Umu: Right, you are now reacting to Taeyeon from Girls' Generation
and her 2022 solo release 'INVU'
Jory: Aaaaaa~
Umu: Ahahahaha!
So the song came out the day that we are filming this
so I don't have many other reviews already written out
that I can compare my own interpretation of these lyrics to,
so the fans are welcome to correct me in the comment section
if my interpretation is completely off,
but I believe this song sings about the pressure a person feels
when they fall in love with someone... "better" than them.
So the lyrics say:
So I can't love you Even though I do
Even if I push you away I can't beat you
Even I abandon myself And lose myself more
The irony is that you shine more
INVU
This song is composed by Peter Wallevik, Daniel Davidsen, Tich and Jess Morgan.
Jory: 3 2 1
Will: Yeah!
Huge SG Lewis vibes.
Jory: Yeah.
Jory: It sounds super warm.
Jory: Uh! Will: Wowww~
Jory: I love that, when the bass has like syncopated rhythms. (Will: Yeah)
[t/n: Syncopation - putting rhythmic emphasis on offbeats or in between beats]
Jory: There hasn't been a kick drum yet.
Jory: Nice!
Will: Ah, I love that chord!
I think it's a...
major triad first inversion, pretty sure.
Will: Ooooh~ Jory: Oooh, f$#% yeah!
Jory: That lead synth is really cool.
It sounds tropical, but like not to the point where I hate it. (Will: Yeah)
Will: Ah, I love that arpeggio.
Will: Oooh~ Jory: Nice.
Jory: It's such a sick run.
Jory: The group vocal.
Jory: Nice!
Oooh!
Will: I love that arpeggio!
Will: AAaah~ Jory: NICE!
Jory: I love that.
Will: Cool, cut out the reverb at the end, love it.
Jory: Bro, that's like the sickest song you've shown us. (Will: Yeah!)
Umu: Okay, I'm glad, I was listening to this for the first time and I'm like:
"I think Jory and Will are gonna like this?"
Umu: "Are they gonna like this? I should show it to them." Jory: Oh, I love it. // Will: This is sick, yeah...
Umu: Okay, let's break it down, how do you-
you where right on the money when you called this "warm".
Umu: What musical elements made this song sound so warm? Will: So warm. // Jory: It's beautiful, yeah.
Will: I wanna go back and like kind of transcribe the synth sound a little bit?
Will: My guess is that...
Jory: It's kinda sin-y.
Will: It's, yeah, kind of sin-y, but I think it might be maybe mixed,
there is probably a saw wave in there somewhere with a high-cut.
Jory: Okay, just for like the range. Will: But there is noise,
Will: some kind of noise to fill up and give it warmth and give it some high end.
Jory: It sounded just like harmonics, like saturation.
Will: That could also be.
Jory: Right now it's like a filtered bass,
it's a filtered bass with like a...
a high range synth, or what do you say like...?
Yeah, I don't even know how to describe it.
But like the opening, it isn't super full yet.
Will: Yeah, yeah.
Will: Aaah~ Jory: And then the bass syncopates, and that's just like the coolest sh*t.
Will: Ah!
Jory: I love that kind of like acid bass.
Jory: It feels like there is a bunch of synth elements.
Will: Huh?
Jory: It feels like there is a bunch of elements to the synth. Will: There is definitely a bunch of different ones.
Will: I also love how minimal the production is.
Will: Like there is no kick drum until like... a minute in. Jory: Until the first chorus.
Jory: But it's like partway through the first chorus too.
Will: Oh yeah? Jory: Yeah.
Will: And then like the pre-chorus,
there is no bass for the first part,
the first like 4 bars of 8 bars or something of the pre-chorus
bass is totally gone, it's basically just synth and vocals.
Umu: BASS-ically.
. . .
Jory: *questionable laughter*
Umu: Sorry.
Umu: Okay, so yeah, and then they add on more and more to the track as it goes on, right?
So the second pre-chorus and chorus have much more than what the first one has, right?
Jory: Little more, I mean everything is a little different but it's-
the entire song is just very patient.
It takes a really self-confident producer to be sure of the song.
I mean like, there is no crazy change-ups or anything like that,
it's just like the same vibe
and they're super meticulous about what they add, what they take away,
and then it just makes you like wait for...
like even the kick drum not being there until like a minute in, like...
"Okay this is rad, but I haven't had like the club banger yet, so where is it?"
Umu: Right, right, and to follow up on the warmth, warm feeling,
of course there is the synth sound and then there is the chord progression too,
did you rehear, is that an inverted triad?
Will: It is, yeah, and then the reason it stuck out to me, I think in that particular moment,
was because the melody was doing something kind of colorful in that context,
and I'm not sure exactly why, but I think it was on maybe [scale degree] 9 or 6 or something like that,
but it is a triad, and I love that sound:
*keyboard sax sound*
Jory: B minor? Or was that... Will: That was an A.
Will: Or is that, is that the key? Umu: We're gonna keep it on sax?
Jory: Yeah.
Will: So it's like cla-
also just I love that chord progression, it's so killing,
Jory: Yeah, just like IV-V-iv? Will: classic like, you know,
*plays G major*
Will: I guess I'll change [up the octave]
*G major* [IV in D major]
*A major* [V]
*B minor* [vi]
Jory: It's like ii, right?
Will: And then:
*D major with F♯ in the bass* [I(6)]
Will: It's I, I over the third. Jory: Oh, got it, I over third.
Will: Which is such a colorful sound, I love that because
it goes to I but it doesn't sound like, you know,
it doesn't just sound like super, fully resolved I chord,
it sounds slightly, you know, like oh~
it sounds kinda resolved, but like where is it gonna go,
it's gonna go somewhere else, it goes to IV (*G major*)
and then the IV-V-vi (*G major - A major - B minor*)
[and back to I first inversion, and then IV...]
which is like super simple, but is like so good.
Umu: What part of the track do you think best fit the atmosphere the music video visuals where creating?
Because they go hand in hand so well and the music video allows me to enjoy the music on a whole new level, right?
Will: Yeah, absolutely.
In fact this was probably one of the most...
the times that I have appreciated the video most, of reacting to these K-pop songs,
because I was actually able to like look at the video while the song was playing and be like: "Wow"
"That is actually like... I'm feeling the vibe."
And it's difficult to do a lot of times when I can't understand the language
but this time it was like...
I see it, you know, the visual of-
like the one that stuck out to me the most was the,
when the woman on top of the pedestal,
the arrows are shooting at her and they're missing her,
and then her reflection is in the water and the moon is right behind her
and it's just like oh, there is this grand image of like the person that is like perfect, and you're in love with,
but like the love arrows always miss,
(Umu: Ooo hmmm~)
Will: and she's got your heart, the heart thing is in her palm,
Will: the symbolism, I was just like... uh, that totally hits. Umu: Maybe, yeah!
Will: I thought it was pretty cool. Umu: Yeah, that was cool. Jory: It was super cool, yeah.
Umu: Awesome.