Umu: Hi everyone, welcome to our Queendom album first listen,
so we did try to film this right after we listened to the title track
but then one of my batteries decided to throw a midlife crisis tantrum
and cut out on us in the middle of 'Knock On Wood',
so we lost the footage for 'Pose'
and the first third of our reaction to 'Knock On Wood',
so what we're gonna do today is,
we'll start off with some of the audio
which we were able to keep from our 'Pose' reaction,
then we'll summarize our thoughts,
and then we'll just start off brand new with 'Knock On Wood'.
Yeah.
Highlights of out 'Pose' reaction, 3 2 1 Pose!
U: Oop!
Oh yeah~!
U: I really like the bass! Sean: That was...
S: This is a really unusual aesthetic for Red Velvet.
U: I like that contrast, going from a syncopated bass line to just:
S: Yeah.
U: Hit hit hit!
S: Yeah, really driving to the chorus.
U: Oh yeah, baby!
*Umu & Sean singing synth line*
U: Using microtones?
U: Oh, it's so interesting to hear this singing over this bass.
S: Okay, it is the phrygian second with major third.
U: Okay.
U: It's like they took a dubstep beat crumpled up in their hands
and just splashed it throughout the song.
This thick vocal harmony is such a Red Velvet sound.
Right now I'm trying to connect it to some of their past discography.
It fits them so well.
With their sound.
Mmh~
Ugh!
I love that track so much!
U: Okay, so as you heard:
We really really really liked 'Pose'. 'Pose' is good, isn't it, Sean?
S: Yep, it's great. Should have been the title track.
U: I still feel like it makes so much sense as a b-side song.
First up, why do you think it's good as a title track?
S: It's a lot more dynamic, like there's some big shifts
that could be big moments in a video or on stage.
I know they have done a stage of this
but I imagine if it were the title track
the choreography and staging would have been a lot more dramatic
than the stages they did for it as a b-side
and it also has a very catchy chorus.
That is sometimes something that can make a b-side
need to be a b-side, even if it's good.
I think this has-
it might need a little more explosion at the opening for a title track,
but I think very small tweaks and this is a title track.
U: Okay, I picture this b-side as a perfect Red Velvet b-side
because when I'm thinking about, was it 'Peek-A-Boo' and 'Look'?
'Look' was a b-side heavily promoted along with 'Peek-A-Boo',
I think of 'Queendom' and this song also as a perfect promotional pair.
And that is because-
I am not sure about musically, but just concept-wise:
Would you have a title track where the main concept is just...?
U: Pose and feeling good? (S: Yeah?)
U: When Queendom is so much more than that,
there is a lot more in depth that you can do with visuals and choreography
while this, I am like: Yeah, this makes sense. This makes...
This is the reason why Red Velvet's discography
is the best K-pop discography, [t/n: ~Opinionated but always spitting straight facts~]
is because they have b-sides like this.
S: They fit KWANGYA into '90's Love',
they can fit it into 'Pose' if they want to.
[t/n: Wait, how did we end up here?]
S: Like, that is less of a stretch than putting it in '90's Love'!
U: Agree to disagree, let's see what the comment section thinks.
Should 'Pose' have been the title track?
Or is it just a solid as heck b-side song?
U: Let's talk about the song, shall we? (S: Yeah!)
U: Instead of why which should be title- AAAH! S: Okay, wait, one more point I wanna say...
U: So why is 'Pose' so damn cool?
Why is it so freaking solid as a song?
S: Because there is so many transformations in it,
starting from, as we talked about, the very sparse,
but a little bit surprising for Red Velvet, beginning,
the chorus, which - it's a lot of stuff going on,
but it doesn't have a lot of bass grounding
and there is some risers which you mentioned in the reaction
and then at the end another, second riser.
In this case, actually the post-chorus is also the catchiest vocal part
but the chorus itself is still kind of rising
and then at the end you get the big post-chorus
and I guess you get the post-chorus a few times, but the end especially,
there is the big setup and the really satisfying ending.
U: Right, what I love so much about this song is it feels like
they're playing a lot with on the beat- so Red Vevlet,
the rhythms that they are singing, it tends to be subdivisions,
it tends to be on all the strong beats,
and then the instrumental around that,
like the risers that he mentioned and the 1-♭2-1 (bass)
is syncopated rhythm underneath, all on the off-beats,
so it feels like we have this steady rock of a vocal line
while the instrumental just kind of crumples and builds around it
and that is incredibly fun to listen to,
especially then once we reach the chorus
which blossoms into this melody that I feel like I've heard before,
I feel like Red Velvet sang this exact melody
in a different b-side song, but the chords around it are different,
so it's like we get a different shade of velvet
when this melody and the harmonies appear.
This song is both something that we have never heard from Red Velvet before
but it's also something that we are super familiar with Red Velvet doing,
so that's why I really like this song.
Shall we move on to 'Knock On Wood'?
S: Yes.
U: Except this table - is this wood?
S: It's... yeah, like... U: Are we...
U: The floor, we'll knock on the floor.
Alright, Moonshine, Sunshine~ *struggling*
Go ahead...
S: 3 2 1 Knock on wood!
[~moonshine~]
U: The "moonshine", I feel like, came on a beat that normally isn't hit.
We'll double-check that afterwards.
U: and 1 and 2 AND - syncopated entrance.
What I love about this first verse is
we've got these high-pitched chord hits,
and then it feels like the bass is scratchy,
deep bass is almost improvising above it.
S: I like that little lead, the little synth lead
sort of making counter melodies in the gaps there.
U: Descending?
I like how the vocal melody descended but then the chords ascended.
U: It isn't working!
AAAAAAH!
Oh whatever.
I feel like this song is very in line with
what Red Velvet released on their Summer Magic album.
S: Yeah, you're right.
U: Oh, and now the scratchy bass is
hitting the rhythms that the higher synths did earlier,
that it's doing now.
Oh, they're layered in together - oh?
Wooo, that chromaticism!
S: Yeah, this is a good choice, to just have this much smoother,
just snap on the off-beat and then:
Big fill of brass, I don't know if it's a fill when it's chord,
but punchy chords leading in.
U: And now the bass synth is...
a lot more smoother and warmer.
"Yeah, uh, uh, uh!"
Those little ad-libs are so cute.
One.
Oh, bringing the "bababa" back in.
The melody is so fun!
Hwooo!
U: BIG vocals! S: Yeah.
U: Oh, one last time through - oh?!
S: Low passing?
U: Oh.
*Lol*
That was an interesting choice!
Was that four or five part harmony on the "Knock on wood" part?
The post-chorus?
S: I don't know, I'm not good at counting voices. U: That was some crunchy stuff.
S: These sort of synth chords through this, they did repeat a lot,
but it was a spicy enough progression, I didn't get bored of it.
U: I think the voicing changed a few times,
they emphasized one of the notes of the chord
more than others in certain sections.
S: Yeah.
U: Or at least they changed the timbre for it or something.
U: But I- Okay, I love that chorus, the *sings*,
and then it changes the second half, cuz you think,
that's such a fun rhythm that you think they just repeat that
for the entire phrase, but then they change it up at the end. (S: Yeah)
S: There are also some parts of the chorus that sit up pretty high,
U: Oh, in range? S: like where it does the: *Sean 'singing' melody*
U: Wow. Good job.
S: Yes, I sound just like them~
U: Yes, yes, amazing, like-
WENDY?
Is Wendy in this room?!
[t/n: Oh my gosh she IS!]
U: But also, no no no...
I think, is it 'Blue Lemonade'?
The pre-chorus sounds a lot like 'Blue Lemonade'.
So it has the ascending line:
Okay, so this is just ascending (x3), starting from the same note.
This is ascending, then it starts from a lower note and ascends.
But I was like wow~ I'm getting some nice throwback Red Velvet vibes.
S: Yeah, I mean it's a nice combination
of more Red production and overall energy,
but some fairly Velvet chords.
Like that progression could totally fit in a Velvet song
but it's kind of the best of both sides.
U: The best of both sides. I like that.
U: With that, shall we move on to 'Better Be'? (S: Yes.)
U: ANDREAS! S: Andreas! Nice. [t/n: ANDREAS!!!]
U: Jinx!
Skylar, we know Skylar, they worked with Andreas before,
and Michele Wylen?
3 2, 3 2 'Better Be'!
Okay
U: Some clashing overtones, it feels like? (S: Yeah)
U: It's like it's detuned a little bit. (S: Yeah)
o_o
U: *singing high F*
*singing high F*
S: Yeah...
U: WHAT KEY ARE WE IN?! DECIDE ON A KEY!!! S: I think B♭?
U: We're in a key now.
Right? Yes yes yes...
That was fun.
S: Nope, we're in F.
No?
U: Wow!
Adding that shaker-like bell-thing in.
We've had this kind of syncopated main rhythm of *mimics* in the back,
but the sound and the notes that they chose to play
is what adds uniqueness to this song.
And then...
I'm really not sure what key we are in,
in the verses?
S: I think o-
U: I'm guessing that was Andreas who wrote that.
S: I think overall we're in F, but there is a lot of Stuff™.
U: *joining in chant*
Once again, there is a lot of whispering layered in with the spoke part,
I love that.
O_O
S: We're in F lydian? U: How do you write a melody over this instrumental?!
U: The instrumental is... so strange in interval.
O-O
U: WHAT THE HEEEEE- (S: Wow)
U: -HEEEELLO weird awesomeness! That was crazy!
S: Yeah...
. . .
S: Yeah, that's a lot of chromaticism for a chorus melody.
U: And the verses, every single time we went to the verses
it just felt like they were like:
"Here's the two notes you get in the instrumental, write a melody over it!"
S: Yeah, let me... U: And the topliner did what they could and it was awesome.
S: I'm not sure this is perfect,
so you in the comments may have some corrections.
So I think the top parts are mostly either A and C or A♭ and C,
and then these are moving in thirds, D-F, C-E, E-G, B♭-D...
U: Mm~
S: So that's already setting up this... in the chorus.
And then:
I think this chord is different.
Unless they- that would be really weird, but...
S: I don't... I doubt they do that chord...
U: Yeah.
S: I mean it sounds neat but I- that's such a strange, like...
E♭(sus4)(add6)(♭9)?
U: AHAHA! S: It's not even a sus4 cuz the one that's playing has a major third in it.
E♭(sub6)(♭9)(11) - yeah, it's super weird, like,
I was only thinking that because I think that was the chord before
and I do think the bass is going to E♭, but...
I think they might have clarified that a little so they could have the _ bass.
U: Yeah!
*Still figuring out*
S: Yeah. I'm not... I'm not exactly sure what it is.
U: 1:05, 3 2 1
U: Okay, I see. S: Oh yeah, that is A♮ the first time.
U: It feels like there is three layers for the bass.
Cuz it's layered in with something more percussive.
Unless it's the low end of a...
xylophone thing? Marimba!
That was Andreas!
U: You can hear that in a lot of his pre-choruses,
he likes to add in those jazz harmonies and end on the *demonstrates*.
I think in summary for this song:
There is a lot of chromaticism,
there is a lot of cool sounds added in
to create this very unique atmosphere
while it has a lot of catchy rhythms.
S: Yeah.
U: That's what, I think, grounds this song.
Because the melody is playing a lot of different notes
that we don't hear in usual pop songs,
like it doesn't go to this kind of extreme harmony all the time, so...
S: Yeah.
No, going back to 'Pose', I think this is a great example of:
Great b-side, wouldn't work as a title track. (U: Yeah!)
S: The melody is too weird to be a title track.
U: But we like it! We like it! S: Perfect for a b-side, it makes a great song,
S: but it's not such an easy melody as I would expect a title track to have.
U: Right.