Jarod: Oh yeah...
Action movie harmonies, we love it.
[Rossini's Semiramide Overture playing]
Umu: Alright, Everglow, are you guys ready to wake up?
Raffi: Yeah!
Umu: Well, Everglow is here to pump you up at...
6 PM
You are now reacting to the girl group Everglow
and their 2021 song called 'First'.
The description of this music video writes:
Finally
the wait is over after an 8 month hiatus
the six warriors return to their third single 'Last Melody', this alb-
but this is like their fourth title track?
Kevin: Right.
Umu: Fifth? Fourth?
Kevin: I think their - ah, I don't know. Umu: But- cuz- okay. Fifth.
Umu: Fifth.
Kevin: *Sings 'Adios'*
Umu: Speaking of 'Adios',
it is time for your computer to say adios to hackers and malware
because this video is sponsored by Nord VPN,
more on Nord VPN in just a few moments.
So the title track 'First' contains the spirit of
proudly confronting the darkness
and opening the beginning of a new world
in search of light and hope.
Through this album they hope to redefine beauty
with more powerful performances and charisma.
The lyrics of 'First' describe
that darkness has taken over the world
while the girls are confident to step forward
and win the battle, no matter what.
The song is composed by Hayley Aitken, Olof Lindskog,
Umu: Gaving Jones, 72, and... Henry: 72~
Jarod: Trying to be light in a universe of chaos and darkness. Umu: ...Ollipop [→Olof Lindskog]
Jarod: K-pop cinematic universe! (Umu: Yeah...)
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Now back to our reaction, cue the countdown.
Henry: Third, Second, First!
Charlotte: Oh!
Sam: Oh my gosh, that's loud! Raffi: Ooooh?
Jory: Bane mask?
Jarod: Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask.
Daniel: #COVID19 Jarod: Batman!
Ju Young: Big Dipper!
Raffi: Hey orchestra!
Daniel: What was she doing?
Was she telling me to come or to sit?
Daniel: Just kidding... Umu: HAHA-
Henry: A little crescendo.
Umu: I think it was a piano!
Raffi: Muffled?
Owen: This sounds like a mocking melody.
It's like "~ha ha ha~",
on a playground,
making fun of your friend,
in a game of tag.
Scotch snap!
Henry: Oh, that was cool.
Jory: Oh, I like that synth.
Jason: That octave thing is nice,
just completely sliding in and out,
especially when there was a bit of silence
and rhythmic difference.
That was cool.
Jarod: We got that little orchestra in the background right now.
Raffi: Very percussive too, driving quarter notes.
Daniel: Ooooo~ Outfit change, alright.
Henry: Yeah!
Jason: Those are- that's really cool outfits and color and scenery.
Sam: It also just sounds enormous.
Like the scale of this song just sounds like crazy.
Jarod: Oh yeah!
Action movie harmonies, we love it.
Charlotte: Oh nice. Jarod: This is a nice contour.
Jarod: Rhythmic gravity right there!
Raffi: Ooooh.
Kevin: And the ♭2 gets reintroduced-
Kevin & Ju Young: Woah!
Will & Jason: That was cool.
Will: There is some crazy pitch shifting going on,
on that little background synth thing.
Jory: This is such a bass heavy song.
Daniel: Wow they really, like, it's just super like-
Henry: Yeeaaahhh~
Daniel: You know it's all like,
I think it's all minor i right now, but the way that they're...
it sounds like... not stale at all.
Daniel: I love how it goes up when they're talking about the light in the world, the line.
Kevin: It's almost like a power ballad but with no rock band.
Because of the chord progression.
Will: Oh, that's nice.
Jory: Pretty cool.
Will: Aw, I wanted it to do it again.
Charlotte: Ooooh
Henry: Hm, an extra bar.
Charlotte: Very nicely done.
Henry: Yeah, that hit hard.
Both singing: Nanananana~
Henry: That was, yeah...
Sam: I feel like the song is just like...
it's like a roller coaster
but instead of ups and downs it's just like one large up.
Henry: Oooooooh yes, a dance break!
Ju Young: Ah! Ah!
Jory: Wohoa!
Charlotte: Yeeaaah!
Jory: It sounds like a bagpipe.
Charlotte: Get it, ladies!
Daniel: Mmmm~
Henry: Fresh!
Daniel: Oh, was that google?
Just kidding-
Umu: Did you have a favorite instrumental of this song?
Or a favorite part?
*clang* Jarod: Um...
Jarod: Yes. Yes. Yes. Umu: Or was it just like the whole experience.
Jarod: Yes and yes.
Umu: Okay. Give me more deets. Jarod: Yes and yes...
Jarod: You want more deets? Umu: Gimme deets.
Jarod: I guess that's what the channel is about, right?
Daniel: Yeah!
Jarod: I really liked their use of what I would call "rhythmic gravity"
you know, whenever they're about to splash into a new scene
you got that little,
*Wooo*, the *Woooo - Bpchhh!!* (Umu: Okay)
and this is what I do remember from music theory,
they call it rhythmic gravity,
how to always drive, you can drive into the next bar, into the next sequence, into the next whatever,
because you're like literally feeling the *ddung*
and then that drop, that hit, that's when you talk about the b-
like in every song how it has like the big drop
and how everyone's like: *Holding breath...*
*BBOOM!!!* You know, it's like big rhythmic gravity,
but I really like their use of that here because it's like, they use it-
obviously I wouldn't say there's like a HUGE drop,
but there's a lot micro-drops and trans-
you know, it's a transitional motif that they use.
Umu: Alright, I'm curious,
as producers, you tend to listen to listen to harmony that adds color and emotion,
how was this song experience for you?
Jory: It's pretty cool.
Honestly, I was listening more to the sounds of the synths
rather then on the harmonies, but
I though the bass was like actually a really nice sound
but it was like really present, like if you like-
it's not usually mixed that loud.
But that means when it drops out,
like in the pre-choruses and stuff,
you can really feel like the emptiness,
it's like really effective, I think.
Sam: I guess I can talk about the percussion
because that's what drew me in
and more of the instrumental choices.
I don't know why
but when I heard the kick that they use in the percussion -
how do I go back?
It just had like a bigness to it,
it was, it just sounded like you drop like a stone or something like that,
which is really crazy
because I think for like a lot of trap instrumentation it can sound really flat
but there were like levels, there were like layers,
and it was very textured as to how they created it,
especially when you listen to the buildup section.
Uh...
Where is it?
Not here...
Although I love that effect with the arrow,
that was frickin' sweet!
Sam: Yeah okay, here!
Sam: It's really interesting because the kick and the snare,
they have a very similar like quality where the high frequencies sound very similar,
but in the kick there is like an element of low frequency
whereas with the snare, because its attack is really high,
there's not gonna be any low frequency at all
but if you listen to like the *imitates percussion*
it sounds like it's kick and snare - yeah. (Umu: At the same time?)
And then when you go into the chorus,
it's kick, snare, and there is a clap
which is kind of building off of that
yet not necessarily having any timbreal differences.
It adds a whole nother texture to the sound that's being created
and it just makes it the- it expands it.
Will: Sonically, everything is great.
Sound design, very cool.
That's something that is pretty consistent through,
especially these more dancy, kinda like modal, you know,
where it's just like kinda one chord thing and just like a beat
and then lots of dancing in the music video.
They would do like a stomp
and then there would be like a *woosh*, you know, kind of cool effect
and it's like, "Wow, that sounded sick!"
I found myself a little bit...
like kind of tuning out
cuz I don't know, you hear the same little synth thing ten times in a row and it's like "okay..."
but then they change it sometimes and it's like "Oh!"
Jory: Yeah, like in that second verse where everything was just like kind of like, it felt like,
Idk, it sounded like the keyboard was like auto-tuned, somehow...
Will: Yeah, they took that synth thing and like pitched it,
it was like pitched down an octave for a little bit,
and then kind of pit-
the pitch was going all kinda around, there was some out notes in there, too, (Jory: They're just kind of bounced all over, it was really sick.)
We're used to this line that's just *vocalizes*
but then you hear it go *sings modified version*
you know, kind of like goes around, it's like "Oh, oh, cool."
Owen: I do think that one part that made it a lot more
was that bell section, where they had sort of the Gamelan bells in the background.
I'm not sure if they were actually Gamelan bells
or just sort of, that sort of sound,
but they're playing in the upper register
and using those timbres too, really interesting.
Those other timbres besides the drums and the bass being kind of most of the sonic world,
I liked hearing that otherness.
Kevin: Actually continuing off of this point,
the entire second verse is pretty great.
There was one part where their voices go *whlfdhgl* all of the sudden,
like it's super pixelated and just for one little motion,
like *wlllla*, or like, I think it was a down, like *tysiliogogogo*
I thought that was cool.
I like the bells.
I like the...
the sudden introduction of the ♭2 in the second verse was,
it was pretty welcoming, I've-
I mean I've heard that stuff before but I think they timed it kind of nicely.
Umu: Right, what was it in the bridge that you were saying,
"Oh, that's cool!"
Will: There was just that vocal harmony. Jory: It was the chords.
Will: It was like a whole step - just kind of interesting color.
Jory: Ah, here it is.
Will: Yeah, like that part, Jory Yeah, 2:56
Will: I just, I don't know, I liked that.
Will: Uh, what is it, it's the- yeah, yeah, Jory: It's like 9 or 2.
Will: It's the fourth of a minor chord.
We can go to the piano...
*plays F♯-A-B, basically an F♯m(add4)*
So like that's a cool little thing, and it's like, (Jory: It's really cool)
we have a F♯ minor chord and the melody goes *B against F♯m*
*plays melody (A-B-C♯-A)*
*F♯m(add4)*
like that little crunch, it's kinda cool,
and then I don't know if the chord changes or not but...
Jory: ~ A - D - C♯ ~
Will: Oh yeah, so that's a nice little progression too,
and then like that one, so,
*plays melody against F♯m*
*A* [with 9th in melody]
*D* [With melody hitting 6, maj7]
*C♯7* [With melody hitting 7, 6]
I just, I like that vibe of like,
you have a melody that kinda uses that colorful note
and it goes back to the same note but it's a new chord
(Jory: Yeah, like different context.) so it has a kind of different feel to it, like this:
*F♯m(add4)* feels different from this *A(add9)*
which feels different from this *D(add6)*
Jory: I like that one. The sixth. Will: That sounds really nice. Umu: That was your favorite?
[playing again for crunch]
Jory: Actually no, the first is my favorite, definitely.
Henry: That was good.
The chorus as a whole, first and second half,
I like the difference in rhythm choices,
so the first one is focused on the instruments,
*vocalizes main synth*
I like how the bass is like doubled with a really low bass sound
and then the electric sounding *bzzz*
And they're kind of just like coming in with a little pick up,
saying something, kinda sing-speaky,
and then the second part of the chorus is a lot more legato,
they're singing, the contour goes up and then back down,
which I though is just, it's really nice to listen to.
Daniel: You know, when they talk about the light, having *vocalizes ascend*
and then it goes up and up,
and then the response is *vocalizes*,
and you're like, they pull you down.
Really with the rhythm that you're mentioning, you know,
this idea of rhythmic gravity,
but then also kind of like this,
they like bring you up and then they like push you down,
they like pull you down really quick and they bring you up and they pull you down
so it's like, you know, just like the, what was it, the visuals,
how like the perspective is shaking,
and you feel like you're also dancing with them, or like,
at least moving with them.
It's like there's not a lot of room to take a breath.
Henry: And I like that
when they are going up the bass is not doubling them
but it's going in similar motion,
like they're also moving up, on a different pitch,
so that makes it really really easy to narrow in and listen to
and guide your ears with their decisions,
I guess you call it voice leading.
Ju Young: I like the scratchiness of their voices.
I like the treble of it and I like the tone.
I just like the message overall that they are giving,
just cuz, like I've lived in that culture and just...
knowing like the stereotypes of probably just like Asian in general
but like in Korea, like in Korean culture,
for women especially, it's,
you have to be submissive and you have to be like...
polite
and you have to always like cater to the male.
Yeah, like the first comment, it says says like it's...
I think it's more of like the power it gives
and the power it gives to the girls in this group.
Jarod: Lot of power chords and feel good ep-
you know, you know what I'm talking about, right?
It's like those, a lot of that, which is always cool.
But I think the highlight is just the use of rhythm
to like bring that out
and I like the tone, that aggressive tone,
because I was like, being a light in a chaos of darkness,
it's like sometimes it's a bit-
it's not as believable when it's too bright,
too romanticized hero movement
where it's like these girls seem like the light that you could like,
Dependable?
You know, reliable?
There's a little bit of grit there?
I can get behind that.
Jarod: So... Daniel: You know this- wait, what's that show,
Daniel: Is it Shark Tank? Where they're like...
Jarod: Oh yeah, it's like-
Daniel: The way that you just did this kind of like,
"I can get behind that sound", you're like, "I'll invest that!" Jarod: Just saying, I want to make you a deal.
Umu: Okay, so this was released yesterday...
Henry: It's like a Darth Vader, I feel, more than Bane. Charlotte: Bane!
Henry: No, it's more Darth Vader, look at the shape of it! Charlotte: BANE!
Henry: Bane has like *grfgrrgrpsr*... Charlotte: No, that's Bane.
Charlotte: Okay, everybody?
At five seconds in on this video,
please let me know if I am correct
and this is more like a Bane mask
from Batman the Dark Knight series,
or if Henry is correct,
and this is more Darth Vader
Charlotte: ...from Star Wars. Henry: It's not Darth Vader mask,
Henry: It's Darth Vader when he removes just the top part of his helmet
and you see like the rest of the cover and-
whatever