Been almost a year since VIXX last comeback, tepatnya comeback dengan enam onggok daging. Also been months since South Korea hyping up the Shangri-La on the new year's eve countdown until finally they managed to perfom in Olympics di depan orang-orang penting sedunia, dan diundang langsung sama Presiden untuk makan malam.
Really, South Korea, where have you been?
Gue berharap VIXX dan agensinya bisa cepet puter otak untuk comeback karena pas itu emang lagi booming banget dan mumpung lagi rame sama exposure. Bodo amat dibilang 'aji mumpung', who cares. Kesempatannya now or never. Ayo cepat bergerak!
Lalu hari demi hari, minggu ke minggu, sampai udah ganti bulan, nggak ada berita atau desas desus mereka mau comeback. HALAH. Kok nggak oportunitis gini sih? Coba kalo mereka berkarir di negara ini, pasti langsung comeback sih. C'mon man, you should grill the beef when the coal is burning hot. Tapi sayang, mungkin karena satu hal dan lainnya, nggak ada gebrakan dari VIXX. Mungkin semua sudah diperhitungkan dan mereka nggak mau gamble untuk comeback saat itu.
Sampai akhirnya di minggu-minggu terakhir bulan Maret, they announced that VIXX will having a comeback + full album on mid-April, makes it their 3rd full album since debut.
From there, some of us trying to figure it out what will be VIXX's next concept this time around. A lots of opinions has given. Like merman, noir, alice in the wonderland, phantom of the opera, cowboys, time travel dan masih banyak lagi. The boys has constantly given us reason to have high expectations of their music and concept. A conceptually consistent album, music video, costume, make up, sampai perintilan-perintilannya. Everything is so considered, ter-planning dan ter-konsep dengan baik dan rapih, that shouldn’t be out of the question.
Dari judulnya aja udah ketauan kalau ini konsepnya bakal kayak bau-bau-an dan berhubungan dengan parfum. Another out of the box concept, right? Gile sih kepikiran aja. Btw gue nih kan perfume enthusiast ya darisananya, dikasih judul kayak gitu gue otomatis makin excited dong sama konsep mereka sekarang!! How can I not?
Banyak banget fan-theories yang mengkaitkan konsep kali ini dengan film jadul dengan judul PERFUME: A STORY OF MURDERER. Iya, film laknat. I won't go on telling y'all the story and theory. Sit down.
I'm actually conteplating my self a lot before writing this, apakah gue harus membahas MV nya seperti dua review gue tentang VIXX sebelumnya, apa mau membahas sesuatu yang beda? Di MV nya sendiri kali ini nggak banyak yang bisa gue bahas dari segi storytelling, because I don't know shit, I have no idea what the fuck is going on there.
The video looks great. But I can not dig deep into that because it doesn't offer me a story. As I said on my Shangri-La MV review last year, mereka mungkin lebih pingin untuk menonjolkan gambar yang bagus tanpa banyak cing-cong/cerita biar yang nonton lebih fokus sama musik dan dance move. Gue kira hal tersebut mereka terapkan di comeback Shangri-La kemaren doang, nggak taunya yang ini juga serupa. But IDK man, it felt less and dull at first. The song is growing on me but I think the video could do more than this. Ini hanya opini dan apa adanya yang gue rasain aja ya. Some fans still feels overwhelmed, but in contrary, I still can collect myself after. Nggak ada yang bener-bener 'nonjok' di gue. Apa ini ada sangkut pautnya sama ekspektasi gue sama mereka kali ini gitu ya?
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BUT I GOTTA SAY THE WHOLE ALBUM IS AN IMPROVEMENT. It is great, track-nya banyak, pilihan genre-nya juga macem-macem, makin banyak member yang nyumbang lagu dan Hongbin dapet line lebih banyak di tiap lagu (that deep vocal, oh my). This album easily be their most seductive and cohesive album, seperti judul yang sudah gue kasih di atas: Hypnotic Seduction, the title couldn't be better and fitting. Karena seperti itulah album ini personally buat gue, makannya this time around gue memutuskan untuk membahas albumnya aja, lagu-lagunya, track by track.
— Scentist
VIXX taps into their rarely explored lower registers for an interesting listen. Ini key yang dipake kayak rendah banget gitu loh. Dari semua lagu mereka, atau paling enggak yang pernah jadi title track, kayaknya ini lagu yang cakupannya rendah banget untuk range vocal hampir keseluruhan. On one hand, I love that the melody’s lower pitch allows Hongbin to have prominent lines in the chorus, and combined with the strongly evocative lyrics and seductive imagery. Title track satu ini juga penuh dengan kejutan karena Ken dan Leo juga kebagian ngerap walaupun cuman beberapa detik. On the other hand, however, the verses can come off as too subdued, dan menurut gue VIXX yang biasa layering vocal to vocal nya halus, ini kayak gimanaaaa gitu, beda aja. Asing di telinga. On the whole, it’s definitely a competent title track, but I can’t help but feel like it’s lacking in payoff, and that VIXX was somehow musically holding themselves back. Still, the music is definitely growing on me but I feel like they could pull-off way more than here. I still love it, though.
— Odd Sense
Kalau track kedua ini adalah makanan, ini rasanya lebih lebih daripada track yang pertama. Kalau Scentist adalah nasi, mungkin ini adalah kuah gulai. Rich and textured. Rasanya lebih solid dan seru. In my opinion ini lebih strong daripada title tracknya sendiri. Vibrant synths and a group of tumbling chords directly before the chorus help make this track instantly memorable. Lyrically, it follows up directly with “Scentist”, with VIXX continuing their chase after their lover’s scent. Masih kental aura seductive tentunya. Leo and Ken’s ending harmonies in the climax clearly allowing for an immensely satisfying finish.
—Silence
This is personally my absolute favorite on this album, sungguh EDM yang mesh well dengan vokal R&B nya Ken yang nggak akan pernah salah di telinga gue. Kalau ini parfum, mungkin ini adalah parfum cowok favorit gue, VERSACE - Eros. I was immediately hooked by the house influences on this song’s introduction, Ravi’s intermittent ad-libs were well-placed, and the pre-chorus dengan banyaknya booming bass in the background, that was such a great way to setting up something spectacular for the chorus. Awalnya gue kira ini bakal ke arah EDM yang jatohnya ke Future Bass tapi ternyata enggak, haha. The drop turned out to be rather generic, slowing down the track. Tapi nggak masalah sih. I still enjoy this track a lot.
—My Valentine
B-side track di album yang juga mereka bawa di Music Show sebelum Scentist. Nggak tau sih gue apa dasarnya kenapa mereka milih lagu ini padahal mereka punya lagu kayak Silence gitu yang jedag jedug enak banget uuuuugggghhhhhh. There is so much going on within this track, but all of it works. There’s a constant flux of percussive elements (bukan gendang bertalu talu ya), from the slightly distorted beats in the opening to the understated elements of trap in the chorus. Di intro sama outro nya ada entah suara apa tapi yang jelas suara itu mengingatkan gue sama scoring nya Black Panther. But the dissonant, jazzy piano chords in the background are wonderful. Bagian rap nya Ravi juga sangat chill dan enakeun, ngepas sama beat di track ini. Honestly, se-enakeun-enakeun-nya lagu ini, it didn't blow me away.
—Circle
As expected, ini lagu yang ditulis sama Ravi. Doi gayanya suka banget bikin lagu yang begini deh: lots of lustful lyric and sensual sound. Well, Ravi shines the most on his own track, making the fullest use of his rich baritone in rapping and harmonizing with Leo and Ken, who also deliver standout vocal performances over a subdued, minimal instrumental.
It reminds me of Boracay, Hawaii and Bali
It’s a party that resembles rolling waves
There’s nothing more to add
It looks pure yet colorful
I love the imagery and innuendos Ravi’s verse conjures. LMAO.
—Good Day
A nice fully accoustic song, bright, summery and fun track. Tepat sih waktunya untuk memasukkan lagu ini setelah track-track sebelumnya yang rata-rata synth semua. Tapi nggak tau deh kenapa di telinga gue kok sedikit garing. It starts promisingly enough with an addictive strum of an electric guitar, but as the song progresses, the melody doesn’t really develop into anything exciting. Not much things to say.
—Escape
Most important note on this track:
Ravi whispers "Runaway" eight time in the end, that was creepeeeeeeey. You know how vocals supposed to fade with the instrumental?? Tapi disini that just kind of brought out even more. Ngeri ngeri sikit sih ini ngedengerinnya, dan kaget pas pertama kali denger. It makes me slightly uncomfortable at first.
—Trigger
I like the track’s individual elements, from the pervasive, dark bassline to the element of danger within the lyrics. Drop dan jump nya cukup predictable seperti lagu pop biasa. Muffeled guitar, "Click Clack Pow", yeah...what else? Harmony dari vocal line nya juga stable, tapi ya gitu deh, nothing memorable or grabbing my attention right away.
—Resemble
You can hear their heartfelt the vocals here, with its undeniably sincere lyrics written by the leader. In the case of this ballad, an under-produced instrumental is not entirely unexpected and actually works in the song’s favor, biar kita dibikin 'ngeh' sama pesan apa yang mau disampaikan sama orang yang menulis liriknya, allowing us to appreciate the beautiful message behind the song (iya kalo pas dengerin lagu ini langsung ngerti sebelum baca translate nya, lol).
You and I have passed so many deep nights
Amidst a haze of countless people
And even if we don’t say anything
I met you in that crowd of composed people
Even though I spend my days differently
I’m starting to resemble you more and more
(AAAAAA CIE)
—Navy and Shining Gold
As the obligatory fan song, its vibrancy and buoyant melodies are reminiscent of old-school VIXX, and fittingly fill the song with a sense of nostalgia that any Starlight would enjoy. Ini kayak lagu VIXX yang sering dipake untuk lagu ending, encore di konser where they running to the entire of the corner of the stage and interracting with the fans/audiences. Ngerti kan? Ya model-model begitu lah. Super major, upbeat, fun melody, easy to listen and to sing along.
Overall thought:
Listening to this album I can’t help but miss elements of VIXX’s earlier discography. This sentiment isn’t limited to their title tracks: previous B-sides like “Secret Night” from Voodoo and “Spider” from Chained Up all retained a flair for the dramatic, and the energy displayed was a large part of what made VIXX so dynamic and exciting to listen to, yang bikin heboh sendiri sambil kayak "Anjirrrrrrrrrrr" tiap dengerin. Di album ini personally gue nggak banyak menemukan elemen-elemen kayak gitu. It was sorely lacking, I don't know why. Gue semacam kangen sama lagu-lagu VIXX dan gaya musik mereka yang lama. Ya jujur sih, gue seneng mereka explore gaya dan sound yang lebih luas tapi entah kenapa gue ngerasa kurang sreg sama apa yang mereka coba kali ini. I don't hate it, but it seems like I don't think that I enjoy as much as I did with their earlier albums.
Mungkin banyaknya creative decision di album ini juga ngaruh sama hasil dan apa yang mereka mau bring up to the table kali ini. Seperti yang mereka udah bilang di interview sama media beberapa waktu lalu, album ini banyak campur tangan dari member. Nggak cuman Ravi dan Leo aja yang nyumbang; N, Ken dan Hyuk pun di album ini juga nyumbang banyak mulai dari nulis lagu sampai composing. Makin banyak orang, makin banyak opini kan? And not to mention the greed of the member that participates. Mereka bilang sendiri, dalam menyiapkan album ini mereka tuh banyak cek-cok internal, huhuhu. To me it’s clear that in this abum, VIXX has traded away their dynamism that made their earlier albums so exciting to me. I mean, given the album’s concept, it makes sense, but this creative decision of many member yang belom termasuk campur tangan CEO and producers causes some individual moments on this album to be dull and keeps me from calling this a perfect record.
Going forward, I hope VIXX manages to find a way to bring back their dynamism and flair for the dramatic in their music. Its definitely full of improvement sound and it laid clearly to the audience. Vokal nya makin terasa kuat, member yang dulu nggak terlalu banyak nyanyi sekarang makin bagus dan dapet banyak part, dan makin banyak member yang bisa turun langsung sama crafting musiknya. As much as I’d like to lavish this album with hosannas....but I’m not quite satisfied with this, huehe. Karena yaitu tadi, my tendency that missing their old musics. Banyak fans yang suka dan justru puas sama album ini. But I think I'm not one of those people. Gue nggak tau apa yang terjadi sama gue, apa karena gue makin tua, lalu lebih mencintai sesuatu yang classic, apa gimana deh?!?!
I just keep thinking that they can do 'more' than this (DASAR KAMU MANUSIA TAMAK). And too bad, di era ini mereka cuman punya waktu dua minggu untuk aktivitas promosi. Sampai gue ngepost review ini udah kelar juga... Terus ngapain dipost? Because I'm a constant, regular, and steady dip shit kind of fan.
Masih ada di luar sana yang ngerasa grup yang dia stan adalah yang paling oke karena seluruh membernya adalah musisi yang selalu turut andil sama musiknya (bukan cuman nyanyi dan joget-joget doang), dan mereka pikir cuman mereka yang bisa kayak gitu. You know what? That is the dumbest (on top of the most shortsighted, annoyingly elitist and tryhard-edgy) shit I've ever seen on social media platform, and I dont know where to start to respond to a such clusterfuck statement.
"Idol pencetak uang"
"Ngefans sama barang kapitalis"
"Mereka bukan musisi, hanya pencetak uang"
Gue akui, nggak banyak yang tau kalau grup yang gue suka ini setiap membernya (slow but sure) punya andil di tiap project nya dan rasanya gue nggak perlu gembar gembor ke semua orang seolah olah semua orang harus tau mereka ngepain aja dibelakang semua ini.
Besides, one of the main reason why I stay with them for the past five years is because they are:
Masih ada di luar sana yang ngerasa grup yang dia stan adalah yang paling oke karena seluruh membernya adalah musisi yang selalu turut andil sama musiknya (bukan cuman nyanyi dan joget-joget doang), dan mereka pikir cuman mereka yang bisa kayak gitu. You know what? That is the dumbest (on top of the most shortsighted, annoyingly elitist and tryhard-edgy) shit I've ever seen on social media platform, and I dont know where to start to respond to a such clusterfuck statement.
"Idol pencetak uang"
"Ngefans sama barang kapitalis"
"Mereka bukan musisi, hanya pencetak uang"
Gue akui, nggak banyak yang tau kalau grup yang gue suka ini setiap membernya (slow but sure) punya andil di tiap project nya dan rasanya gue nggak perlu gembar gembor ke semua orang seolah olah semua orang harus tau mereka ngepain aja dibelakang semua ini.
Besides, one of the main reason why I stay with them for the past five years is because they are:
I love this fandom. I'll stick with them as long as I can (selama gue masih kuat mentally and financially). They've been serving me nice guys, 180cms charming men, thick thigh & long legs, high quality of visual and music, high production value of concept and cool goods. Dan sejauh ini gue nggak tergiur untuk pindah cult. Makasih loh untuk tawarannya dari adek-adek semua, tapi punteun teteh tidak tertarik (talking about that 'batas suci') :))
