N.FLYING - 'AWESOME'
Tracklist:
1. One N Only
2. Awesome
3. Heartbreak
4. All in
5. 1 Minute
FNC's first new band in three years, N.Flying, follows in the footsteps of CNBLUE and F.T Island with their new mini-album. Although they'd been active in Japan with indie singles and performances, 'Awesome' is their Korean debut EP. You may have already seen and heard leader Seunghyub (under the pseudonym J.Don) with AOA's Jimin, teaming up for the single "God."
Rapid-fire raps characterize "One N Only," and the effect is awesome. While the English is a bit fail ("Star Baby" sounds like "Step-baby") it doesn't mar an otherwise kickin' track.
Honestly, I'm not all that thrilled with "Awesome." Of all the tracks on here, it simply sounds awkward. Maybe it's supposed to, given that it's about how a girl drives the guy crazy. I often disagree with the decisions of which tracks to use as singles anyway, and this is one more example. It grew on me after a bit, but there are much finer jams on this baby.
On "Heartbreak," a hip-hop ballad, all the elements fuse together and click. I love the heartfelt singing and the powerful raps that carry this song forward. While I'm not much for a sensitive side, I definitely dig this track.
"All In" takes a rock track and marries rap to it. While autotune can be abused, this is one the exceptions. We've heard them sing so we know they can. The use of autotune on this track gives it a certain techno feel to it, reminding me of T-Pain or Daft Punk, and it works. The boys want to remind us how determined they are on this track.
"1 Minute" is a soft-rock gem, smooth and heartfelt vocals combining with some seriously sick raps. It has a palpable kinetic energy that makes it pop. It doesn't spend too much time on the actual melody and instead launches almost immediately into rap with the softer interludes coming in occasionally to remind you.
There are a ton of hip-hop groups these days debuting as either sub-units or full-blown bands. While it's a good thing for hip-hop fans, is it too much of a good thing? When producers found "the next big thing" in Western music, they over-saturated the market with it until it became stale and overproduced, like hair bands in the 80's and disco before it -- and practitioners of those art forms became virtually pariahs as the next big thing was introduced. I don't want this to happen to any band.
N.Flying's debut doesn't sample or borrow from other artists, nor are there any guest stars on here. Apparently FNC was comfortable enough with them to give the boys their own spotlight, and they bask in it well. Not only do we have a killer addition to my playlist, but we have another artist to watch. I can't wait to see where they go from here.
MV REVIEW
If there was ever a girl to drive a guy crazy with how good she looks, it's Seolhyun of AOA. And that's exactly what's going on as Seunghyub does what he can to catch the hot barista's eye.
He tries to sweet talk her, which does nothing. So he sends her a text message, using a rather large screen and a supercomputer. Yeah...never needed to do that.
And then there's a strange subplot where apparently they are just random fans, and the group that's playing in a box is the group they're rocking out to on the outside of the box. They dance and jump as the lights from the box play over their faces.
Of course, if you have to put your boy band in a box, do it right:
The MV is all over the place, switching from drama to performance at lightspeed. This doesn't make it a bad thing, though, as Seolhyun is definitely watchable. It hardly makes any sense, as the elements don't come together to form a coherent narrative, but does that really matter? It's a very dreamlike stream of consciousness, and it straddles that line between story and performance that helps keep my attention. Even though the booty shorts could hardly help her do her job. :)
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