*Jason imitating water drops*
[Rossini's Semiramide Overture playing]
[Percy Grainger's 'Molly on the Shore' playing]
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Raffi: Hwasa!
Umu: Hwasa!
Raffi: HWASA! Umu: Hwasa!!!
Raffi: María!
Umu: Yeah!
Raffi: I love Hwasa!
Umu: Wwaa!
Raffi: Sorry, okay. Sam: Wait, what?
*Umu singing María*
It was a 2020 release.
Sam: Ooooh!
Umu: You are now reacting to the 4-member girl group Mamamoo
and their b-side 'Diamond' off their 2020 travel album.
The song foreshadows an epic adventure ahead,
it speaks of being open to romance
yet never losing sight of individual ambitions and purpose.
Rare is a love song that healthily encourages
coexistence with a partner,
rather than being completely eclipsed by them.
Kevin: Ecl- Umu: The song is composed-
Umu: E-
*Umu and Kevin beautifully singing 'Eclipse' by LOOΠΔ/Kim Lip*
Umu: It reminds their listeners that
everyone has a sparkling diamond inside of them
and they can go anywhere and do anything,
if they realize that existence.
The song is composed by Kim Dohoon and Park Woosang from RBW.
Henry: I. Have. Feelings.
Henry: Heyyy, bass? *laughing*
Cloud: Who? [t/n: She plays double bass]
Henry: OOoOhOhOHohoo~
Ju Young: Okay.
*Jason imitating water drops*
Henry: Oh my god, oh! Cloud: So fancy~
Henry: Some swung feel in the rhythms.
Raffi: OH yes!
Rafael: I like the texture of the bass doubled with the muted guitar.
Cool.
Henry: Hit it, hit it!
Cloud: No, I'm ready.
!!!
Cloud: OH, what the f-
Kevin: That major three was hit really...
really strongly, though.
Owen: It was so strong because they went up to it,
they were like: *vocalizes ascend*
Kevin: That's true.
Raffi: Ah, it's so good.
Henry: I didn't expect that.
Kevin: Uh, the echo is really well done.
It's echo and reverb, which I once thought were the same thing.
Kevin: They're totally not. Owen: They're very different.
Raffi: *excited noise*
Raffi: Oh!
Kevin: This is a song where the sparse instrumentals really really do good.
Ju Young: *imitates fast rhythms*
Jason: Busta Rhymes~
Rafael: It's cool, it's kind of chill,
Jamal: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Rafael: I really like that, that it's not...
Rafael: It's not too much at all.
Jamal: It has a wave you can ride.
Jason: I do like all these...
like all these different percussive sounds going on - what?
Kevin: See-
The pitch they sing the "D-i-a-m-o-n-d", I know it sounds like speaking,
but they definitely choose this weird pitch
that makes it sound more striking, like "D-i-..."
Henry: Oh my god, it's already over?
I was ready to vibe for like two more minutes, whooho.
Yeah. That was fun.
Kevin: Oh, that's it?
Aw man, I liked it, I wanted to, I wanted more.
Owen: Yeah.
Umu: Did you like it, Owen?
Owen: I did, I liked the modal vibe,
I liked the dominant seventh *sings melody*,
that made it feel very different than if it'd be *melody with raised 7th*
Way cooler.
Owen: Way more spacious. Kevin: Imagine if Billie Jean was: *sings Billie Jean with raised 7th*
Owen: It's so bizarre.
Owen: And the clave rhythm, it's such a basic and danceable rhythm
that you can just go *demonstrates*
That's great.
Kevin: It creates a lot of interesting moments
when the vocal melody can really play with the rhythm,
so that's why I think it works.
There were just so many nice production details,
like the echo and the reverb that was used,
I felt like there was definitely some echoing, which is like "Echo-echo-...",
but then the reverb is the trailing off that you hear
after the release of a sound,
but then once the next verse started it's like,
I think there was still a reverb, but it's more of a very short reverb,
you know, it's not completely dry
but there is a clear enough difference
that we know that we're in a different section,
and I think those little touches make the song interesting to listen to,
despite the very simple rhythm,
which was why the whole thing worked so well.
Henry: They had really sudden, but like...
stylistically fitting shifts of harmony, (Cloud: Mhm, like tasty.)
of tonality in there, right, they went between-
I mean it made my brain all hurty, you know, brain hurty,
cuz it's like, ah it started kind of like minor,
kind of - not bluesy - *sings melody*
it's like 1-5-♭7-7-1,
and then they have a-
they were sort of sitting in minor with their melody,
and then when they hit "Diamond", cuz I guess it's pure and sparkly,
they made it major, or they used the raised third,
and had the- kept the same note here,
but this became a 1 in major now,
so they "Diamond" *in major* instead of *minor*,
and then, then there was the spelling of the "Diamond",
I have no idea what that was and it made brain hurty,
and there was even like, later in this thing I was like:
"Is it maybe just mixolydian, because it's like major with the ♭7?"
No, because then they did have a minor three...
So like...
I'm excited by it because it made me really think
and listen very carefully, and I-
Part of that also what draws you in, I think,
with this piece in particular - this not piece - this tune,
is how everything is a lot more intimate,
they're not shouting at you,
they do sing pretty high and well supported, but they,
they back of the sound so it's not as loud and blurry,
and there's a lot of moments where you can hear
that their mouth is close to the microphone
cuz you hear all the intricacies of their consonants and their breathing,
especially when Moonbyul is rapping
you can hear her breathing and her-
all of the intricacies of her consonants,
cuz you're close,
which kinda what you were doing with the sponsor earlier, like,
you have to draw them in, right?
Sam: So every little vocal ad-lib
that is in the background
is so perfectly placed.
It's just...awhw!
so...so oh my goodness!
Raffi: That was smooth.
I like, too, how their voices work together,
'cause they all blend really nicely, but they also are unique,
I forgot, which one had the lower timbre?
Umu: The rapper?
Raffi: Yeah.
Umu: Moonbyul!
Raffi: Yeah!
That beautiful sound, it's like dark but still clear,
which is always hard to achieve,
so yeah, I thought that was awesome.
Sam: Yeah, I really agree with that.
I think one of the strengths of Mamamoo is that
each of their members brings such a different sort of
musical color or idea into the music.
But it doesn't feel disjointed
like with the first verse,
it's very melodic and very R&B,
very R&B-esque,
the second- in, when, uh...
Moonbyuk? Is that her name?
Umu: Moonbyul.
Sam: When Moonbyul starts rapping
it's very fast and it's very, very hip-hop,
or very hip-hop inspired,
but it... sort of the collision between the two
is so seamless that it just feels like one song,
it doesn't feel like "Oh, this section is one song"
"Oh we suddenly got transported to another song"
It's very seamless and it's so well done.
Ju Young: Alright...alright!
Umu: Alright?
*giggling*
Umu: So there was lot's of "What? What?" Ju Young: Jason, what were you gonna say?
Jason: Yeah, it was just like there was a lot of things.
Umu: What are these things?
Jason: I don't even know.
Umu: Just explain your emotions, like your initial reaction.
Jason: Sould I start with the negative? (Umu: Sure)
It had no driving force whatsoever through the entire song,
so it was incredibly bland in energy.
There was nothing that pushed anything forward,
it felt like I was stuck in mud the whole time.
Cloud: I don't like how the bass never changed up,
like it was the same through the whole song, (Henry: It was a little tranc-y)
I was kinda waiting for it to drop to something else,
they did add some percussion over it... (Henry: *drop sound* They did, oh my god.)
Rafael: Yeah it made use of pedal points in a great way,
so one bass note with changing harmony above it,
so the first obvious thing they did was
they switched to major when the chorus came,
*singing chorus melody*
I shouldn't sing. *Umu laughing*
Rafael: That part was like an obvious shift
but then there were some sus-chords over the pedal point
and a pedal point is a great tool for having shifting harmony
and changes in the harmony and mode shifts,
while having it still feel in context with what came before
cuz you've got the bass that's staying the same,
but it's just everything on top of it is changing, so...
that's a- it's just a really good tool for this,
there were points when the bass was going-
the like, the bass instrument, not the bass motion,
but the bass instrument and the guitar where playing
that motif, but then there was a sub bass
that would kind of fade in with a different pitch,
like after the first chorus it happened, I think,
and I liked that, I thought it was kind of a cool-
it obscured a little bit of what was going on,
I heard something that didn't sound totally the same
and there was no bass
and then the bass came in
and I liked that, it just like, it...
it provides a level of intrigue to the song that is...
appreciated by me.
Cloud: Yeah, the- I like some of the more lyrical like
*vocalizes*
I hope those are the right notes [?????],
like that sounds very Lana Del Rey -esque to me,
or maybe even like... I don't know,
(Umu: Different reactors said Lorde) Marina and the Diamonds or something...
Lorde, I could see that, yeah.
Raffi: Do you know Royal- 'Royals', by Lorde?
Umu: Yes.
Raffi: I got that vibe.
Jason: The way that she harmonizes her voice,
very similar, but also
the chord structure, too, was very similar to Lorde.
Umu: Really, she goes into these modes?
Then again, I only know her singles, I don't know her...
Jason: But also, what the f*ck!
Like there was some weird things.
*laughing*
Like I don't know... my brain is just not doing it, man,
but I just, I heard things and I was like "what?"
Ju Young: Their voices were very interesting,
it's very breathy, but it kinda like...
kinda like... seduced my ears,
like I was, it was, it was, like, (Jason: Yeah, it was very seductive, she was.)
Ju Young: what I mean by seductive to the ears was-
Jason: HWASA!
Ju Young: She's, she's really attractive! Jason: She was, no, but her-
Jason: Yes she's attractive but her voice was seductive as well,
Ju Young: Yeah, I... Jason: so it was just very...
Ju Young: It grabs your attention.
Cloud: The "D-i-a-m-o-n-d" (Henry: Yeah), like,
Cloud: it kind of feels like I'm just like hitting something...
(Umu: WHAT?!) Cloud: it kind of feels like I'm just like hitting something...
Henry: I think it's cuz- Cloud: Not that bad, but like...
Cloud: Ah, it's just so impactful in every note
and it's so weird from what we just came from
that my brain is like: "Ah, ah, ah!"
Henry: Those are quarter note triplets, that's why it feels so "AARH"
cuz it's *demonstrates* and then it's "D-i-a-m-o-n-d",
like they start us of with those
(Cloud: Look, I love the subdivisions, it's just...) quarter note triplets, which is- like the syncopation makes you like:
"Oooh, when are we gonna release the tension",
Henry: and it's very... Cloud: I think it's more like the voice falling every single time
Herny: ...floaty. Cloud: like you have, cuz it's like
Cloud: your heart and your lungs kind of move with the voice,
so you're going *demonstrates*, and you're like "AAAH!"
Henry: They go from the major area
here's the major tonic, that what used to be the minor tonic,
and then they just go up a whole step, *vocalizes*,
now it's a minor, *sings in minor*,
and they go to the four of the original key and then they
plagal cadence back into minor-
I don't know, it was a wild ride and it made me-
it was very unexpected, you saw my face.
Rafael: I liked the song a lot, I thought it was subtle
but very very stimulating at the same time because of the subtlety
and I, yeah, I also just liked the tone-downed nature of it,
I liked that there was just four singers that each had like
their own thing that they did, but-
it was unique but it didn't-
none of their vibes clashed with each other,
I felt like they worked together really well.
I mean if I had just listened to it
and not known that there were four singers
I probably would have just thought there was one,
even though different things were being done.
Jamal: And just with the whole, overall tone of the piece
I felt like you could just feel a sense of confidence,
like it's calm, cool, and relaxed and confident
which is a really good vibe to have in your music
because I felt like,
I wasn't feeling like they were trying to prove
that they were able to like...
be like word of this [?????] four girl singing group, this is what we do,
no, I felt like, cuz how Raf(ael) said earlier,
it felt like there was one person.
It was just like the vibe itself of the piece was very coherent
and put together.
Umu: Yeah, you make a lot of interesting points because two thing:
1) Yes, I feel like when we think of empowerment songs,
empowering songs, we think of loud, sexy, with you know,
like upbeat type stuff,
and 2) definitely when they debuted,
since they debuted under a really small company,
they were doing those kind of songs, those loud, proud,
"we're a 4-member group" *Umu tackling ad-libs*
Rafael: Yeah, of course.
Umu: But after 5-7 years of being together as a group
they can do quieter, more subtle empowering songs like this.
(Jamal: Yeah, exactly.) they can do quieter, more subtle empowering songs like this.
Jamal: I definitely get that just from hearing this, they're like:
"We've been here, you guys have heard us, this is who we are."
In a sense of confidence and just like what they have to bring.
Umu: Wow, you really hit the nail on the hat here.
Jason: We are...
...not things, currently, we're just chaotic energy,
just bouncing off the walls, trying to find a home...
Sad.
...
Umu: Okay, this song-