Lee Hyori(이효리) - Black Album Thoughts(K-pop)

Track List:
01. Seoul (Feat. Killagramz)
02. Black *Title
03. White snake (Feat. Los)
04. Unknown track (Feat. Absint)
05. Love me (Feat. Killagramz)
06. 비야내려
07. Mute
08. 예쁘다
09. 변하지않는건 (Feat. Los)
10. 다이아몬드 (With 이적)
11. Seoul (Inst.)
12. Black (Inst.)

   Lee Hyori is a singer that was super popular back a few years ago. She was at the peak of her success when I was really getting into Korean music. Her name hasn't gotten too much mention recently unless you mean talks about who she's dating/married to or her looks. Black is Hyori's sixth album to date after years on hiatus.

   I didn't know that Lee Hyori was making comeback until I saw the music video for Seoul. The MV a beautiful visual view of nature landscapes that take the attention off of how weak the song actually sounds by itself. The best thing about Black is the production value. Producers of the album use sound samples from different sources. Sometimes it's instruments, then other times its a sound that was created by the producer themselves and placed in the song instrumental. Hyori's mature side shines in the tracks since the production of the tracks fits her mezzo soprano voice. These sounds are also something that no other female solo artists is doing at the moment. I was surprised that the album had such an artistic style to it though. She took a big risk going so far away from what she's known for which is being sexy. Love Me as a track, remind me of her older works but this track is far in between the other tracks that contain her new style. This track has a summer party pop grove for all those listeners that want to dance at a roof top pool party. The title track titled the same as the album, is a pop rock tune with electric and acoustic guitars merging together at the chorus of the song. Some of the drum playing makes the title track pack a punch during the song. Seoul is a nice dark ballad but the instrumental sounds better than Hyori's vocals themselves. Whoever picked the feature rappers such as Los, made a great choice since the rapping on Black is fire. I just wish that Lee Hyori's vocals were strong enough to bring the wood to light the fire……

   Which leads me to my next point. Lee Hyori showed no vocal growth whatsoever on this album. She was never a powerhouse singer to begin with but I though that she would show that she worked on bringing out a different color to what her voice can do. Instead she showed that her record label payed top notch producers to work on her album. From a production stand point, the album sounds amazing until you focus on Lee Hyori's vocals. A lot of the music in Hyori's career plays it safe when it comes to what kind of songs she sings. I've always felt that she was known more for her looks than her music. People always say, "She's so pretty!", or "Her dark skin is sexy." when talking about Lee Hyori. What about her music?  I like the tonality of her voice and she has had some catchy songs in her discography however, her singing is average to me. If she wasn't pretty on top of being in a group back in the day, People wouldn't have strong reasons to care about Lee Hyori in South Korea.

   Four out of twelve tracks were good tracks on Black for me. Most of the other tracks are Lee Hyori singing boring tracks that don't test her vocal range. Please prove me wrong as a fan in the future.