[Song & MV Review] Eric Nam and Wendy - 'Spring Love'

AKP STAFF

ERIC NAM & WENDY - "SPRING LOVE"

TV host and singer Eric Nam has teamed up with Wendy of Red Velvet fame and dropped the new single "Spring Love." This is hardly the first collaboration for either of them. Nam has worked with Hoya of INFINITE, Park Ji Min of 15&, and Amber of f(x). Wendy partnered with rapper Yuk Jidam for the 'Who Are You: School 2015 OST.' "Spring Love" is the 4th track created for SM Entertainment's digital music channel SM Station.

The tune itself is a mid-tempo, soft-rock song, done to a lively strummed acoustic guitar. Initially spare, the song soon gains momentum with a pounding beat and is joined by a purposeful muffled piano riff. It's a winning combo for the melody, as it gives you enough variation to keep you engaged, but of course, the vocals do a fine job as well.

Nam's vocals are very high, nearly countertenor range, but they mesh well with Wendy's sweet voice. They're both pretty good singers, and I like the way they harmonize. There's no shortage of those harmonies here, but it works extremely well because of the boyfriend-girlfriend theme in the lyrics.

The lyrics tell a story; first, they introduce themselves, then tell their story about how they grew up together, how he wasn't surprised when she started wearing skirts and makeup, and neither of them can tell when things changed and love began to bloom. Not entirely original, but fun, catchy, and undeniably enjoyable.

MV REVIEW

Eric Nam and Wendy play young lovers in this upbeat MV. At an amusement park, they go on rides, eat festival food, run hand-in-hand, and do the things that you'd expect a couple to do on a cloudy spring day.

The acting is pretty good. The cameraman captured some great moments, and they feel real, even though they were staged. There's some classic bits where the guy with the camera (presumable Eric Nam's character) tries to get some shots of just Wendy, who turns shy and demure. The scenes with them laughing together are priceless -- they look as if they're having the time of their lives.

The MV is intended to resemble old home movies, back in the days when those precious moments were captured on film, with the imperfections and vertical lines created to mimic the scratches, scrapes and dust motes that damage celluloid. Also, the crisp focus of digital cameras is also absent. The camera jerks and bounces around, and scenes are occasionally fuzzy and out of focus. It's a nice effect, and very convincing. Overall, it's very pleasant. Wendy and Eric are dressed for the weather, and everything looks authentic. The home movie angle has been used before, but this is a pretty good stab at it. Thumbs up.