[music Album Review] Winner - 2014 S/s (2014)

[music Album Review] Winner - 2014 S/s (2014) A Pink,Album,Bomi,Chorong,Eunji,Hayoung,Kpop,Naeun,Namjoo,Secret Garden [music Album Review] Winner - 2014 S/s (2014)

It takes eight years for YG Entertainment to debut another boy group after Big Bang debut in 2006. On August 12^th 2014, they finally debuted a new boy group called WINNER. WINNER released its debut album called 2014 S/S album with its two title tracks, Empty and Color Ring.

WINNER first introduced on YG Entertainment’s reality show competition called WIN that aired in 2013. Originally named as Team A, this five members boy group had to compete with another team, Team B, to debut. Just like what we already know, Team A won this competition based on public votes and changed their name into WINNER. The boys also starred on a reality show called WINNER TV before they debuted.
I was really anticipating WINNER debut despite not watching their reality show and having little information about them. I was really intrigued by their simple, yet artsy teasers and debut concept. Beside, the fact that YG dubbed them to be different from Big Bang made me curious too.
So, when I finally hear their debut album, I must say I am satisfied with it. Want to know why? Just read my review below.

WINNER opens their debut album with their first title track, Empty. Short story about this song first, this track already caused mixed reactions from fans before its release. It was because the song composed by B.I. and Bobby, who are the leader and rapper from Team B. Some fans have been complained that YG gives B.I. and Bobby too much spotlight compared to WINNER, who actually won their competition.
But those fans must have take back their anger again now because Empty proved to be a beautiful song. It is a slow pop/R&B song, which dominated by acoustic guitar along with R&B beat. It is very catchy too, especially the “daradadadada” part.
Empty also able to showcase each members vocal and rap characteristics, which is a good thing for a debut track. You will notice Minho heavy rap voice, Seunghoon light rap voice, Jinwoo and Taehyun soothing voice (although sometimes I still find it hard to differentiate their voice), and Seungyoon raspy voice, which I think shines the most in this song.
I also love how each rap and vocal part able to complement each other, especially during the exchange part. Rather than sounds disjointed, it sounds lovely and flows nicely. It also prevents the song to become boring despite the similar beat throughout the song.
As for the music video, it is beautiful too. I love the tone color of the music video, which is soft blue. It shows the vulnerability and fragile aspect of this song. I also love the usage of various settings from bedroom, station, cinema even laundry. The music video represents the song theme well too. The song talks about how the boys’ live feel empty without their girlfriend. Throughout the music video, the boys always alone and looks sad. My favorite part would be Jinwoo’s cinema scene. It’s done beautifully and able to affect people’s mood.

The second song, Color Ring, is also the title track of this album. For this song, Seungyoon takes part in the composition. Color Ring opened with gorgeous piano line followed by guitar sound. Unlike Empty that still has R&B vibe on it, Color Ring is more into slow pop-rock territory.
Color Ring is a title track material. The song is catchy and easy to remember, especially the chorus part. You will sing along with this song after listening to it. However, there is a main problem with this type of song. The strongest point would be its catchiness and there is nothing else to look at beside that.
Color Ring almost falls into that category, but thanks to the rap part, the song is safe from that. Seunghoon and Minho rap part gives extra punch to the song and keeps this song away to be a boring song. Once again, WINNER continues to show how the vocal and rap part could complement each other well.
As for the music video, it could convey the song message well. Color Ring tells a story about a boy who is still longing for his girlfriend eventhough they already broke up. On the music video, the longing itself represented through the phone; how each member holds his phone almost at the entire music video. It is like they are waiting for the girlfriend call, which apparently relates with its lyrics that said, “I’d rather hear your voice than this song”. Wow…I love when they relate music video with the lyrics even if it is on the small details!
Color Ring music video still maintains the gloomy tone just like in Empty music video. However, they use bold color tone this time such as dark green and brown that more suitable with the song theme, which are longing and regret. The setting also more focuses on area that people spend their daily life such as apartment and street.

Don’t Flirt

After going on angst mode on the first two tracks, WINNER shows their playful side through Don’t Flirt, the third track. I love this song since the first time I listen to it. It is a catchy song with fun beat. You will constantly sing along to this song especially the “o o o o” part.
Don’t Flirt reminds me so much with G-Dragon’s Who You, which apparently also one of my favorites from his last year’s album. The piano line for this song gives the similar old school and playful vibe. Beside that, the clapping part gives similar vibe too. But the different thing between this two songs are Who You is more into pop song while Don’t Flirt gives out more reggae vibe through its guitar and bass sound.
As for the vocal, I love how they give Jinwoo time to shine through this song. His “nasally” voice sounds really suitable for this type of song. Meanwhile for the lyrics, it is really honest, yet funny at the same time. Poor boys got frustrated because their girlfriend kept lying and flirting with other guys.

I’m Him (Minho Solo)

For those of you who miss YG hip hop/rap song with full of confidence lyrics, you will like listening to I’m Him, which is a solo song from Minho. I’m Him is like the male counterpart of 2NE1 CL’s Mental Breakdown(MTBD). The strong, yet simple beat gives the similar vibe like MTBD. It is not really surprising since Teddy also produced this song.
Since the music and beat is simple, I’m Him able to let Minho’s rap shine. Minho is a former underground rapper along with Block B’s Zico, P.O., and Kyung, so it is not really surprising to hear how good his rap is. But what makes me impressed is his talent in writing lyrics. I’m Him still talked about bragging himself, but the lyrics are not commonly used in other rap song that I often heard. It is creative, but still making sense. It really shows how wide Minho’s vocabulary of words is, which I think is important for a rapper. Promising debut from him and I’m looking forward for his next hip-hop track.

Love is a Lie

The fifth track, Love is a Lie, is Minho and Seungyoon composition. It is another post-break up song where the boy still wants to be with his girlfriend. But this time, WINNER plays out with electronic/euro dance genre. Although this song heavily dominated by electronic sound, itdoes not sound too noisy. It still brings out the calming vibe through their vocal and simple piano instruments, which makes it pleasant to ear. Beside that, Love is a Lie is very catchy too. The “Love is a lie” part is addictive; you will constantly singing along through it.
My biggest problem with this song would be how it sounds too similar to Big Bang usual electronic songs. You could easily imagine Big Bang sing this song, even if you close your eyes while listening to it, you could mistaken this as Big Bang song. I think WINNER needs to work out more on this type of song to differentiate them with their senior.

Confession (Taehyun Solo)

Another member solo song on the sixth track. It is maknae Taehyun time to shine through his self-composed song called Confession. It is a sweet ballad song which dominated by piano and string sound. It is quite standard formula for ballad song. However, Confession is more than that.
The strongest point of this song is Taehyun vocal. He played out his vocal and emotion well on this song. It sounds really sincere and soothing. I can tell how much he loves the girl, which is the main theme of this song, only by hearing his voice. This is a plus point that you will get if you composed your own song; you will able to maximize your strength.

But

We go back to another pop/rock/R&B influenced song along with its post break up lyrics on the seventh track, But. This track also composed by Taehyun. WINNER goes full band on this song with electric guitar, drum, and bass sound. I love this song since the first time I heard it. But is very relaxing and smooth to ear.
But also continue to show WINNER strongest point, which are pop/rock/R&B mid tempo song along with the exchange between rap and vocal part.

Different

The next track, Different, gives out hip-hop/R&B vibe through its beat. This song composed by Minho and Seungyoon. Eventhough it is hip-hop R&B influenced track, there is still pop rock aspect on this song through its acoustic guitar line, which I really love.
Different is another ear-catchy song from WINNER. The song flows smoothly. Meanwhile, the chorus is easy to remember. Also, both the rap and vocal part once again able to complement each other.
Different still has sad lyrics, which about a guy who wants the girl to stop loving him since he always hurt her. However, it gives out different vibe. Compared to the previous tracks, which sounds more vulnerable, Different brings out their anger and frustration sid, especially through Minho and Seunghoon rap. It sounds tougher, yet emotional.

Tonight

Tonight is the third Taehyun’s composition on this album, which also another post break up song on this album. This song sounds familiar to fans since Taehyun already showed it to Yang Hyun Suk on one of WINNER TV episodes. But, he made it as his solo.
Tonight screams out classic R&B song with its simple beat and minimalist sound. It also mixes with electronic sound and saxophone sound during the ending chorus. I always love when there is saxophone sound on a song. It makes the song sounds more unique. Unfortunately, they cannot maximize the usage of saxophone on this song, so it does not add anything new to the song.
Tonight is nice and easy to listen, but unfortunately, there is nothing stands out from this song. It only becomes another typical R&B song.

Smile Again

We finally come to the last track of this album, another Minho and Seungyoon composition called Smile Again. This song brought back memories from fans since they composed and performed this song during WIN competition. However, the album version arrangement is quite different from the original arrangement. It sounds more polished.
Smile Again is another electronic/euro dance inspired track just like Love is a Lie. While Love is a Lie able to mash the song elements well, Smile Again still sound disjointed between the vocal and rap part. Beside that, I also feel that this song is still lack of punch.
On the positive side, I love the lyrical theme of this song. It asks people to stop being sad and smile again. This is very refreshing after having angst mode almost throughout the whole album. I think it is a great thing that this song being put at the last track. It pumps up people spirit again.

2014 S/S album is a pleasant surprise from WINNER. It is a solid album with beautiful songs and lyrics. The genre is not necessarily fresh, but it is fresh among K-Pop boy groups nowadays.
I also like how four members participated in the production process for each song (too bad Jinwoo did not participate, hopefully he will participate more on the next album J). It affects a lot on how they present the song. Beside that, the members seem to already found their signature style in composition. Minho and Seungyoon is more into pop/rock/R&B/hip-hop sound while Taehyun is more into pop/R&B/ballad. It is a great thing if they already found their own style and hopefully, they could explore it more in the future.
Most importantly, with 2014 S/S album, WINNER reminds us again that K-Pop music does not always mean upbeat song with noisy sounds and confidence lyrics. The slow tempo song with minimalist sound and vulnerable lyrics is a part of K-Pop too.
There are still many things that they need to improve, but overall, it is promising debut from WINNER. I will definitely keep an eye on them.


My Favorite Tracks : Empty, Color Ring, Don’t Flirt, I’m Him, Confession, But, DifferentRating : 4/5

Posted by Hodie J