Missy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
miss_ingno) wrote2022-05-02 05:36 pm
miss_ingno) wrote2022-05-02 05:36 pm
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Dreamcatcher's latest album [Apocalypse: Save us]
Dreamcatcher is my fave k-pop band hands down and their new album rules.
I've been listening to the tracks up and down to the point where I've been so productive writing because I would rather listen to their songs than watch videos/streams or listen to podcasts. And obviously, I have opinions which I wished to share.
In no particular order or coherence:
1) I am so happy for the girls that they all got a solo track each on this album. It's great, and I'm going to learn all the dances. The songs are pretty solid too, although we'll come back to this in a hot sec.
(If you're not familiar with the kpop industry, it's pretty important for members of a group to establish themselves as solo artists while with the group for their future career, usually only the fan favourite or strongest singers get some. Dreamcatcher giving all of their members the chance is pretty rare, especially since they're 7 people. Some of them had solos before this, and almost all of them have done covers of various sorts, but this is a Big Deal.)
2) THEY WON THEIR FIRST MUSIC SHOWS!!! First and Second Win BABY!!! They placed first in MBC M’s "Show Champion" and in SBS MTV’s "The Show" with their title track Maison (a song about global warming). Their very first win in five years.
This is actually really significant - the idol industry in South Korea is based around these types of shows very heavily, and the fact that they hadn't won a single one yet in the last five years really impeded their potential growth within Korea (they're a more popular band with international audiences, but their music is still considered very niche and atypical for k-pop for the most part).
There was also some drama of alleged behind the scenes sabotage going on with their title track Deja Vu back in 2019 that fans are still up in arms about, where they (allegedly) scored a minus score from the show judges disguised as a zero and thus came in a handful of points behind the show's official winner. Their music is (J-)metal/rock-inspired, which is pretty unpopular in Korea and makes Dreamcatcher very unique but also niche. But it's also what makes their music so very worthwhile to me, personally, so.
Anyway, win! Double win!!! Finally :D!
2a) I know the song had to be somewhat more "mainstream" pop/EDM to have even a chance of winning, and considering how resigned Dreamcatcher were to never win anything (poor girls, I cried so hard seeing them cry at their first win), I love that they still kept some of the metal inspiration charm with the chanting of "la maison" in the last part of the song <3 The best part about Dreamcatcher imo is their very experimental genre mixing and wide variety of genre/range, and this was a good example of it!
3) Locked Inside A Door is a very different genre than their usual and I dig it. I mean Starlight is also a bob, and Together & Always are both great songs in their own right, but if we ignore Maison, this one's my fave of the group songs. Love that they're doing more harmonizing again, too, in all of their group songs.
Anyway, the lyrics of Locked Inside A Door are bonkers and remind me a lot of their Scream-Boca-Odd Eye era, with the theme of bullying and not letting people's words get to you (which... in light of their situation within the k-pop idol industry makes sense but is also kinda sad :/ I hope things change for the better now for them!)
Chorus:
4) Cherry (Real Miracle) by JiU
Cherry is kinda the usual sugar pop song you expect from a k-pop solo (or even most girl groups!) Not my thing, usually, but dammit Jiu makes it *work* and now it's stuck in my head... :( Tbf, she has the perfect k-pop voice for these kind of bubbly love songs.
5) No Dot by SuA
Queen Sua, go off.
Ngl I'm not a fan of the distortion filter type music this falls into, but (surprise surprise) the song's growing on me xD I'm not really convinced by the English lyrics, but I love that she's leaning into the Mad Queen vibes, very reminiscent of Nightmare era Sua spider goddess vibes. And using the phrase "we have no dot" to imply a toxic relationship where the singer won't let go? Yes please. I do love me some unhealthy relationships in lyrics.
And I'm very much looking forward to the dance on this one. The snippet we've seen from the mini-concert was very promising, I'm excited to learn it!
6) Entrancing by Siyeon and Winter by Handong
Honestly, these two are. Fine? Lovely even, but. I'm just in general rarely in mood for quiet, soft ballads. They're both very similar in vibe, and in that they've cleverly placed them on the album; the first time I didn't even notice until I was half-way through "Winter" that the song changed. They suit both Siyeon and Handong's voices, being light and high.
But.
Idk I would really love a more powerful song by either of them next time? They have the vocals to back a power-ballad, e.g. Although admittedly it feels like Handong is still only finding her comfort zone, so I'm more forgiving of her choice in song -- plus she's likely looking to build a career in the Chinese market, since her first solo was in Chinese, and from what I hear they're more into ballads and softer songs, so I suppose it makes sense for her to build her arsenal in this area.
And I guess Siyeon has more than enough examples of her wider range in the title tracks and various other Dreamcatcher b-sides however. Between Paradise, Shadows, and this one, idk. It almost feels like she's settling for what she *knows* she's good at instead of creating a wider range of options. It might be her preferred style, and she's done amazing ballad covers (the live action Aladin cover still gives me chills), but idk. I would really like for her to show off her amazing vocals more. Play around, experiment a little. She's already proven in variety shows and with covers that she can, so I hope she doesn't get stuck in this particular niche :/ (next time, maybe we can haz rock ballad? owo)
7) For by Yoohyeon
In hindsight, this seems like such an obvious choice for Yoohyeon? She's the member most comfortable in singing in English, and she shows it off beautifully in this song. Very 50s glamour diva charme, and it suits what she's said in interviews and lives before. It's just a lovely showcase of her favourite type of music and a nice dash of nostalgia. (And ngl I'm very charmed by the fact that the choreo includes a couple steps of ballroom dancing <3)
8) Beauty Full by Dami
Unironically my favourite song of the album, possibly even surpassing Maison. Definitely the best of all the solo tracks! The song gives me strong Avril Lavigne nostalgia, the sort of skater punk rock. It's a perfect mix of singing and rapping, showing off that Dami, despite being the main rapper of Dreamcatcher, has a beautiful singing voice and a surprisingly wide range. I love that Dami's been given more singing parts lately (also showcased in Locked Inside A Door! It always takes me by surprise, but her voice has a very unique timbre that shines through beautifully).
Also the lyrics are just brimming with positivity. Dami mentioned in a behind the scenes video that she went for "beauty full" instead of "beautiful" because it's "so full of beauty it's spilling over" and that's reflected very well in the lyrics and upbeat rock music. Plus the bits of the dance I've seen are!!! SWOONING!!! I have NO IDEA how this girl manages that energetic a dance with kicks and everything while singing??? Gdi, Dami, hitting it out of the park.
Best song, 12/10, want more of this please.
9) Playground by Gahyeon
Very playful and schoolgirl charm. I guess it makes sense for the maknae of the group? It falls into the bubbly sugar pop I'm not the biggest fan of, but it's also silly good fun. The message is rather sweet, too, to treasure your childhood memories and keep in touch with your inner child. Agree with that, and like the other songs, this too is growing on me with ever repetition :') probably will learn the dance because it has a lollipop prop and it's kinda ridiculous good fun, very girlish, and you know what, I will keep in touch with my inner child.
10) The Maison dance looks less complex than some of their other choreographies, a trend that's been on-going for a while now (BEcause seems very easy too on first look... and really wasn't that hard to learn overall tbf), but holy shit is it FAST! I've been able to reliably dance along at 75% speed for a week now, having added it to my practice roster the moment their choreo video came out. But, fuck me, I tried it on full speed yesterday for the first time and it's ??? how do they MANAGE to SING at the SAME TIME what the fuck. They manage to pull this off with such precision and grace, and then it just feels like they fast-forwarded the whole dance once they got it down. I'm impressed.
10a) My favourite part hands down is Dami's rap showcase, like. Damn, girl. The move-set is really unique and fun, and perfectly on theme. Kudos to whoever choreographed this because I *love*. Dami's always been known for her variety in dance moves during her rap parts, but this? A+
10b) My other favourite sequence is Sua's alternate last chorus. It's energetic, fast, and breathtaking in the most literal sense, I have no idea how she pulls off singing at the same time, like. WITH WHAT AIR??? After already spending nearly 3 minutes on a fast af choreo! It just goes to show what an awesome dancer-singer she is, and I really can't wait for her solo track's choreo to come out so I can learn that, too.
Anyway, I'm excited :D and might end up titling some fic after the lyrics xD
I've been listening to the tracks up and down to the point where I've been so productive writing because I would rather listen to their songs than watch videos/streams or listen to podcasts. And obviously, I have opinions which I wished to share.
In no particular order or coherence:
1) I am so happy for the girls that they all got a solo track each on this album. It's great, and I'm going to learn all the dances. The songs are pretty solid too, although we'll come back to this in a hot sec.
(If you're not familiar with the kpop industry, it's pretty important for members of a group to establish themselves as solo artists while with the group for their future career, usually only the fan favourite or strongest singers get some. Dreamcatcher giving all of their members the chance is pretty rare, especially since they're 7 people. Some of them had solos before this, and almost all of them have done covers of various sorts, but this is a Big Deal.)
2) THEY WON THEIR FIRST MUSIC SHOWS!!! First and Second Win BABY!!! They placed first in MBC M’s "Show Champion" and in SBS MTV’s "The Show" with their title track Maison (a song about global warming). Their very first win in five years.
This is actually really significant - the idol industry in South Korea is based around these types of shows very heavily, and the fact that they hadn't won a single one yet in the last five years really impeded their potential growth within Korea (they're a more popular band with international audiences, but their music is still considered very niche and atypical for k-pop for the most part).
There was also some drama of alleged behind the scenes sabotage going on with their title track Deja Vu back in 2019 that fans are still up in arms about, where they (allegedly) scored a minus score from the show judges disguised as a zero and thus came in a handful of points behind the show's official winner. Their music is (J-)metal/rock-inspired, which is pretty unpopular in Korea and makes Dreamcatcher very unique but also niche. But it's also what makes their music so very worthwhile to me, personally, so.
Anyway, win! Double win!!! Finally :D!
2a) I know the song had to be somewhat more "mainstream" pop/EDM to have even a chance of winning, and considering how resigned Dreamcatcher were to never win anything (poor girls, I cried so hard seeing them cry at their first win), I love that they still kept some of the metal inspiration charm with the chanting of "la maison" in the last part of the song <3 The best part about Dreamcatcher imo is their very experimental genre mixing and wide variety of genre/range, and this was a good example of it!
3) Locked Inside A Door is a very different genre than their usual and I dig it. I mean Starlight is also a bob, and Together & Always are both great songs in their own right, but if we ignore Maison, this one's my fave of the group songs. Love that they're doing more harmonizing again, too, in all of their group songs.
Anyway, the lyrics of Locked Inside A Door are bonkers and remind me a lot of their Scream-Boca-Odd Eye era, with the theme of bullying and not letting people's words get to you (which... in light of their situation within the k-pop idol industry makes sense but is also kinda sad :/ I hope things change for the better now for them!)
Chorus:
Those words become arrows
My form becomes the target
Let it flow away like water, away
The gun of condemnation at the fingertips
My remaining breath running short
Let it flow away like water, away
Moving on to the Solos:
4) Cherry (Real Miracle) by JiU
Cherry is kinda the usual sugar pop song you expect from a k-pop solo (or even most girl groups!) Not my thing, usually, but dammit Jiu makes it *work* and now it's stuck in my head... :( Tbf, she has the perfect k-pop voice for these kind of bubbly love songs.
5) No Dot by SuA
Queen Sua, go off.
Ngl I'm not a fan of the distortion filter type music this falls into, but (surprise surprise) the song's growing on me xD I'm not really convinced by the English lyrics, but I love that she's leaning into the Mad Queen vibes, very reminiscent of Nightmare era Sua spider goddess vibes. And using the phrase "we have no dot" to imply a toxic relationship where the singer won't let go? Yes please. I do love me some unhealthy relationships in lyrics.
And I'm very much looking forward to the dance on this one. The snippet we've seen from the mini-concert was very promising, I'm excited to learn it!
6) Entrancing by Siyeon and Winter by Handong
Honestly, these two are. Fine? Lovely even, but. I'm just in general rarely in mood for quiet, soft ballads. They're both very similar in vibe, and in that they've cleverly placed them on the album; the first time I didn't even notice until I was half-way through "Winter" that the song changed. They suit both Siyeon and Handong's voices, being light and high.
But.
Idk I would really love a more powerful song by either of them next time? They have the vocals to back a power-ballad, e.g. Although admittedly it feels like Handong is still only finding her comfort zone, so I'm more forgiving of her choice in song -- plus she's likely looking to build a career in the Chinese market, since her first solo was in Chinese, and from what I hear they're more into ballads and softer songs, so I suppose it makes sense for her to build her arsenal in this area.
And I guess Siyeon has more than enough examples of her wider range in the title tracks and various other Dreamcatcher b-sides however. Between Paradise, Shadows, and this one, idk. It almost feels like she's settling for what she *knows* she's good at instead of creating a wider range of options. It might be her preferred style, and she's done amazing ballad covers (the live action Aladin cover still gives me chills), but idk. I would really like for her to show off her amazing vocals more. Play around, experiment a little. She's already proven in variety shows and with covers that she can, so I hope she doesn't get stuck in this particular niche :/ (next time, maybe we can haz rock ballad? owo)
7) For by Yoohyeon
In hindsight, this seems like such an obvious choice for Yoohyeon? She's the member most comfortable in singing in English, and she shows it off beautifully in this song. Very 50s glamour diva charme, and it suits what she's said in interviews and lives before. It's just a lovely showcase of her favourite type of music and a nice dash of nostalgia. (And ngl I'm very charmed by the fact that the choreo includes a couple steps of ballroom dancing <3)
8) Beauty Full by Dami
Unironically my favourite song of the album, possibly even surpassing Maison. Definitely the best of all the solo tracks! The song gives me strong Avril Lavigne nostalgia, the sort of skater punk rock. It's a perfect mix of singing and rapping, showing off that Dami, despite being the main rapper of Dreamcatcher, has a beautiful singing voice and a surprisingly wide range. I love that Dami's been given more singing parts lately (also showcased in Locked Inside A Door! It always takes me by surprise, but her voice has a very unique timbre that shines through beautifully).
Dance the way I please
Scream until I’m satisfied
Stop being self-conscious, laugh
Whatever anybody says
I won’t stop oh
Get set, ready, go
Also the lyrics are just brimming with positivity. Dami mentioned in a behind the scenes video that she went for "beauty full" instead of "beautiful" because it's "so full of beauty it's spilling over" and that's reflected very well in the lyrics and upbeat rock music. Plus the bits of the dance I've seen are!!! SWOONING!!! I have NO IDEA how this girl manages that energetic a dance with kicks and everything while singing??? Gdi, Dami, hitting it out of the park.
Best song, 12/10, want more of this please.
9) Playground by Gahyeon
Very playful and schoolgirl charm. I guess it makes sense for the maknae of the group? It falls into the bubbly sugar pop I'm not the biggest fan of, but it's also silly good fun. The message is rather sweet, too, to treasure your childhood memories and keep in touch with your inner child. Agree with that, and like the other songs, this too is growing on me with ever repetition :') probably will learn the dance because it has a lollipop prop and it's kinda ridiculous good fun, very girlish, and you know what, I will keep in touch with my inner child.
10) The Maison dance looks less complex than some of their other choreographies, a trend that's been on-going for a while now (BEcause seems very easy too on first look... and really wasn't that hard to learn overall tbf), but holy shit is it FAST! I've been able to reliably dance along at 75% speed for a week now, having added it to my practice roster the moment their choreo video came out. But, fuck me, I tried it on full speed yesterday for the first time and it's ??? how do they MANAGE to SING at the SAME TIME what the fuck. They manage to pull this off with such precision and grace, and then it just feels like they fast-forwarded the whole dance once they got it down. I'm impressed.
10a) My favourite part hands down is Dami's rap showcase, like. Damn, girl. The move-set is really unique and fun, and perfectly on theme. Kudos to whoever choreographed this because I *love*. Dami's always been known for her variety in dance moves during her rap parts, but this? A+
10b) My other favourite sequence is Sua's alternate last chorus. It's energetic, fast, and breathtaking in the most literal sense, I have no idea how she pulls off singing at the same time, like. WITH WHAT AIR??? After already spending nearly 3 minutes on a fast af choreo! It just goes to show what an awesome dancer-singer she is, and I really can't wait for her solo track's choreo to come out so I can learn that, too.
Anyway, I'm excited :D and might end up titling some fic after the lyrics xD