[Weekly Munhak Magazine] Taeyeon's Voice by Kim Youngdae

 

Munhak Dongne Weekly Magazine: Episode 8 - Taeyeon's Voice

By Kim Youngdae

 

Munhak Dongne (문학동네) is the most prestigious and largest literary publisher/magazine in Korea. Kim Youngdae is a well-known music critic who writes reviews on many platforms, and he is on the selection committee of the Korean Music Awards. He is currenly writing a 10-part series called 'The Idol-Artist Here and Now', where he picks 10 idols/artists and writes about their music. Episode 8 features Taeyeon.

 

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<Drawing Our Moments> is not a ballad, even though all the conditions required for excellent ballad music are met close to the maximum. This song is warm, but cold. It’s desperate, but light. Despite the heavy appeal, there’s a restrained sensibility that is not expressed plaintively. Overwhelming and beautiful emotions calmly and indifferently lead the melody and lyrics, sometimes with sincerity and sometimes with the falsettos. Taeyeon’s voice, which is not excessive and not lacking, crosses exquisitely and is not of the nature to be expressed with the limited words ‘Ballad Queen’. Then how about the title of ‘Diva’? Although it’s definitely an honorable title, it’s a shame that it still does not properly capture the innate charm of her voice. The high notes of <Drawing Our Moments> are beautiful, of course. How can we not recall the existence of divas who defined the eras when we hear a raging deeply rooted chorus that gradually heightens the tension? However, the true value of Taeyeon’s vocals is more easily found in the harmony with the tones of the calm middle or low notes and in the control of emotions, rather than in the series of powerful high-pitched notes which are considered exclusive to a diva. The indescribable and overwhelming feeling of love and nervousness when ‘I (speaker) wake up from the low sound of rain and look at you who is asleep deeper’ (Drawing Our Moments lyrics) is a lyric that cannot be embodied with just a calm-hearted everyday voice nor a forceful explosive voice that forces impression, or elaborate techniques that induce an exclamation. But Taeyeon clearly expresses that feeling perfectly. So this song is neither a trivial ballad nor a showcase song to show off the skills of divas.

 

Outstanding vocalists eventually fall into two categories. There are those who reign over music with superior techniques and vocal skills that ordinary singers can’t even imagine doing. And there are others who, although are not technically outstanding, can convey emotions with excellent sensibility and interpretation regardless of the genre of music. Taeyeon is equipped with advantages from both sides, but she’s a musician who has a characteristic charm which makes it hard to call her just an outstanding ‘singer’. I find it in artist Taeyeon’s voice, which has a wide musical spectrum and a compromising beauty that can digest it all. If you think of a word to describe her, how does ‘Voice’ sound? Taeyeon is a voice. It’s innocent, but runs smoothly enough. It’s rich but not cheesy. A voice that can move your heart without gripping onto it. Or it’s a voice that is more intuitively explained with one comprehensive and commonly used word - ‘Pop’.

 

Taeyeon’s vocals do not particularly ride a genre, nor are they heavily swayed by the temperature or the emotions of a song. However, she can dominate a song without exception. There are songs that highlight her strengths a little more, but there are also songs that point out her weaknesses more. But at the least, most of her best songs don’t resemble each other. As a vocalist, her charm is conveyed more easily and intuitively in the appealing music that is so naturally rich and powerful - the music that sometimes places emphasis on her sharp vocal tone, or in the large scale songs that are worthy of the so-called name of “grande songs”. But these songs are different from the emotional ballads that many people commonly expect from a diva. The bluesy charm of <Better Babe>, where she drew nearer with big strides and a grim expression and poured it all without hesitation, would be a fresh shock to those who knew her as a ballad singer. The same is true in <Sweet Love>, where she finally enjoys the joy of love found in the slightly excessive sharp tones that are like an ‘over-blowing’ brass instrument. But Taeyeon can also not sing prettily if the song needs it. Of course, her outstanding lyricism and unstoppable technique are steadily developing throughout her career from the slow numbers (commonly referred to as ‘ballads’). As you can sense from the excellent singing in <Gravity>, which is reminiscent of black gospel, Taeyeon is a singer who can most dramatically implement what the song wants based on flawless techniques. She’s a sophisticated, sensible vocalist who can persuasively unravel the soulful sensibility that’s latent in a song.

 

The songs mentioned so far will surely be enough to call her a vocalist who can fight for the top in the K-POP scene. But what I’m paying attention to is her voice that gives off its full potential in ‘small’ songs that convey more delicate and lyrical sentiments. The b-side <Lonely Night> from the 1st full album <My Voice>, which safe to say is K-POP’s best vocal pop album, is a song that allows you to fully appreciate her vocal ability, which skillfully rides on the lightly flowing grooves and is sung as a pop melody, skillfully and elegantly like an American pop singer, >without a popular music cliché. The b-side <City Love> from the 2nd full album <Purpose> also expresses the speciality of her vocals in the least special way. Together with the minimal change in tone that’s not flashy, this song confirms that she is a rare vocalist who skillfully expresses urban sophistication without the distinctive high-pitched sound of K-POP. The title track of her 3rd mini album <Something New> is an underrated masterpiece that allows you to feel the deep alluring R&B vocals with Taeyeon's textured low notes and falsettos in the grooves of the heavy Neo-Soul.

 

<This Christmas - Winter is Coming>, which is too unfortunate to just simply be regarded as a seasonal album, is a masterpiece that shines most beautifully with the variety and abundance of Taeyeon’s vocals. <The Magic of Christmas Time>, which is colored with musical sensibility, or the essence of a classical ballad accompanied by a grand formation in <This Christmas>, I can say that the beauty and glamour that I feel in the songs are definitely her own. But there are separate hidden jewels. The beautiful ensemble with the jazz guitar and the elegant ad-libs in the second half of <Christmas Without You>, and <I’m all ears>, which I’d like to call a heartrending refinement, bear some kind of peculiar fragility and delicacy that’s difficult to find in other same-age idol vocalists or even diva-level vocalists. It shows that she can go back and forth from the driest level of emotion to the most dramatic level easily, without yelling or excessively making flips and turns with her voice. Although the popularity of songs are not completely ruled out, this is the reason why the modernity of extremely smoothly-running pop music can be easily matched to her voice regardless of any genre or style.

 

In her latest work <What Do I Call You>, Taeyeon seems to be more focused on her natural voice than ever before. If her album <My Voice> three years ago was work that newly discovered the voice of singer Taeyeon in various ways, and if <Purpose> had expanded that capability in full bloom in a more daring way, then <What Do I Call You> gives you the feeling that she has entered a realm where she trusts her voice and shares the story of the music comfortably. This has already been seen in her previous work <Dear Me>, but it’s also seen again in the title song <What Do I Call You>. The simple acoustic arrangement and minimal composition, which at first glance may make you feel bored, are the key directions of this album. The choice of warm, retro, and concise sounds in <Playlist> seem to mean confidence in Taeyeon’s voice. And what about the confidence in <To the Moon>, that doesn’t have to be proved, and the proficiency in elegantly expressing the natural melody and groove of music as they are? Even in the running <Wildfire>, I don’t feel that drive of motivation that’s full of confidence like in the past work <I>. With just as much strength needed, the sense of musical contrast and dynamics (the volume of music) alone simply and successfully describe the feeling of loveliness spreading like a “wildfire”. And <Galaxy>. In a simple composition led by an acoustic guitar and piano without any decorations, Taeyeon’s voice sounds simple, but it skillfully scatters difficult passages that require very delicate sound processing.

 

Come to think of it, it’s been more than a decade. In no time, Taeyeon, a fresh young ballad singer who sang <If> and <Can You Hear Me> with an unbelievably mature sensibility for her age, has gone beyond the regulation of a ‘diva’ which represents the idol music scene. It’s a shame for her to be confined to any expression, but she is evolving into a true omnidirectional vocalist who can be explained in any way. And a growth like hers alone has given Korean pop music another reliable and valuable voice.

 

Source: Weekly Munhak

Translated by bee (@taengab)