Dreamcatcher: Two, three, dream of me
hi we are Dreamcatcher! Jiu: Woo!
Bye~
Umu: You are now reacting to the seven member girl group Dreamcatcher and their 2020 release 'Boca.'
'Boca' is a follow up to the music video that they released before this one called 'Scream'
and at the beginning of 'Scream's music video, text pops up on the screen that says
"one day suddenly the light did not come people forgot how to say good things"
and the song was about enduring abuse and bullying and feeling the need to scream
in contrast to 'Scream' which was about opening your mouth, the lyrics of 'Boca' proclaim that they will shut someone else's.
they lyrics express the frustration of watching someone being hurt by those words and feeling the urge to protect them
is Spanish the word boca means...
Sam: Mmmouth??
*Umu claps*
Raffi: *singing* I~ took Latin in high school (t/n: an intellectual) *Umu and Sam laugh*
U: The lyrics of the chorus sing "where is the love? If those thorny words start to hurt you, I won't let them open that boca"
The Dreamcatcher member Sua said that through this song,
they wanted to send out a message of hope to people who are hurt my irresponsible words of others
Jason: That's nice U: This song is composed and *stutters* p p-
*umu breathes heavily*
Jason: That's a long one
Ju Young: Yeah, that's a long one, you're doing great, you're doing great!
U: The song is composed by the producers Ollounder and LEEZ
*victory screech*
Sam: Alright, three, two, one
Woah
Kevin: The tree did a thing Owen: The same tree, yeah K: The Pleasantville- pleasantville thing
O: Well it's the same tree as- as 'Scream'
Ju: I love that descending scale line that they're doing just with their voices *Jason singing said scale*
Leon: Mm
K: Same thing, different bass, different harmony
Ju: OOooohh
Oooh
I love this girl
Sam: That reggaeton is really really cool
and I definitely said that on the first try
K: The bass stays at
irregular time intervals than what our ears are used to
Stephanie: Mmmm K: Ooh and then that chord gets introduced
ST: Woah
Ju: Huh? Ja: We are in major... now
Raffi: Wow vibe change, they went kinda metal a bit Brianna: Oooh~
she said rock
Jamal: And now they're wearing all black, it's like angst
K: Woah Owen: *entranced*
Ja: I'm really f*cking with the *makes noise* like the just constant bass
Ju: Oh my god her vOice
Cloud: Dami everytime
ST: Mm I love this part ahhhh
J: Ooh
ST: WOAH
Sam: You're right though, that build up in the back is crazy.
R: It's explosive, I love it Sam: It's explosive
J: Yeah
Ja: Oh
Wait, one sec
Oh this is good!
*Ja hums along* Ju: Oh
Oh my gosh she just got stabbed
J: Oh wow
B: Oh
Oh!
K: Turning into the vibrato was very nice
Ja: That was such a headbanger
B: Oh... oof! Umu: wanna go off?
U: Yeah? What did you like about that track? B: The variety
It's- I re- agh, I feel like kpop has like- all the kpop I've seen so far has been like EDM, jazz, little bit of church, some funk
and this is different from the usual groups, I remember, I think it was the bridge, she was like singing and then
there was another girl and her voice was more um, not piercing but just like a little bit stronger
and then like behind her was this soft like long melody, just like melismatic
I'm using my words from music history right now
of just like (C: So proud) *B sings line* and then this girl's just going off behind it
and I really liked the texture and layering within it, it was giving me life, it was giving me flavor
and then I liked how at the ending this background was really intense, but also the vocals itself was intense
I just thought it was this good arc of just like building and building, and finally taking you there, and she went off
like she- she- she just let it all out and I was like, okay
Sam: It's also very interesting, I don't know if you hear this in songs, but when people use their falsettos,
usually there's a bit of energy that's lost, you know what I'm saying, when you have a build up and then they go into falsetto
because like, physiology of falsetto is you're not applying as much pressure or whatever
it's a very like, it's very like weightless
but here it doesn't sound like there's any energy being lost when they go like the- I can't remember what they did in that one part, but
R: Yeah, it's- they're definitely mixing (Sam: Right there right there) between registers Sam: You know (R: Yep) what I'm saying
R: Mhm Sam: Like it's still- it still sounds like it's in place, or it still sounds like it belongs
U: Yeah I'm curious could we- could you guys go through and just talk about, you know, falsetto vs mix vs belting how it fits in the song?
Sam: three, two, one
R: Yeah, so there's the breathy, like the sotto voce
Right?
Sam: I feel like here it's
R: And now they're- that's belt Sam: Yeah, and as you hear in the production, it's starting to get more
complex, and it's starting to speed up a lot more, and now, here, there's like a lot more... R: Yeah
uh, belt-y, and then right there, though however, when they go up almost into like a descant part
it doesn't sound like it's out of place, even though it's in definitely the falsetto
part of the voice R: Right
Well, one of the things I noticed too, the first time going through is that I think, I don't know,
maybe you felt the same, but the most noticeable belt moment for me was *sings* "where is the love"
that "where is the love" part Sam: Yeahh
R: And I'm sure that that was intentional
Maybe Sam: Oh that's a smart observation
'Cause that's- R: The text- that's kinda like angry
you know, like (Sam: Yeahh) "where is the love" and so why not belt that,
add that core to the voice, 'cause there's no breath in that moment
so that's why it's so noticeable Sam: Yeah, because that's like the most powerful part of the text
that's the part that they wanna like, bring out the most
K: I will say, this time listening to it by itself, I like the first half, I like the pre-chorus and the verse as well
the *sings percussion of verse* I like the way the- you know there were basically two simple chords, I mean in the verse part
the C sharp minor, and the A major, you're always guessing when it's gonna change
'cause it doesn't- it doesn't do the regular predictable thing
and then the pre-chorus is cool, because that introduces the- the major four, the -the- the sharp six bass
and then- and then it does some more lively stuff which I also liked,
but then once that Dreamcatcher metal sound comes in, I just want more BLAST
O: I think that was a good point with the compression it was (K: Yeah) I think there was too much compression
What is this note- ope sorry, waiit,
I think it's this *plays one note* Yeah.
I like when the bass sits on that note for the, I think over two rappers
and it's just a plane with the bass, I've never heard anything like that before
like there's no- it sounds almost alien in that there's no growth or movement through it K: yeah, it's a drone
it's the- it- but it's the most bizarre drone I think that I've like-
K: Yeah O: I don't know, something- something about it
and the way that they kept having opportunities to get out of that, like so many avenues to change
and they just kept going with that drone, I was really getting into that
I really like that, and I think that was conscious too, like they were like
we can get out of here and the listener expects us to, but we're not going to, and we're gonna keep it moving like this
ST: The pre-chorus is- it's that's the flowery part (U: Mhm), the harmonic elements in the pre-chorus
the... the very beginning you don't really pay attention to the, the harmony of it, or at least for me
I think it's all about like those heavy beats and just kind of like the dark- whole dark heavy texture of it
but in the pre-chorus, it's different because the texture is lighter and then you can hear
without any heavy beats and stuff, you can hear the harmonic element of it
and I noticed after the pre-chorus
I liked how they put in like the really- like the vibrant tone of the chorus
it- it sounds- it reminded me of Lion King or something (U: Ah!) like the chorus (U: Uh-huh)
like the people like singing their hearts out U: The *sings part* ST: Yeah, I was like, oh
J: I really liked this one because I thought this was a lot of like smaller things that they added in that were really cool
let me just listen to it- the start of it again.
*sings beginning vocal melody* the singer is presenting a melodic idea
like theres this *sings responding part* responding to what she's saying
and that caught my ear, 'cause I was like, oh they're trying to like have a conversation with the sound
there was also a part later where I heard there was like a melodic guitar riff
that just like also complemented it, just like tiny things that brought together the piece
it wasn't crazy, as far as what they were doing, but they were really tasteful and melodic
with how they placed the melody but also just accompanying sounds that really felt intentional and tasteful
Rafael: I thought the chorus seemed out of place a little bit, timbrely at least
it was a cool chorus I just think it didn't totally fit in with the rest of the tune
they like, switched vibes, and it's just such a contrasting type of music
when I listen to something, and there's an electric guitar that comes out like that or something
part of me is always thinking like, what is that musician doing the rest of the song
like are they just like, sitting back with no instrument in their hands, or
so it's weird when I hear like a timbre come out in the mix that just isn't there for the rest of the song completely, feels just a little too forced in
J: I see what you mean with that, I guess in a way, I kinda like that, 'cause I like when song writers even if like they pick two vibes that don't necessarily mesh well
being direct, and being like, okay we're just gonna go for this vibe, and we're just gonna go into it
like what I said the little elements added with it that I can more easily connect to
I felt like there were certain parts of the song, just little harmonic choices, or like one instrument used just once
but I felt like the placement was cool as far as the whole journey that the piece was trying to take us on
and I thought, when it went to the rock section, I guess that's kinda the tension and release, like
they saw it, they come to it from another angle that you don't necessarily think they're going to do
and you're like the fact that they were able to like take you out of your comfort zone but then take you back
and it's just that much more like, yeah, like, I love this
B: It was- it was really good, I liked how they built everything up to the ending in a way
C: It (B: It's different) started with like acapella vibes with the percussion, and I was like
I know this is Dreamcatcher and I know it's about to like, go off, so
I'm really curious where this is going, and then it brought in like the rock guitar and stuff, and went very rock
I (B: I know) was like wow, that's a lot, and the guitar riff definitely reminded me of another song, I wanna say it's Evanescence, but it's not
B: That's- (C: That vibe) I was like getting (C: I was like is this Evanescence) bad boy vibes
C: Is this like, are we back in the 1990s, like growing up? Is that okay?
B: But it's like we needed it, there- it's- it was needed
U: So your favorite moment was like the bridge where they have a mix of like gentle vocals and really powerful (B: Mhm) vocals
Cloud, do you have a favorite moment?
C: I think, maybe as soon as we got to the drop, like where it went into rock, an I did like the (B: Mhm) *C sings chorus instrumental*
They were missing a note though, 'cause they had like a rest in the middle of the- HMMM let me see if I can find one
Yeah, dadadada (rest) da, dadadada (rest) da
'cause I always thought that it was just steady 8th notes
U: Oh, so they have like a little elongation
C: No that's ni- I like when people subvert my expectations, like because I thought it was gonna be 8th notes, I'm glad it's not just steady 8th notes
R: I mean overall, instrumentally though, I'm- you're definitely getting the frustration within the text
and like keep asking- their phrase is a question, I think that's communicated through the instrumentation, it's heavy
Sam: There's also... an interesting amount of contrast
between every single part I felt like
I just find that really interesting for a song that is very- or the theme of the song is very much like, the haters suck, you know what I'm saying
I liked it a lot R: Block out the haters
Sam: Block out the haters
Ja: Love yourself
and love your fellow man, 'cause that is all we have in this world, is each other
and kpop, and music