Raffi E: Oh
Jamal: OOO-
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Both: Let's get to reacting now C: Haha chemistry joke *Umu laughs*
H: Oh- AAHAHA *cloud laughs* ha ha rEACTIONS
'Cause chemi- U: Ohhhh H: THAT'S SO DUMB I love it
U: You are now reacting to the 10 (T/N: 13*, with Chinese members on hiatus) member girl group, WJSN, also known as cosmic girls
You are reacting to 'Pantomime' a B-side song from their 8th mini album Neverland, released in June 2020
The album tells the story of neverland, after Peter Pan leaves and Tinkerbell is left on her own
The story starts in the world of dreams, but ends in reality as Tinkerbell realizes she's been abandoned
'Pantomime' takes place in that dream world, and expresses the thoughts of someone experiencing their first kiss
The song is composed by Kim Jinhwan, and the member Exy participated in writing the lyrics
RE: Three J: Two Both: One J: Blast off
Ooh
C: I thought it was gonna be creepy af, and then it was like (H: Ooh) sparkles
J: Lit chords
Oooh Josh: Ooh Jo&RE: Tritone sub right now
J: Eyy some jazz harmony
Ooh Stephen: That was different
Jo: Ooh S: I know right!
H: Ooh
Leon: Ooh
Stephanie: Ooh *laughs* L: I thought-
Kevin: WHAT Owen: Yeah *laughs* this is crazy, oh my goodness
L: Aw this song is lit
RE: I'm gonna listen to this honestly like when I get home
J: Ooh RE: Eyy the halftime J: Lets break it down
H: I love all these sounds, reminds me of a Korean mmo rpg
O: That was a really cool run *sings run* whatever the chromaticism was K: *sings the run*
O: I don't know
K: Oh here it comes, here it comes
H: I like this pre-chorus
J&Jo: Ooh J: Ahh
The beat drops are definitely prime, like primo
Jo: I love it, awh
K: Woah woah woah woah Jo: Yeaahh
S: We all know what Josh mosh-pits to now, so
K: Man this is the most Halloween-y track of all the Halloween tracks we've reacted to so far
L: Mm ST: Woah
H: WHAT
Jo: Yeaaah yess
RE: Ohh
J: OOOOH
Sam: Okay modulation
Alright build that beat back up
Mhm R: Ohh
S: Aw man those effe- those patches are so cool
they're probably incredibly expensive but they sound so amazing oh my goodness
Jo: Aah
S: Oh that was so cool, production value on this song is really, really high
Jo: Ahh
Again
J: That was... incredible
ST: First of all, the very beginning, yeah it really fits, you know, what the song is about, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell
um, it sounds like it's a fairy tale kind of a thing, and it's- the harmony is just really pretty
it's like, I really like the texture too, it's not heavy, it's kind of floaty and just like really sweet.
And then, another thing I like is all the pauses, it's like really unexpected, it's like whAt
like, I was just like bopping, and then like while I was bopping it just suddenly stopped, but then it just like comes back in at the right time
and then, what I really liked was, that first pause that we hear, and then- I mean- and then there's the second pause that happens right after, you know, the first one
but they're slightly- they're different, they're like the same, you know, pause, but the way it comes- they come back in is different
because of like the different sound they use to bring them back in, so yeah, that's what I like
L: Same, the pause (ST&U: Yeah) 'cause I was like expecting to have a huge like *sings bit before the pause* and then you just (ST: Yeahh) hang over there and then bang
ST: Oh my god (L: Oh my god) it's like the rollercoaster (L: Yeah like a rollercoaster), like you're like woo in the air.
U: So you guys were making lots of WOO sounds, what made you go WOO?
S: Oh man one- in the very beginning they did this like bass riff, or like this bass fill (Jo: Oh yeah the *sings bass riff* that was dope) it was really cool
Jo: Oh, yeah, no, whoever produced this is ridiculous S: yeah
Jo: I really love this song basically because like the, the chromatic melody
S: Yeahh Jo: It's so- I've never heard a pop song use chromaticism in their hook
that's amazing S: Yeah
And it's like- (Jo: And it really worked) it's like it sounds good, I mean, I don't know
Jo: It just sounded great, the only thing that I really wanted to happen that- that like
I'm shocked they didn't do this, because it sounds like this person really understands like, harmony and stuff
is um, when they were play- the progression basically, of we were in C major, I don't know what key this is in
if we were in C, they were playing like C, G, and then they were playing like G minor, F sharp like seven, and then they were like- and usually that goes to F, but they went back to C
So it was
and then just goes back to
it just goes back to there, uh to the B
And I thought it was gonna go buhh and then
that's the bass notes, but it ends up just going back to what is considered, I guess, one
I like the tune, I wish- I wish it went to four like it was supposed to, but that's just me, I'm just a weirdo, weirdo
J: It went a lot of places like harmonically, and
rhythmically, like Raf said that went to like halftime at least twice
the second tie it went to halftime, is definitely like, abrupt change in key, which was really cool, (RE: It was a very different halftime) it was like OOHHH
Yeah RE: Like the bass drum was way more active
but then also just the harmony, like it was a really good mash of like classic harmony
J: And then like some Jazz harmony, like some like RE: Yeah, you have like a good like, you know, five suspension
ninth chords J: Ninth chords are so fat, definitely like
Neverland for sure, like that- that took me places (RE: I'm definitely gonna listen to this) that was very cool, no yeah, very cool.
H: I liked about- what I liked about it? I dunno, a lot of the timbres of the sounds reminded me of Korean mmo rpgs
those of you who've ever played Fly For Fun, or Latale, or grand Chase, or Maple Story
will know what I mean, know what I mean, it's just that soundtrack, that soundtrack, ooh
Some of those sounds in there, they're like really *mimics the sounds* and I dunno, it's really cute, but
how to describe, I can only make an analogy to K-mmos
C: Okay, honestly, totally same
That's such a bad sentence (Cloud vs english, who will win)
U: Honestly totally like same C: Honestly like totally agree
No, whenever a song has that like evasive maneuver right towards the downbeat of a chorus when the beat is supposed to drop, I love that
They had a great mix of like having a lot of stuff, but also repeating a lot of stuff, like you can literally like
*sings chorus*
it like comes back so often but theres so much variation (H: Ohh yeahh I love that) still within the song and the section, so its very repetitive but its also very varied
so it's like a nice little, you got bOth (H: Yes) you got a good (H: Yes) mix of both worlds
H: i did want to point out the syncopation in 'Pantomime'
That one is such, that's like one of my favorite syncopations in a four four setting
Because you have *counting* augh how am I gonna do this C: Do you want me to give you like a downbeat?
H: so if you split everything up into sixteenth notes
*counts sixteenth notes*
and you accent every third
*counts, with emphasis*
It just feels so groovy, so groovy.
And thats what they did with this, *sings chorus, snaps*
or lemme pat
*sings with emphasis*
and it's just soooo cool.
K: Wooow O: that was a- that was a ride
K: it was- it was pretty great O: That was a ride and a half
I think the polyrhythms with her voice (K: yeah) was pretty cool and some synth sections
they did the- she did the grouping of three eighth notes (K: Mm) for a while, but then it went into some other thing that kind of displaced the meter for me a little bit
K: Yeah O: Something about it, so
K: This is B-side experimentalism at it's finest O: Absolutely K: Yeah
U: Wild ride, huh?
R: Wild ride Sam: That was cool
I feel like I wasn't speaking as much, because my brain was absorbing as much (R: Yeah) as it could possibly absorb
There's just so much happening in the background (R: Yeah yeah) and whenever I try to think of how to articulate what I'm trying to say
it just automatically- my brain just focuses on something else, and I'm just like oh my gosh, thats so- thats so crazy
But it's all stuff that I really enjoy in music
Like that one bass line in the- even like harmonies right here
R: Yeah, and it's a little more steady (Sam: Yeah) and then it picks up again
U: Okay, the lyrics are
*reads lyrics* (tn: I'd advise colorcodedlyrics.com if you want to read them yourself!)
So that's like the first half of the song, and that kinda allows you to get the gist of it, it's literally yeah
but it's just so weird, because the song is so chromatic
R: Yeah Sam: Yeah, it's also very minor (U: Yeah *laughs*) Like extremely minor
R: A little mysterious about the kiss, you know U: Maybe like, yeah, a kiss in a magical world, where you're kinda sad
Sam: it's also Halloween oooh R: Spook Sam: Spoooky
Umu: Although this song was released in the summer
Sam: Aw what, aw it ruined our fun U: I'm sorry
Alright, go 'head with another listen
Sam: Three, two, one
S: Also that intro's really cool Jo: Yeah that intro's awesome
Sam: It's really interesting that they started so soft after that opening of like all these different sounds R: Yeah
K: I like it so much
Even when- before the- yeah O: Yeah
Those synth sounds- *K sings along* kinda sound like Pokemon mystery dungeon (K: Mm) explorers of time
K: Love this part
O: It's such a good (K: it's great) it's such a good (K: It's amazing) that first like, how they shaped that like attack on that very first
like s... (K: Uh-huh) I don't know (K: Uh-huh) everything about it was produced wonderfully
Sam: Actually now that I think about it, it's kinda interesting that they
th- this- especially like the chorus, is like a pretty aggressive chorus R: Yeah
Sam: But the vocals are on the lighter side, you know what I'm talking about? R: Right, right
Sam: Very nice and light and fluffy and pillowy, like especially like here
Dang
K: Ah
O: Yeah
K: The bass is so lively, it's great, and the percussion doubles- doubles down on it
ST: Mm *laughs*
K: It's the Fur Elise build up *sings what he means*
O: Ah okay
K: It's great, it's so groovy O: It's so groovy
K: And just- O: The synco- sorry
K: Just disorienting enough O: Yeah
Jo: Ahh
Yeah I forgot about this part
Sam: It's definitely weird to think about this part being in this song
R: About a kiss (Sam: About a first kiss, yeah) like the- it's not how I would describe it? Sam: Yeah
R: But it is intriguing yeah, like it keeps you there Sam: Yeah
Like I mean, kissing can be aggressive man *U&R laugh*
O: Yeah *laughs* K: I like the drum fill
sets an expectation (O: It does) for something much grander O: And thin it's just like *lightly* duh
K: Yeah O: Yeah
It's so cheeky (K: Mhm) thats the thing, it's witty
R: I love that ascent there (Sam: Mhm) theres that excitement, it's joyful, I mean it is
just (Sam: Mhm) a little bit of modal mixture I guess Sam: Yeah
As joyful as E minor can be
K: Yup O: Yup, that was a sentence
With how they were responding to each other (K: Uh-huh) *sings the sentence*
K: Yay
So cool O: Nice
U: Yeah, so that time around did you guys notice anything new?
L: Oh yeah, so like the chorus part, I realized the hi-hat's really making the mo- the music forward
*hi-hat noises* that kind of stuff
and then also like the bass, the bass line is like the perfect bass line
and that's kinda like the highlight of the song, because once the drop, and you have a little break, it needs a really strong bass line to kick in
like *sings bass line* inst- is like always the cross rhythm going on
And a lot of jazz harmony too, I love it U: Yeahh
So during the first verse you kept saying I really like this, I really like- what do- what about the first verse do you like?
K: It sounds like a very hyperactive video game soundtrack, for like an indie video game specifically
O: Something that kinda feels video game-esque, 'cause it felt like everything we were listening to could be parced out into a couple tracks
I don't know- it felt like there were very sepecific functions for each of the instruments
K: Yeah O: Like you could hear a very specific drum thing,
a very specific bass, a very specific like backing arpeggiating piano
and then the melody, at least thats what my voice- what my brain took out as the voices in the music
and I feel like having those be really clearly delineated both in timbre both in
rhythm, and how they're sort of playing out the chords and everything, (K: Mhm) I feel like that might give it a video game feel
K: Yeah, yeah I think so too.
Sam: I-I noticed this time the chorus and the beat drops were much more aggressive than I realized, especially because like
the vocals, they-they weren't as aggressive I feel like, so it's really interesting to see that dichotomy
of just bliss and happiness but also this underlying... murky waters almost
So I thought that was really really cool
R: Yeah for sure, it's fun, like you know (Sam: It's fun) you talk about love and it can be really slow and kinda lost in it, but
this is fun Sam: Yeah, no for real