Umu: What is up everyone?
So we are just getting done with our school's winter break,
we're a little bit rusty when it comes to reacting
but Whee In, my ultimate bias, had a comeback, had a solo comeback
and I saw the teasers and I was like:
I am obsessed with all the aesthetics, I love vocal melody,
I'm gonna pull in my Moomoo friend Raffi to react with me,
and then it turns out that he hasn't seen or heard Hwa Sa's 'I'm a 빛' yet
and last I checked Hwa Sa was his... possibly ultimate bias?
Raffi: Possibly, possibly?
U: Possibly? Possibly, so I was like, R: Mm, yep, possibly.
U: Even though I've heard it, I'm like it's only fair,
if we're reacting to my ultimate bias we gotta react to his bias too,
so this is gonna be a joint Whee In and Hwa Sa solo comeback reaction.
"I'm a 빛, I'm a 빛..."
*Raffi cracking up*
U: Yeah... R: It sounds like "peach"...
U: Beach!
U: Shall we start with Whee In or Hwa Sa?
R: Let's do Whee In!
U: Whee In, okay, that's first up!
I have a feeling this music video is gonna make me very happy,
I- I just, I love the aesthetics!!!
Okay.
R: I can now, yeah, I already feel like it will.
U: WHEEEEEE!!!
U: You good, you going?
R: Yeah?
U: Okay, great.
R: Oh, pretty chords! Major 7ths!
U: Descending 5ths?
U: And I love the sound of the acoustic piano.
R: Yeah...
U: Sometimes producers go for electric keyboards when it comes to this sound,
but this one is- sounds very real.
Wooo!
R: A lot of depth too, a good bass.
U: Yes.
U: I have so many goosebumps!
R: Oh it is good aesthetic, I like that.
Look at all the TVs.
U: Yes!
U: I love how funky and upbeat the bass is
but how gentle her vocals are, and [how] wispy they are. (R: Yeah)
R: Yeah, a lot of breath, a lot of breath...
U: She's so beautiful!!!
*Raffi laughing*
U: I'm sorry...
R: Oh, that's such a good ascend, I love that.
U: *humming* Mid-range?
R: Mhm.
U: What is the instrument we just added in?
It's on the quarter notes...
R: Hmm~
R: Shakers...
U: Yes, transitions, you've got *imitates transition sounds* R: Percussion!
U: I love how the vocal backings are surrounding us,
this is my favorite kind of sound. (R: Yes.)
R: Is there some static, like distortion? (U: Yeah!)
U: That sounds like... maybe synth tuba?
R: Yeah...
*Umu imitating sound*
R: Something kind of brassy.
U: Yeah.
R: Such an atmosphere...
Mmm~
U: The sound is so full!
R: It is, it is, and it's not overwhelming.
Like there's balance, it's harmonious.
R: I love that, that's so effective.
U: And in a way it sounds like guitars and various synths that are hard panned left and right
can represent those butterflies' little flitty movement.
R: Yeah.
U: OOOOOHHHHH! R: Oh that's so cool!
R: And then you like hear the butterflies!
U: Huh? "In the mood"...
R: Mmmm~
U: Oh!
R: Wheeeeee!
R: There is so much aesthetic there, so much design,
like so much color vibrancy too,
like it really creates a full atmosphere,
you feel like you are in a different world, which is really cool.
U: Which, yeah, which the visuals on the screen
and the business and intricacies
of each flower and each color and each butterfly
also helps you interpret the music in a certain way,
so just like as I was saying that
if you listen really closely with headphones on
you could hear the plucked guitar panned far left,
there was some like *mimics* or wind chimes panned to the far right,
and as the butterflies were flying around
you could link their flitty motions
to the quick, gentle rhythms of those instruments
and so it was, it really felt like you dived into another world
and it was a world that I personally loved hearing because-
I don't know about you Raffi,
but one of my favorite things to hear in pop music is
when we have layers upon layers upon layers of vocal harmony
and it just like, it's its own - I was gonna say it's its own beast,
it's its own thing, it provides countermelody,
it provides a beautiful painted texture to the main line
and that's what we had a lot in this song.
R: Yeah, yeah and it would make sense because
there is so much intricacy that goes into that,
finding what sounds best, what fits the mood,
like it's more than just, I don't know, creating like a triad
(U: Right) or a major 7th of harmony, like there is,
it has to move and ebb and flow, it's really good.
U: If we can go back and talk about the chorus' vocal melody and her phrasing with it
cuz in classical music, a lot of times with our phrasing
we're taught, when we have like a really long phrase,
we're taught to choose a climax, a peak to that phrase
and we're constantly pushing through,
even if we have a rest where we don't play a note,
we're still pushing through to that one peak, even if it's really long,
and here it just felt like she pushed and then let go,
pushed and then let go,
and so it was a lot of really shorter phrases.
3 2 1
There it felt like the end of the phrases were emphasized
since that's when the background vocals came in.
R: Yeah.
U: And you said you like this descend in the melody.
R: Yeah, yeah.
U: Oops, I think I picked the end of the chorus.
I think this is the second verse, it's the second verse.
R: I was- yeah, we're at the second verse now, right? Yeah...
U: Hear that little background vocal run?
R: Yeah, yeah.
U: Okay, here's the pre-chorus. Half-time, mmh!
Oh I love that harmonic movement there cuz it's-
it interrupts the descending 5ths progression
that we've been having looped throughout (R: Yes)
R: Yeah.
U: Release
OH I LOVE THAT! *sings*
Lean - release.
R: It's happening in what's underneath as well, too.
U: Mmm, with the maybe tuba, right?
R: I think one of the things I'm loving too, and well there's a couple things,
but definitely as we're listening to the voice, there is...
it's really text painting, which I'm a big fan of
cuz I think it adds more meaning to the song
for the performer and then the audience can engage with that,
but like when she sang like "whisper in my ear, talk softly to me",
like the voice is gentle and there's that breathiness to it,
like there is a vulnerability in the tone
and that just shows to me really great artistry,
you know, it's more than just singing, like it's,
there's deeper purpose to that.
U: And on top of that I believe the lyricist for this song is actually Ravi from Vixx,
which I don't think...
I don't think I have said anything about this yet
but it makes me overwhelmingly happy to know that
the first boy group that I ever stanned, or at least a member from the boy group,
is now collaborating with and writing for and hosting Whee In
which is a member of the girl group that I first stanned
and she's signed to a label under a member from a boy group that I first stanned!
It's just like, it's something that you never saw coming,
and when the news dropped,
especially with Ailee too, who's an amazing vocalist,
it just, it makes my heart so warm.
Let me double-check the writing credits for this...
Okay... lyricist is Ravi, yeah!
R: Eyyy, sounds like my name!
U: Oh yeah! The only difference is "ff" versus a "v"!
R: This is common.
U: Shall we move on to Hwa Sa?
R: Yeah!
U: So I believe there is meaning behind why this song is called 'I'm a 빛'...
Okay okay, someone explained, they said:
"light: 빛 by itself is pronounced as 'bit'
but it is usually put together with 이 which is a subject marker
so it becomes the light: '빛이' or 'bichi'
and it's pronounced like 'bich' in songs to create wordplay"
Okay it means light and sounds like bich.
R: It's like a play on words, it's really interesting.
Okay! Hwa Sa! In 3 2 1!
It's like ASMR.
U: Yup, I have listened to this before I go to bed. So calming.
R: Right, to fall asleep.
U: Actually this though. R: Oh, she drippin'.
R: She drippin'.
U: "drippin' drippin' love love..."
R: Hhhuhh! Don't open the door!
U: This might be a continuation from 'Maria''s music video?
I know she was in a tub in that one for some time, in water?
Hello~
R: Eyy~
Eyy eyy eyy aww eyyy!
Look at you go, girl!
Yes, the world is going crazy.
U: And the voices really...
zoom in on her voice
and then as the song goes on we add more and more layers.
R: Yeah.
U: *vocalizes* Beautiful ascend!
R: Oh!
Wow, we went... very gentle but very abrupt.
Brash. [?????]
U: A gentle third above the vocals.
R: Aha.
But that's total- that's higher laryngeal...
U: It's also a bit of a call - answer.
R: Yeah.
R: Oh I like the clapping, subdividing.
U: I feel like in Hwa Sa's solos they do sprinkle in ASMR moments
U: with her intimate voice. (R: Yeah)
R: Makes you want to move, it's visceral.
U: Yeah.
Gentle and then: - oh wait, not yet.
R: Shout-out to the choreography. Incredible.
R: Wooo!
Panning.
U: Let's GOOO!
R: Woooow this is cool.
U: Uh, I love the little-
UH!
Playing with microtones and semitones.
R: Yes, that is innovative.
U: Oh my.
R: That was a cool little experience.
U: Right?!
U: I wonder if that's kept in the original song
cuz it seemed like they got a part two to the bridge there.
R: Oh...
I like how the song like opens up.
Like it's kind of like covered and then it's... fully opened.
U: Yeah.
U: Oh, we're adding in some electric guitar! R: Which maybe is what...
R: ...she's feeling.
R: Woooow~
Oh, there's more.
U: Ooooh...
R: Snakes...
Hwa Sa! (*whispered*)
U: Mmmm... R: I'm here for it, it's a yes for me.
U: Ahahaha, why is this a yes for you, Raffi?
R: She like flawlessly and what seems effortlessly
went through such a vocal journey, like...
this is not easy stuff,
I mean she starts the song in kind of like a head voice and mixed register
and then it erupts into this like belt, like she's belting - (U: *sings "I'm a 빛"-part*)
R: Yeah, like that's, the larynx lifts with that,
and then she's able to mix it throughout the song
with like vocal fry into, you know, staying in the core of the voice,
like enough breath so to throttle pressure, like the...
she's a really really good singer!
U: And I will translate that into a non-vocalist terms by saying:
I like the contrast in dynamic singing.
Which is basically what Raffi just said,
which is that *belt* with the *mimics softer part*,
nice and soft head voice???
R: Aha.
U: Okay, okay, nice and soft head voice... R: Yeah, but like, I mean she journeys through several registers
R: in some of the phrases, like that's cool. (U: Right)
U: I gotta say my favorite part of the song is the second-
well of course the dancing with the, I believe it's Kaay-ya-keum?
카야쿰? 카야-something.
I will put the correct pronunciation here. [가야금]
Of course I loved that but for the pop part of this song,
I loved the second verse because that's when
they really played around with taking all the production out
just to focus on Hwa Sa's ASMR voice and then putting everything back in
and they did that several times throughout the second verse
which really changes up the spatial experience
and it keeps you on your toes and it keeps you hooked in
and listening really closely to the song.
The bridge after the dance break was also nice
because that mainly focused just on background vocals and her, I believe.
Let me double-check that real quick.
Yes, I love this part!
U: Yeah, the clapping with the beautiful background vocals.
R: And then after this, the way it stays captivating. (U: Yeah)
U: And it's the chorus which changes, right? Yeah. R: Right here, it's like dim and then we open up, I love that.
U: It's because they take out the bass and they take out the percussion
and then suddenly it all comes in together.
R: And it's like a little bit more whoffy [?????] and there's like clarity. U: Whoffy, I love that!
U: And I never realized,
but the background vocals we had in that part of the bridge
are there throughout the chorus
but they just take everything away and have them shine
(R: Yeah.) while they're actually there the entire time
(R: Yup.) Which is something that you wouldn't normally focus on.
R: Yeah, there's a lot of contrast, like again, intricacy, detail.
U: Good songwriting. Period.
R: Yeah, and like good production.
Her stuff is always so well produced, it's really cool.
U: Do you think this has a chance of becoming the new favorite after 'Maria'
or is 'Maria' still hardcore number one?
R: I think it depends on the mood but I,
I could see this, I think it has a chance, yeah.
U: When you say mood, when would you listen to-
what mood would you be in when you listen to 'Maria' versus this song?
R: Um, this would be more like, I wanna get movin'.
U: Okay.
R: Like I'm on the treadmill and Hwa Sa is hyping me up,
um...
U: Sorry
R: I think 'Maria' is a different vibe.
Winter time.
U: Oh.
R: Yeah.
U: Walking along, it's snowing outside but you are nice and cozy?
R: Yeah, yeah, but I mean in both you just hear the beauty of her voice,
the flexibility of her voice, it's, it's really exciting.
It makes me feel happy.
U: 행...복...해요?
R: Yeah, that's close, yeah yeah yeah! U: Is that right?
U: What is it?
R: Yeah, I think that's right, 행복해요~