The Korean Boy Band Gods have been good to me, friends, and by me, I also mean you in extension.
If any of you follow my KPOP columns here on Melismatic (or read my Twitter account), you're probably already very much aware just who my main biases are in the two groups I've spent the majority of my spazzing. I've overstated my Cassie/ELF devotion so many times, it almost doesn't even bare repeating. However, because this post is in fact not about my top two male biases in Korea (shock), I feel its important to assert from go that my loyalty lies with TVXQ!'s Shim Changmin and Super Junior's Donghae.
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's time to get on to the main topic of today, which is of course, my #2 biases in my respective fandoms. That would of course be JYJ's Kim Junsu and Super Junior's Lee HyukJae ("Eunhyuk"). The fact that these two men are actually very close friends since a young age is a concidence...I think...but it's clear that whatever was in the water in Gyeonggi-do should be bottled and marketed as a serum for supreme confidence and sex appeal.
Also, this gif is appropriate.
Read on for the spazzing regarding Super Junior's recent appearance at Japan's Tokyo Dome and Kim Junsu's official foray into the solo market with his debut album Tarantallegra.
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EXHIBIT A: SuJu @ Tokyo Dome
Super Junior is currently going all out in Japan, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed by moi. They recently released a music video for arguably the best song off their most recent album, "Opera" (Oh-Pear-Uh), re-recorded into Japanese. Donghae in bright teal with guyliner speaking Japanese? Yes, please.
They also recently finished a two show run at Tokyo's infamous Tokyo Dome to a sold out crowd. I know plenty of people will scoff at this remark as the onslaught of Hallyu acts to play to/sell out The Dome has allegedly "tarnished" the reptutation it once had when TVXQ! (as Tohoshinki) fought and clawed their way in. I'ma leave that hateraide for another day.
The Tokyo version of the group's Super Show 4 live tour is arguably one of the last re-incarnations of the show, which first started "playing" in Seoul back last November. However, several new solos for the members were debuted in the group's second solo run in Japan, a country noticibly "looser" when compared to South Korea's more strict performance policies. One of these changes was the inclusion of a brand new song by my top SuJu bias, Donghae, performed alongside his
Putting aside my Donghae dreams for a split second, apparently, Eunhyuk, who is more often praised for his dancing/rapping than his singing, debuted a new dance solo at SS4 Tokyo. Imagine my chagrin when I found out Donghae (his usually partner in crime) was no where to be found. Not only was he dancing provocatively with (gasp!) female dancers, but pulled off his shirt (the abs, the abs everywhere) and writhed around with said dancers. And to what song, you ask?
To "Sorry Sorry - Answer." Better known to readers of Melismatic as my favorite Super Junior song ever. I'm not ashamed to say my hands were on either side of my head and my mouth hung agape watching this fancam. Please tell me there are more HQ versions of this glorious routine.
The only way that ish would have been better would be if Yesung was singing it live while Eunhyuk writhed around. Really.
In hindsight, I regret that thought. Oh, the feels. The feels!
Hyukjae, I thought we had this talk at SM Town New York. Donghae is my SuJu bias, and it's bad enough he literally creeped up on me out of nowhere, stealing the vast majority of my attentions from the glory that is Choikang Changmin. You need to stop giving me these feelings. We cannot cheat on our mutual boyfriend this way. You know he'd cry buckets and then we'd both have to pick up the pieces.
Just kidding. Please don't stop. Ever.
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EXHIBIT B: Tarantallegra...whatever that means
Perhaps my adoration for the angelic main vocal of TV5Q! wasn't quite documented here as much as it should have been, but Kim Junsu could literally sing the phone book and I would listen all day long mesmorized, hitting proverbial replay. His voice is so strikingly powerful, it's no small wonder that despite the plague of issues blocking and disrupting JYJ's careers in the wake of the lawsuit with SM Entertainment, Junsu continues to get work that showcases how strong a musician he is. This is no quarry with Yoochun or Jaejoong, who both are also excellent vocalists (they wouldn't have been members of TVXQ! if they weren't -- let's be real), but Junsu has that X-Factor that makes him stand apart from the rest. Yes, even apart from my own TVXQ! bias.
After a mere taste of Sexy Xiah with 2010's Japanese single "Intoxication" (seriously, do not listen to that song without headphones in mixed company..."stroke you like an arpeggio," anyone?), he returns to the solo front without the 'h' as XIA (pronounced "She-Uh"), a toyed with version of his "stage name" Xiah Junsu (aka "Asia Junsu").
Tarantallegra is more than simply difficult to spell/pronounce. It's the name of Junsu's debut solo album, released this past week in Korea, and its title track. (It's also the jinx spell used in the Harry Potter fandom to inflict the curse of spasmatic dancing feet. I'm choosing to ignore this coincidence, despite being an ardent Ron Weasley fan.)
"Tarantallegra" the song is smoky, erotic, intense, dark and deeply rhythmic, and all of these spices are broadcast in hyper clarity in the music video. For fans of TVXQ!, to see 'Angelic' Junsu strut along this way is not just jarring, it's transfixing. The video comes complete with images of bondage, rife with sex, more scantily-clad female dancers(!) and scantily-clad male ones, and obvious scenes of sexual ambiguity. Needless to say, this is a lot to take in as an American pop consumer, so I can only imagine what kind of reaction it would get in South Korea. Something tells me this ish will be banned before you can say the words "under my sky".
This is not your run-of-the-mill Oppa video, alright.
While the song itself lacks a climactic structure that is comfortable and expected in most uptempo KPOP that I enjoy, it is that visual element that walks hand-in-hand with the sonic boom that is Junsu's voice colliding with an incredible orchestral and bass drum arrangement that really makes "Tarantallegra" pop and twitch into life between your ears.
As for the rest of the album, the uptempos ("Breath" -- an apparent sequel to JYJ's "Mission", and it sounds like it; "Fever" -- a collaboration with his twin brother, Juno, who is also a performer; "Set Me Free"; and yes, a Korean version of "Intoxication") literally scortch and allow Junsu the room to showcase what he does best: not only provide a supreme vocal performance but also really command the stage with his dancing skills (he wasn't 1/5 of the Official Gods of the East for nothing, people).
The rest of the material is predictably ballad-heavy (the majority was written by Junsu himself, and Jaejoong helped composed "No Gain"), and while they are hardly anything to scoff at, we already know that Junsu's voice is incredible. All of his ballad material is naturally beautiful, but in away, they tend to run together and not stand apart as truly memorable to my ears. That is, of course, apart from the beautiful and sensual mid-tempo that is "Lullaby."
Sweet dreams, my darling
I'll hold you close, feel my arms around you
Sweet dreams, dream a dream of me with only you
Sweet dreams, close your eyes and lay in my arms
I just wanna make you feel my heart
I'm ready
It's so painfully beautiful and romantic, it's hard not to get wrapped up in it. Literally. Sob.
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Who would have thought the two "goofy" mood makers of their respective groups would provide such sex appeal?
Water. I need it. And lots of it. Korea, what are you doing to me?
1 comment:
Junsu is really gaying it up in this video. And I am absolutely loving it!
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