Saturday 20 April 2013

[Single Review] Girl's Day- 'Expectation'

Firstly, I apologise for the long hiatus from posting. I have been so busy. I know Girl's Day had their goodbye stage already but I really wanted to share my opinions about this song.

The art of complete revolution involve little stages of gradual redevelopment, that ultimately culminate into something of a quality utterly different from another. A sudden change is not a revolution well-accepted as one is unable to be accustomed it, but one that reveals itself in little bursts actually make coherent sense. Girl's Day has had a recent transformation into a really sultry and mature image, which I personally have expected unlike many others. Most groups start out really cute and all and suddenly change gears to this hardcore dominatrix theme which no one seems to get. Girl's Day, with all their recent releases, have displayed the understanding of age and understanding of female psychology, thus their latest release does not actually shock me as much.

I stan for Girl's Day. None of their songs have had any faults and 'Twinkle Twinkle' is still a dance-pop masterpiece. Their videos and concepts are so out there (not as much as Crayon Pop, my ulti biases) but their sounds are simply infectious. 'Don't Forget Me' was brilliant and truly mature-sounding in its interpretation of innocent love, and it really signalled the beginning of this change that I was expecting Girl's Day to make.

Let's face it. We all expected 'Expectation' to come. Or at least something along the lines of it. It's deep and sexy, a motif that was hinted in their past couple of songs. Onto the frame analysis of it.

The intro with the cooing and almost marimbramic vibrations set the stage for the song. It has this upbeat rhythm going into the song, before being sucked away and plunged straight into the first verse. This shows complexity and introduces a new theme, the one of having something and letting go of it entirely only to get something back that is better. We have an awesome beat, but it gets taken away from us, before returning back to us in the first burst with an incredibly addictive Europop tribeca jive.

At the end of each line, the girls' breaths become apparent and high-pitched, adding a layer of feminity and vulnerability to the song and making it richer with emotion. Not to mention showing off their vocal chops.

The build-up before the chorus is the best I've heard in 2013 thus far. The whole backing track dissipates and we are left with this thumping bass groove and the girls' incredibly cogent voices. Their voices get louder and louder, and the backing track becomes more complex, adding riffs, then more drum beats then Nicki-Minaj-esque synths before climaxing.

Wait. Before the chorus, an important event takes place. Everything shuts down again and they repeat a single line. You know what I'm talking about. As the backing is sucked off, Hyeri sings out the line a second time, this time punctuated with greater emotion and leaving us in suspense. This act lasts only a fraction of a second and makes the chorus that much more explosive. About the chorus, I'm not really sure how to describe it. It is incredible, emotions reading high and channeling the sultry introduction only with greater pacing and feel. The rest of the song works perfectly well, pacing is excellent and there is this constant tone of pleading yet subtle empowerment.

The slow section is awesome too, as we feel that it sticks to the original emotional quality of the song only amplified by Minah's earnest vocals and the minimalistic backing. The backing track propels the song forward with its simplistic complexity.

Complexity should never be overly-complex. Girl's Day is a complex group, but their songs and goals are there for all to see and channel. They are direct to us and we relate to them. At least in my opinion. How could you not love them?