[Melon Magazine] Taeyeon - My Voice - The 1st Full Album Review

2017.03.07. Digital Queen's colorful return! Taeyeon who came back with a full album

 

 

It is Taeyeon who has built a career of 10 years since Girls' Generation's first single 'Into The New World' was released in 2007. During her solo activities, she has released OSTs and singles of every kind, which have ranked on all the charts, and so she was given the nickname "Digital Queen". Just like that nickname, she has glamorously returned. 

 

What is notable is that she is not doing any features or collaborations. In [My Voice - The 1st Album], she adds a trendy sensibility to her vocal skills, which have been built for 10 years, as a complete one main character. If you listen to the tropical house number 'Cover Up' and the trendy melody of the PBR&B track 'Lonely Night', you can see how much she has prepared the album to intelligently reflect the latest trends.

 

There is an uneasy feeling when you can't clear your mind after a break-up ('Fine'), but as expected, it is the aesthetics of the album which do not display an overall powerless break-up. Of course 'Time Lapse', which is composed and written by NELL's Kim Jongwan, chose sadness, but through the lyrics of 'When I Was Young' and 'Lonely Night', you can see how the speaker of the album recognizes the sadness of a break-up, does not get buried in it, and moves forward. I think it's a very great album even if it is approached emotionally.

 

In an era where the album's aesthetics have disappeared, I would like to give a round of applause to Taeyeon for releasing an album that contains track after track of wonderful music without giving attention to social conditions. Furthermore, it's a full-length album that is entirely sung by the protagonist! I wonder how far the digital queen will progress, I will support Taeyeon's musical growth in the future.

 

(c)

 

2017.03.09. - Weekly Choice: Second Week of March [Webzine Weiv]

Album of the Week! Taeyeon [My Voice] by Park Heeah

 

 

It is now possible to distinguish the moments of Taeyeon as idol group Girls' Generation's leader and solo singer Taeyeon. That is the point that is shown in the 1st full album [My Voice] which was released on February 28. At the same time, [My Voice] is a piece of work that shows how much a 10-year running idol group's main vocal, equipped with skills, can shine on stage and what makes her clearly different from the newly debuted rookies.

 

This full album has inspired a finer sense of completeness to the potential of a solo vocalist, which Taeyeon has shown us through the 2 previous mini albums. Taeyeon's previously released [I] and [Why] each contained music of different genres, [My Voice] is close to an extension of [I]. The title song 'Fine' uses instruments like guitars instead of rhythmically flashy electronic sounds and chooses the best method to make Taeyeon's voice stand out. The lyrics are focused on bluntly expressing the emotions of "Me(Taeyeon)" in reality as it does in 'I'.

 

 

If you've listened to the album, you may feel that the texture of Taeyeon's voice is somewhat different from the female singers who have been praised in Korea for "singing well". A voice that bursts out thinly, delicate and sensitive feelings that flow into a highly-strung mood rather than being powerful, and then, depending on the melody, in a moment it's cozy or it's an ego that comes out pitifully. This might be an unfamiliar stimulus for the public who award high scores to powerful vocals who overcome the rocking sound.

 

The atmosphere that Taeyeon coordinates is different for each song, but like in 'I Got Love', when a delicate voice turns into a husky tone, suddenly a seductive scene in a movie is portrayed. Once in awhile, Adele overlaps, and in some moments the image of Norah Jones in the gloomy and lonely 'Miriam' music video comes out. The proof that is evidence that Taeyeon has various characters as a singer is due to the fact that that figure reminds me of completely different foreign vocalists.

 

 

Meanwhile, SM Entertainment explained that the genre of the title song 'Fine' is "alternative pop". There isn't a clear definition of what "alternative pop" is in Korea or internationally. However, I think we can guess why they resolutely presented the term "alternative pop" to Taeyeon. Taeyeon walks a 'different road' in the Korean pop (K-pop) market. She wants to go beyond the limits as an idol musician and is hungry for a new world. On that path, she did not get lazy due to the accumulated years of experience. She's a singer who deserves to be greedy for a new position.

 

 

Written by: Park HeeAh

Translated by: Bee (@taengab)

Source: Melon Magazine