[MV & Album Review] Jessica - 'Wonderland'

The beautiful Jessica�is taking a break from her fashion line to comeback to the K-Pop scene once again! This time she is going all out with her promotional track "Wonderland" off her album of the same name.

Tracklist:

1. Wonderland

2. Dancing on The Moon

3. Celebrate

4. World of Dreams

5. Beautiful

6. Tonight
�

Jessica's new track "Wonderland" has a somewhat tribal sound fused with today's various club-like beats and EDM influences. The song shifts between a lot of highs and lows that enhance Jessica's soft vocals, as she tends to sing rather delicately throughout the song. Check out her charming vocals in the MV below!

The mid-tempo song is soothing and creates a tranquil atmosphere. "Wonderland" offers more of a unique sound in comparison to "Fly" in the sense that it is not so tame and does not lack excitement. However, "Wonderland" is not as attention-grabbing as some may have expected it to be because the song simply lacks an addicting hook and chorus.

Jessica is absolutely gorgeous, stunning and captivating in many ways but unfortunately, her song's lyrics and MV weren't cutting it. The MV utilized a lot of nice effects, beautiful landscapes, and eye-catching imagery but I felt it didn't tell much of a story - it simply brought a vision to the "wonderland" the song was describing. I yearned for something more.

Similar to her previous release "Fly," the "Wonderland" MV seemed to be rather expensive-looking more than fully relevant. Jessica is simply wearing her designer brands (which she looks absolutely ravishing in) and gazing into the camera, and it doesn't get much different from that. Her dance�moves still look rather basic, and filming appears a bit low-budget during those moments, as well.

Lyrically, "Wonderland" describes a feeling that is to your liking:�"Like sitting on a cloud in the purple colored skies," and,�"Can you imagine, my earnest heart?" The lyrics portray that love is an overwhelming sensation that is 100% our style but listeners can expect the lyrics to be written rather repetitively.

The song loses its elegant wording after the first refrain and begins to match the MV - going nowhere story-wise. While it is easy on the ears and fun to sing along to, it is like another pop song that has very little substance to it.

Keeping to her whimsical theme, Jessica's album 'Wonderland' opens up nicely and has a wonderful collection of melodies. "Dancing on The Moon" is cheery, upbeat and has an obviously recognizable beat that was recycled from an American club banger.

The song is similar to "Wonderland" in the sense that it is smooth, mid-tempo and showcases her gentle vocals again. It doesn't have as much pizazz as "Wonderland" but it makes a great transition into her other addicting tracks.

"Celebrate" has a real fun and funky vibe as it consists of synthetic whistling tones with a steady but fast electric guitar strumming. Jessica seems to utilize and incorporate a lot of English phrases into her songs such as "I'll show you how to rock" and "Come celebrate your happiness."

"Celebrate" has a lot more usage of English lyrics in comparison to her other songs which will make it more enjoyable to sing along to for non-Korean speakers. "Celebrate" is an effortlessly fun dance track that has no confusing, overdone beats and instrumental additions which makes it a personal favorite on the album.

"World of Dreams" is another song that utilizes a fun, synthetic melody alongside a simplistic instrumental. Singing like an angel, Jessica has such an enchanting voice in this song. The use of the synthetic echoing sounds, shimmering effects, and playful tunes from the xylophone makes "World of Dreams" magical and mystical all at once. This track is, without a doubt, the game changer!

I feel if Jessica carried this theme throughout the rest of her album and promotional songs, the album would have had a stronger impact collectively rather than staying great pieces individually.

After all the fairytale magic comes to a close, the strong, upbeat sounds make a return in "Beautiful." Similar to Robyn's "Dancing on My Own," "Beautiful" utilizes a live band instrumental against a rough and edgy vibrating sound alongside other synthetic tones.

Sadly, the song didn't capture much of my interest and seemed very easy to skip over - especially after being treated to such life-giving tracks like "Celebrate." "Beautiful" has its own unique sound that is different from all the other tracks, but uniformity would have been a better approach for this album.

Lastly, comes the sweet and airy ballad "Tonight." With a great live band sound that offers an acoustic feeling, "Tonight" carries out the angelic feeling you get from listening to tracks like "World of Dreams" - without being so heavily synthesized! The song is sweet like honey and carries over Jessica's galactic theme as she sings about the "moon" and "beautiful, bright starlight." "Tonight" ends the album nicely and leaves listeners with a happy heart and mind.

In the end, Jessica's album was well-constructed but suffered from a few ups and downs. Personally, "Wonderland" was a bit of a miss and not worth promoting in comparison to her other tracks. Although Jessica keeps to the trends with an attention-grabbing beat and eye-candy MV, ballads like "Tonight" or more whimsical songs such as "World of Dreams" would have made for a real refreshing promotional period. The album sadly lacks uniformity but has enough variety that you can enjoy more than her previous solo work.

SCORE:

MV Production.......7
MV Concept............7
MV Relevance........7

Album Production..7

Album Concept.......7
Tracklisting..............8