I have a soft spot for 15&. They are talented, and I am charmed by them. What makes me love this performance, is how Jimin came in on this song. Her little changes in phrasing, and interpretation. I liked her more than whatever the dude's name who did it with Ariana.
Yerin of course did her thing, but I really just want to give props to Jimin right now. My biggest thing with Jimin is that her intepretations tend to go two ways. When she was younger she would go balls out vocal glory. By that, I mean she was very high notes, big, drama vocally. But it felt like a lot. In her most recent covers it felt very...passive. Like she was not even trying musically. All her covers sounded nice, but compared to Yerin (who is a smarter/confident vocalist), I was really just not impressed.
In my mind, Jimin is still learning and growing (As is Yerin, but she seems like a step ahead as a singer), and this is a step in the right direction.
Anyway, I am going to say it. I am a fan of 15&. Despite them being 16, and me being 22 (gay male so there is no creepy desires going on), I like them. They are talented singers, and their music is cute. Going on two years soon, the group has released three singles prior to their first album, with little impact from them. However now, they are moving forward as a group, and an album has been bestowed to us.
I would describe the overall feel of this album as it is called...Sugary. It is mild pop, R&B, with some other influences here and there. Very pleasant, and fun. I think the album was done well enough, and the girls more than delivered on their part as the communicators of the music. I do think there are some things that could have been handled better of course, but before I get to that.
Last month, 15& returned with their pre-release single Can't Hide It. The spring time love song did well all things considered, and the duo did do a little promo for the song.
However they have decided to take the kiddie gloves off and are on their way to releasing their first album...Sugar.
Now JYPE has actually been trying with 15&. They have been on the radio show circuit, and a few variety shows.
However they now have a full album coming out soon.
So to catch you guys up...
15& made their comeback with Sugar.
I really want to hear the studio version (got to wait until tonight for that), however this gives us a good idea of what we are dealing with. I think the staging is a good idea, but it needs to be tightened up. First off there are a lot of people on one stage. Thankfully 15& are the focal point. The staging looks a little busy, which can get distracting. Also the girls look a lil flat performance wise, and while they sounded nice (and energetic), it seemed a little all over the place (trying to show off their vocals).
I like the concept of the performance, and it seems like they will do it justice. This may just be first performance jitters, and they will get better.
I know I said they would, as it was reported in April...however things have happened.
With the unfortunate Sewol Ferry incident, the Korean entertainment industry basically stopped out of respect. This hiatus, so to speak, lasted for about two weeks, and maybe a week or so ago, K Pop has been getting back into motion.
15& had just released their single, and I don't think even a day later, shit went down. As of now they have been promoting as much as possible, and in their last two rounds it was revealed an album was coming.
Once again, it had been reported earlier that they were indeed releasing an album in May, but things happened, and plans were more than likely changed. 2PM, a certified moneymaker of JYPE were pushed back to September for their return to K pop (however most of this is due to the fact that individual activities are taking up most of their time).
And with some sort of report having come out saying that 15& and Got7 were going to be active in June...I just assumed early June comeback. No one would blame them for pushing it back.
However come to find out...the album is coming in a week....actually like four days.
While the album title has not been dropped, the teaser for their comeback single Sugar has dropped.
The teaser does its job: it gives just enough to get an idea of what we are getting. The sound is obviously retro (however it is not a JYP production), and the video is going to play up on that. Also the song was created by the same person who did their previous singles I Dream and Somebody. These songs were not as received as they could have been, but overall positive reviews did come up.
They will be peforming Sugar on Inkygayo (May 25), and the video will drop the next day (May 26).
15& has returned with their latest digital single Can't Hide It. Released around 12 p.m. in Korean Standard Time, the single has done a good job, and has hit number one on quite a few charts (apparently they are close to an All-Kill). They have also taken to K Pop star 3, to perform their new single during the season finale. Also posted in the last post about them, a music video is on the way, with a large amount of teasers having been released (2 each for the duo, and then one combining all four).
And it is officially confirmed that they will be promoting the track on radio shows (schedule for them has been updated on their official site), and music shows (Inkigayo released their preview for next week as well).
All of this before they release their first album in a month's time.
Needless to say, 15& are about to be busy.
And to keep them busy they need a song to promote...and that is Can't Hide It.
15&'s new single Can't Hide It
Can't Hide It is essentially the song I could only imagine 15& and the like pulling off. It is very JYP (the producer). It is a positive, yet mellow love song with heavy R&B leanings. JYP usually does two types of R&B songs now, some that obviously have late to mid 80's to the 90's influence. But that I mean that some of his songs would work in the past, but translates decently enough to modern times. There are cases of songs where he (or the other in house producers) are able to make more modern music...or modern enough to have been relevant in the last decade or so.
Can't Hide It falls in the former category. The beat is very 90's and does not fit in with todays music (unless looking at older R&B singers).
This is not bad, insteads gives the song a lofty, mature feel. This is countered by the lyrics, which don't go all "first love...ooh innocent", but instead doesn't feel out of place for two teenage girls to say. Thank you JYP for actually being able to write something that doesn't feel too much. What really sales it though...
Jimin and Yerin.
I will admit I am a fan of them. They are a vocal based group, I live for singers. Jimin is a more competent voclaist on a technical level, however Yerin can handle a song with more wit than her group-mate. That does not mean I have not been wowed by Jimin. The girl has the voice, and the ability to express lovely, but she lacks in how to do it sometimes. She is not as confident as a singer as Yerin, who knows what and who she is right now. However I love Jimin in this song just as much.
15& individually approach this song differently. Jimin while the stronger voice, comes off more timid and almost whimsical. Yerin takes this on like a your average teen girl singing R&B. She sings wise beyond her years. Yerin's voice is less girly, with a more mature feel, and she has been listening to R&B since whenever she says, so her style is going to be more grown folk.
Despite the difference between the two (and the fact that Yerin appeals more to this song), both hold their own, and come together when needed.
The only thing I can actually say I was mad about...is the fact that the song ended too damn early. The song has two verses (with pre-choruses attached) and two verses, and at the end the girls are riffing and running until Jimin confesses she thinks she is in love. After she said that some harmonizing should have happened, and some big vocals on one last chorus. It's typical for a JYP promo single to lack in some area, but this is the first that focuses on vocals and it doesn't finish off. In most songs you get to the end and feel like there is no climax...here the set up for a climax was made...and it doesn't happen.
And that is really the only thing that just bothers me. Like such a good song, but a stronger ending would have made this song.
15& spent their first two years kind of waiting for this moment. Jimin was basically inserted into JYPE, and probably needed some sort of training, which makes sense as to why the group has not progressed (but Baek Ah Yeon has two minis under her belt). Now two years later, the group is on their way to trying to solidify themselves as a legit threat in the idol world. With a JYP produced track, they may just get that with this good song. Song: 4/5
Inkigayo preview:
2 year old, girl group 15& are returning after a year since their last comeback. This time they are legit doing their thing.
It all started a few days ago when JYPNation posted a teaser pic, with a date. JYPNation of course went wild. The obvious three that came up were: 2PM, the new girlgroup 6MIX, and 15&.
2PM had steadily been prepping for their return, with members talking about it (Wooyoung in an interview, and Nichkhun on twitter as examples), there are even pics of them on location for their video. So they had a lot going for them as the group this teaser was for.
Then there is 6Mix, the soon to debut girl group. With Wonder Girls temporarily out of commission, and it had been reported a showcase was happening for the group in April, it was assumed that JYPE would be moving along with the new girl group.
15& had the least going for them other than some things saying they would return within the first Quarter...which is over. There was also the fact that Yerin was in the practice room for JYP a lot, but she usually is there. However Jimin started posting in there as well, and Yerin even took a pic with some sound engineer dude...this meant something was happening, but when, and with the fact 2PM and 6Mix had more going for them...eh.
It was not until the next day that it was stated 15& would return April 13 around noon (for me...like three hours) with another digital single, titled I Can't Hide. It will debut at noon, video and all , and then they will perform it at K Pop Star.
Okay...so what makes this comeback special?
Well it was also said that the group would release their first album in May. Meaning that I Can't Hide is a pre-release.
Admittedly it is great that this is happening, and it feels like I should be yelling finally (I really like this lil group), but I thought about it...usually groups put out their first album a year or two after debut (this is assuming that 15& are not about to release a mini album instead), so they are on the right path, it's just that 2012 and 2013 were dry music wise. Usually you get a mini album not too far off from their debut...and we didn't.
But anyway, yay they are back...and I won't talk about a certain something.
Here is the teaser for their video (full teaser there are like four, two for each girl):
