Younha’s “Subsonic”

Well everyone, the wait to Younha‘s special mini-album is totally and completely over, because here’s what I’ve been hyperventilating FIVE months for. Thankfully, my constant faith and ecstatic attitude paid off, for I’m now really enjoying Younha’s newest well-crafted pop masterpiece (or maybe that’s a slight exaggeration). Nevertheless, I love how she’s able to stretch her music creatively enough to give depth and nuance while sticking to her characteristic sound. This album definitely takes on far more hip-hop/electronic notes than Supersonic and Just Listen did, and I think it actually worked far better than I could have ever imagined. In a way, it harks back to Someday, but a tad more modernized.

Without further ado, here’s Subsonic:

Before you ask me why the album is starting in a funny place, I don’t think the video playlist is in order. It may start from “Subsonic,” (it doesn’t…) which by the way, is hands down the most epic song on the album. I admit that it’s slightly messy, but with everything going on that’s mindblowing, I think that little nuisance is merely that–a nuisance. “Subsonic” is fantastic not only for sounding awesome, but for sounding incredibly complex. The instrumental never stops developing across the entire song; there’s always a little bit of manipulation every time the verses come around, and with all of this development, it still manages to reach a superb climax. I could only imagine how fantastic this would sound on stage. My only complaint for “Subsonic” is that it ends with a whimper, but since the next best song (or best?) on the album, “시간을 믿었어,” follows, I kind of just gloss over that as well.

“시간을 믿었어” and “Home” are both products of Younha’s writing, and I’ve got to say, she killed it. The rest of her album is written by a Younha mainstay, Score. I love Score’s composition style, and it gels perfectly with Younha, but recently he/she’s been falling flat in terms of developing a song to a peak. His/her compositions from album to album have been flourishing when it comes to the developing a strong core melody, a commendable improvement; however, when the song is spliced together, I have difficulty following the momentum of the song, or finding a sense of complete catharsis. Score is certainly talented, so I can’t really fault what he/she does, yet I really want to see Younha’s presence increase in the album after hearing her self-compositions. Younha’s music writing skills are stellar, and I can’t see why she can’t play a bigger role in her own records. In fact, I’d love to see Score and Younha collaborate intensively in the next record. “The Real Reason We Broke Up” is one of my favorite songs of all time–why not have them collaborate again? I bet the results will turn the world upside-down. (Whether that’s a good or bad thing, I will leave the future to tell me…)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the album as much as I do, and maybe you’ll find yourself falling in love with Younha’s voice as much as I did when I first came across her voice. Subsonic is neither perfect nor something instantly captivating, but I do think it fits perfectly within the second coming of Younha’s discography (i.e. post-Lion Media). From that perspective, I would like to think Subsonic is yet another beautiful release from Younha.

(WeAlive)