica’s vocals stretched too thin.
But if there’s any redeeming quality at all to My Decade (released mere days after Girls’ Generation’s Holiday Night) is that despite all the generic pop songs, Jessica still possess one of K-pop’s more unique voices.
The slower jams Love U and Starry Night feature Jessica’s airy vocals over some sweet acoustics. The singer certainly sounds better in ballads, where her larger-than-life personality shines brightest. Let’s just hope she realises this sooner than later.