Taeyeon - My Voice - The 1st Full Album Review by Kim Youngdae

 

Nowadays, the meaning of a vocalist has reduced because of the presence of people who compete for the sort of things like high notes and technique on survival type music variety shows. Especially when it is narrowed down to the female vocalist's category, vocalists are apt to be recognized for the same old cliche type of presence for singing drama OSTs or medium tempo ballads for the background music of everyday life, ruling out some exceptions like singer-songwriters who compete and make use of sex appeal or non-musical issues while having creativity or attitude in their lyrics.

 

In that sense, Taeyeon’s existence is special. She is one of the few singers who can convey the core meaning of music only with the attraction of her voice, without following what is mentioned above (which is typical of female singers). In no time, Girls’ Generation’s lead singer who was shyly singing <Can You Hear Me> has evolved into an omnidirectional vocalist undeterred by genre styles such as Pop, Rock, R&B, and EDM. It came a little late considering her past 10 years of work experience, but the first full-length regular album ‘My Voice’ in the literal sense of the title, is not a particular concept or an attempt at a musical experiment. Only the spectrum of the singer’s voice unfolds splendidly. From contemporary pop like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez to Indie pop like Ellie Goulding, beyond its technique, Taeyeon’s voice has acquired a universal appeal to popular music.

 

In addition, SM’s arrangement of multinational producers, which they boast about, is modern and sophisticated. The extremely, beautifully drawn out sensibility of loneliness in <Time Lapse>, and the mix of nasal tone and a nervous sharpness in sound that expresses catharsis (releasing strong or repressed emotions) in <Sweet Love>, her groove-laden elastic voice mixed with a feminine charm that is expressed in <Lonely Night>. It’s not just simple good pop music, it offers the satisfaction that you can feel only when you are listening to a singer who sings well. Even when compared to contemporary British or American pop music, beyond K-Pop, it attains enough power to compete with them.

 

 

Written by: Kim Youngdae (@toojazzy25)

Translated by: Bee (@taengab)

Source: Munhak Dongne 2017 Summer Edition