TAEYANG, a member of the K-pop group BIGBANG, has made a comeback in four years with his full-length album ‘RISE.’ His album is filled with his wish to represent pure sincerity of music. Unlike his previous albums based on African-American music, this latest album has more elements of popular appeal, thereby getting closer to the fans.
At midnight on the 3rd of this month, TAEYANG released his second full-length album ‘RISE’ on a number of online music sites. He has made a comeback in seven months since his release of a mini-album ‘RINGA LINGA’ in November last year. It has been as long as four years since he released his first full-length album ‘SOLAR’ in 2010.
This album contains nine songs including’1AM,’ ‘STAY WITH ME,’ ‘BODY’ and ‘THIS AIN’T IT’ along with the title song ‘EYES, NOSE, LIPS.’
The title song ‘EYES, NOSE, LIPS’ is an R&B-style song with a solid piano sound accompanying TAEYANG’s appealing vocals. The lyrics that go ‘I can’t erase you even when you’re gone / I still remember your eyes, nose, lips, touch and your small nails,’ and ‘Can I ever see you again just for a moment, or even by chance / I get anxious day by day’ expressed a faint longing for the past loved one.
This emotional R&B-style song features sensuous lyrics in the refrain by elaborating on its title ‘EYES, NOSE, LIPS,’ and TAEYANG’s melodious and light vocals. TAEYANG quenched the thirst of his long-awaiting fans by distancing himself from the elements of African-American music while emphasizing his emotional vocals.
The music video of ‘EYES, NOSE, LIPS,’ which was unveiled on the same day, is primarily led by TAEYANG’s monologues. TAEYANG calmly sings with a sad look on his face and with his shirt off. The camera moves from his neck, lips, and nose to his entire face in order, reflecting the lyrics that he can’t erase the eyes, nose and lips of the past loved one.
The music video is less focused on colorful directing than on representing the plaintive and lonely ambience of the song. The emotion explodes at the end of the music video with actress Min Hyo Rin’s photo on fire.
“TAEYANG completed recordings of more than 20 songs, but selected 9 of them based on his wish to maximize the quality of the album,” said Yang Hyun Suk, the founder and main producer of YG Entertainment, while mentioning the fact that TAEYANG’s second album features a single title song. He seemed confident, saying “Every single song in the album could have well served as a title song.” All the songs unveiled on Tuesday show high artistic achievements of the singer.
The third track ‘1AM’ features grand electronic sounds, strong beats and a dynamic melody line. ‘STAY WITH ME,’ the fourth track, reflected the touch of G-DRAGON, who participated in writing and composing the song.
The fifth track ‘BODY,’ where TAEYANG himself took part in writing and composing the song, boasts unusual vocals with a heavy dose of electronic sounds. The sixth track, ‘THIS AIN’T IT’ is a medium-tempoed song with a melody that gets more and more intense to the end.
The seventh track ‘LET GO’ consists of monotonous melodies. Written by TABLO, the lyrics that go ‘I let go everything on my way to you / let go of the greed that blocked my eyes / of the selfishness that filled my hands’ are especially impressive. TABLO’s stylish lyrics were well expressed by TAEYANG’s dynamic voice.
The album culminates in the last track ‘LOVE YOU TO DEATH,’ where TAEYANG’s powerful and groovy vocals mix well with the dreamlike song.
In a press interview held to announce the release of his second full-length album, TAEYANG said, “I’m releasing the second album under the name of TAEYANG. I have prepared for it for a very long time. It seems to have been a very long journey. I’ve experienced a lot of things so far and made big efforts to express those moments in my music. As such, he did his best to break the stereotype that ‘TAEYANG outside BIGBANG equals African-American music’. TAEYANG’s exciting second pioneering has proven his limitless potential.
Meanwhile, TAEYANG holds his first Japan solo tour “SOL JAPAN TOUR 2014” (tentative) on August 12. Beginning from two concerts at Grandcube Osaka, an international conference hall located in Osaka, he will continue the tour by holding concerts at Yokohama National University’s Fashihiko Hall on August 17 and 18, and at Fukuoka Sun Palace Hotel & Hall on August 23 and 24.
source: YG life via PlanetYB
This is a pretty ignorant article. Not going to call it racist, but pretty darn ignorant in reference to "african american music". by reading this i am getting the feeling that "african american music" is below other standards of music. let's not get into how the basic structure of "african american music" is the basis for popular music today.
ReplyDeleteif Sol was truly trying to "distance" himself from "african american music" then his album probs wouldnt have been #1 on the iTunes R&B charts. i mean let's break down the "R" and the "B" in R&B...Rhythm and Blues people! last time i checked, the blues sound was ALL about the emotional aspect of the song. so to say that adding emotion to a song, distances himself from "african american music", in fact is contrary to belief. adding emotion brings him closer to it.
Maybe we should try and listen to what musical experts have to say about his sound shall we???
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-town/6106421/bigbang-taeyang-solo-single-eyes-nose-lips-rise