#(i’ve animated 1 time b4 in 2021)

[daeyumi]

i tried out procreate dreams

[diegoavilamusica]

[REVIEW] A Page - Yuqi

(여자)아이들 ((G)I-DLE)’s 송우기 (Song Yuqi) made her solo debut with a Single Album called A Page yesterday (may 13, 2021) and you can listen to it here!

I’ve been looking forward to her solo debut for a while. I’m a really big (G)I-DLE fan, and have been following what Yuqi has been doing through social media and such, and I was really excited when it got announced.

The single album has 2 songs. Giant –the title track– and Bonnie & Clyde. Giant was written by Yuqi, BOYTOY, Young Sky, Peter Hyun, and ChaTone, and it was arranged by **BOYTOY, Young Sky, **and Peter Hyun.

The song starts with a pretty mysterious intro of some vocal chops and a piano not giving too much context away, and then the beat starts with a dark atmosphere. Pretty dark percussion, and just Yuqi’s voice and an almost 1 note piano melody in the higher register making the atmosphere even more mysterious and tense. Then some snares come in an almost marching band fashion transitioning the listener into the pre-chorus.

The pre-chorus is way lighter in mood because there’s not a constant element in the lower frequencies, but the harmonic context and the melody keep building the tension as an almost classic edm buildup starts to form to get us to the chorus.

I really liked the chorus. It feels like the best payoff for the tension that had been building since the beginning of the song. It pays off with distorted guitars playing power chords, pinch harmonics, violins, heavy percussion, a bass and another guitar in eight notes in the back half of the chorus moving it along, and Yuqi’s great performance and catchy melody. And then like nothing happened we’re back at the second verse.

The second verse is showing known elements that we had heard before, but also introduces new percussion higher in the frequency spectrum (hi hats, finger-snaps) and sparse hints of the guitars that we heard in the chorus keeping them in the context of the vese with filters that makes them sound like they’re just trying to say something, trying to come out to the surface, but held back. The pre-chorus again introducing new elements and getting to the buildup in a new way, and again we get the payoff with the second chorus.

The bridge then goes back to a mix between the first verse and the pre-chorus buildups playing tension and release with the listeners to end up in the last chorus that resolves in just Yuqi’s voice being accompanied by a piano.

The production and songwriting really convey the message of a fighter song. A song about overcoming obstacles, and standing tall like a Giant even when fighting the lonely nights. In the verses and pre-chorus it feels like the song is shy, the production is darker, and Yuqi’s voice starting in a rather low part of the range just above C3 and slowly climbing up to the chorus where it hovers around a B4 and the production gets more aggressive, more in your face. This journey in instrumentation, in arrangement, and in songwriting helps support the message of the song.

Also please watch the MV for the song. It is so good. The animation is amazing, and it really enhances the experience of the song.

The second song in the album, Bonnie & Clyde, was written by Galeyn Tenhaeff, Catalina Schweighauser, Joel Strömgren, and** Benjamin Roustaing,** composed by Benjamin Roustaing, GaleJoel Strömgren, Catalina Schweighauser, and Galeyn Tenhaeff, and arranged by Joel Strömgren.

This one’s a more straight forward, straight to the point song, with a steady beat throughout the entire track. The beat starts from the beginning with a four on the floor and throughout the entire song there’s some instrument playing the quarter notes (except on the transitions from section to section, where the claps are change into eight notes).

When the snare is introduced in the pre-chorus it does feel like the song is moving along and keeps it from feeling repetitive, and then the chorus with Yuqi’s voice in a higher register, the backing vocals supporting her, and the change of instrumentation really gives the ear a sense of rest from the original beat even though we are still in the same rhythmic pattern.

The song’s about being the ride or die to your s/o and how they are that for you, and how everything else that happens around them as a couple is completely irrelevant because they have each other. The title fits perfectly with the poster couple for ride or dies, and I think the production in a really implicit way is also helping the point of the song.

The steady beat, the 4 on the floor throughout the track, and the “predictability” of it all can also be seen as reliability. When all else changes, there’s still the beat accentuating the quarter notes. There’s something to fall back on. A musical ride or die perhaps.

Overall I liked both songs, but I did like the title track Giant way better than Bonnie & Clyde. The songwriting and production are great in both tracks, and they both enhance what Yuqi is saying with the lyrics. I also liked hearing her sing in english, maybe because I was not expecting it at all, so it was a nice surprise.

Bonnie & Clyde felt a little safe for me, which is not a bad thing, but being part (G)I-DLE I was expecting a little more of a risk taker approach to the song. The topic has been sang about for years, with a lot of different takes to it, so I was expecting a little bit more from Yuqi’s version.

Giant, on the other hand, was a track that I really enjoyed listening to, and dissecting the production and songwriting choices and techniques from my point of view. It didn’t feel predictable, or like a song that I had heard a million times. It felt new, and exciting, and I really liked that.