Posts tagged ‘Kpop’
A Sleepless Night: CNBLUE North America tour review
NOTE: since this was such an epic event, my reflections on CNBLUE’s recent North America tour will be split into two parts.
CNBLUE rolled into North America last month for a whirlwind eleven-day tour of four lucky cities. It’s been eleven long years since CNBLUE toured the US so this was a big deal for their long-suffering fans who have been waiting more than a decade for them to return to these shores. I couldn’t make the first stop of the tour in Toronto but I was able to attend the other three shows and, needless to say, a good time was had by all.
CNBLUE was the very first South Korean band to have a world tour way back in 2013-14, which included two stops in the US, in New York City and Los Angeles, but since then they’ve concentrated their attention on Asia, to great success. But with the advent of the Kpop era in the West, after seemingly every other Korean act passing through the US, it was long past time that they came back. Because of the long gap since their last visit here, the fans were extra excited to see them. and vice versa, I think.
New York City
The word for the show in New York City is intense.
Their first US show was at the Knockdown Center in New York, a former glass factory in the middle of the industrial center of Maspeth, Queens. The venue is mostly known for its rave and DJ events, though other live acts including LCD Soundsystem, Frank Ocean, and Animal Collective, among others, have performed there. The big, flat space is spacious and industrial, with brick walls, exposed beam ceilings, and sliding barn doors. Capacity is about 2000 people, which is smaller than most of the venues that CNBLUE plays in Asia, where they average at least 10,000 people per show. I was lucky enough to be at the very front of the stage against the barricade but friends who were farther back at the bar said that the sightlines were good despite the lack of rake in the floor.
Due to various confusion in the line to enter there was some tension in the hall, but once the show got started it was a happy, high energy show. It was great to hear band leader Jung Yonghwa kibbutzing in pretty decent English and the relatively small venue meant that the audience was really close to the stage, so Yonghwa pretty much chatted with the fans throughout the show. He’s leveled up his English skills quite a bit and was able to carry on conversations and express complex thoughts fairly easily. In comparison, bassist Lee Jungshin’s English was somewhat rudimentary, with drummer Kang Minhyuk’s skills falling somewhere in between.
Due to meniscus surgery on his right knee, Yonghwa had a more than two-month layoff from performing live, which seemed to have been good for him as he was in very good voice, showing off his huge vocal range and ably singing everything from high-powered rock songs to tender ballads. One of the highlights of the show was a two-song mini-set of the ballads To.My Love and Then, Now, and Forever, where Yonghwa played piano and sang. After the conclusion of both songs the audience was rapturously silent for several seconds absorbing the sheer emotional beauty of his voice.
Yonghwa also belted out all the rock songs, effortlessly hitting ululating high notes on several of the band’s most energetic songs including In My Head, I’m Sorry, and Coffee Shop. The two-month layoff seems to have done wonders for his voice as it was strong, stable, and rich. He also looked a bit less bulked up than in recent tours, also possibly due to being laid up after his knee surgery. He also wasn’t able to run around quite as vigorously as in the past, and when he jumped he favored his right leg a bit, sometimes surreptitiously hopping on one foot, and he didn’t climb on top of the piano during Radio like he usually does. But he managed to exude a huge and infectious amount of energy and enthusiasm and within two songs he had the audience screaming and jumping along with him. Any fears that his knee injury would lessen the intensity of his performance were quickly laid to rest.
Minhyuk was alternately smiling and fierce throughout the show, holding down the beat with his steady, formidable drum skills. Jungshin strode around the stage on his long legs and provided able second vocals. Being so close to the stage I could more easily see the coordination between the band members as they hit their marks and the rapid musical changes, such as the jazzy break in Tattoo that they nailed perfectly.
Yonghwa also showed off even more of the lead guitar chops that he’s been working on lately. He’s getting pretty good and his guitar runs are notably faster and more varied than when I saw the band live six months ago in Seoul. Their usual sideman Jung Jaepil wasn’t available for this tour, so his brilliant lead guitar was absent, but that role was ably filled by Keun Park, who remained in the shadows but whose sparkling guitar fills greatly accentuated the arrangements. Also missing was CNBLUE’s usual fifth man, session keyboardist Klozer, whose work usually fattens up their live sound, but in the smaller and more intimate venues, with a more rock-based setlist, it wasn’t that critical. The three main members were easily able to fill up the hall with their presence and with their musical skills.
The setlist was a streamlined version of the concert that I saw back in Seoul last September, with fully six songs absent (Face To Face, Y Why, Feeling, Have A Good Night, Let Me Know, and Blue Stars), so the show roared along at top speed. The smaller venue also meant that steam jets replaced the firepots from their arena shows, but there were still confetti guns shooting out shredded paper bits at strategic moments. Despite the snafus getting into the venue the show turned out just fine, as CNBLUE performed with their usual skill and intensity, and everyone went home happy and satisfied.
Los Angeles
The word for the show in Los Angeles is energetic.
Unlike his styling in New York, where his hair was wild and curly, in LA Yonghwa had his hair straight and slicked back and he wore a black leather jacket and black trousers. It was a much slinkier, glamourous look than New York, where he seemed to be harkening back to The Ramones in his black t-shirt and jeans. Jungshin and Minhyuk also wore basic black.
Interestingly, during the sound check session, a short, three-song set for those audience members paying extra, Yonghwa wore loose Carhartt shorts which revealed the analgesic patches on his right knee. During the show he also stumbled slightly at one point toward the end of the set and needed a bit of a hand getting up off the stage after sitting down for the photo session. But other than that he didn’t seem too hampered by his recent knee surgery as he studiously avoided overly strenuous jumping and running. I think for most of the audience who might have been unaware of his recent injury he didn’t seem to be bothered at all and appeared to be his usual energetic self.
Yonghwa also repeated a version of the same ments as he had in New York, but he did it with such sincerity that it seemed very naturalistic. The man is a born entertainer, not least in his ability to convincingly deliver his lines night after night. As with the New York show, he kept up his running dialog with the audience almost exclusively in English, with a bit of Korean thrown in. He also expounded on his love for tacos, which he’d also eaten in New York. I hope someone takes him on a taco crawl through Boyle Heights the next time he’s here so he can have some real Mexican food. Yonghwa also threw out a few random Spanish phrases like “Te Amo” and “Hola!” He also dropped more slang, at various points in the show randomly shouting phrases like “Awesome!” “Bussin!” “Slay!” “Periodt!”and “Facts!” and at one point claimed “I am a language genius.” He also continued his swearing streak, at one point shouting “Make some fucking noise!” to the delight of the audience. Once again his jumping was much more restrained than usual, restricted to a few modest hops and spins. But that isn’t to say that he was standing still, as he was in constant motion during the entire show, whether dancing, swaying, tossing his mic, or waving his arms, as well as playing guitar or piano.
The sound was also a bit cleaner and much louder than in New York–I could feel the bass drum speaker reverberating through my body and my ears were ringing after the show. And at least from my vantage point, the audience seemed to have more Asian members as well, probably reflecting the Southern California demographics. As in New York the band’s engaging stage presence and humorous patter quickly had fans eating out of the palm of their hands and the floor shook when the audience jumped along with the music.
The band members also seemed a bit more relaxed at this show, either getting over their jet lag or their opening-night jitters, or just getting more into the groove of the tour. For me the highlight again was the piano-focused version of Then Now and Forever. Yonghwa put every ounce of emotion into this version and after the climactic vocal descension at the bridge he seemed to struggle a bit to hold back tears. Minhyuk played most of the song with his eyes closed, and he also seemed to be feeling the strong emotions of the song.
Also outstanding was the live version of their latest title track, A Sleepless Night. The song itself is a basic groove, following a simple three-chord progression, which allows the band to embellish and elaborate over it. Jungshin’s bassline in particular was strong and supple in this song, and I loved his slowed-down finger-picking that closed out the song.
San Francisco
The word for the show in San Francisco is ecstatic.
The concert in San Francisco was the loudest and mostest yet. CNBLUE put on a flawless three-hour show, full of high-energy, musical chops, emotion, humor, and gorgeous music. Opening up with six of their rockiest rock songs makes me think that they designed this setlist with North American audiences in mind, especially for those who might not be familiar with their more recent material. Though they made their name back in the day as kpop idols it felt like they wanted to update audiences to their more recent incarnation as a full-fledged rock band.
Seeing three different shows in a row, it was amusing how Yonghwa’s between-song patter followed the same script with slight variations, yet he delivered it so smoothly and naturally that it felt entirely spontaneous. He’s also so comfortable in his own skin onstage that the very few mistakes he made he shrugged off easily. At one point he started to say “ten percent” when he meant “one hundred percent,” but he quickly recognized his error and laughingly corrected himself. As on the previous stops he also deployed a few f-bombs and hell yesses, which you’re definitely not gonna hear in Japan or other Asian territories. His delight in this was very evident, like a small child tasting a sweet for the first time.
Since it was the last night of the tour he and the other two members left it all out on the stage and once again their enthusiasm and love of performing was infectious, as the audience lustily sang along throughout the show. The effects were not extensive, but the confetti was strategically abundant. At one point red and blue streamers shot from cannons at the front of the stage, draping dramatically on the riggings on the Warfield’s high ceilings. Yonghwa also slightly favored his right leg again, but he still managed to dance exuberantly and hype up the crowd, especially during the last set, which included their disco classic Cinderella. The high-powered rock song Between Us, the penultimate song of the show, took off like rocket fuel while Yonghwa danced like a dervish and adlibbed ecstatic high notes and harmonies.
During the first encore at the climax of an exuberant version of Can’t Stop Yonghwa belted out a high note that fully lasted fifteen seconds, and to be able to bust out a lengthy and stable extended high note after singing nearly twenty songs over the course of two and a half hours is a testament to his vast talents as a singer and a performer, and at that moment Yonghwa was clearly very pleased with himself. By the end of the show in San Francisco he was flying, and the audience reflected back his ecstasy. He also expressed his pleasure and satisfaction with the tour, commenting “We need to start again at Toronto, then New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco again.”
On this tour Yonghwa flexed his fluid and elastic vocals, but he’s also added in guitar solos on top of his rhythm guitar duties. As with his singing, his solos are innovative, fun, and precise. I hesitate to make the comparison but he’s approaching Prince territory in the range of his abilities, from stellar songwriting to blistering guitar work to wide-ranging, emotional, and powerful vocals, He also played the piano beautifully, danced joyfully, and projected to the balconies with ease. Jungshin on the bass effortlessly held down the beat and mixes up thumb popping, plucking, and slides up and down the frets. Kang Minhyuk as always was tireless on the drums.
CNBLUE had a monster year last year, releasing a full-length album in Japan and a mini-album in Korea and playing more than sixty concerts, as well as their usual Korean celebrity activities, so by the end of 2024 they probably were pretty exhausted. And although the two-plus month layoff waiting for Yonghwa to recover from knee surgery may have at first seemed like a setback, in fact the enforced rest seems to have done them all well, so they entered this tour with guns blazing.
Though it’s been a long eleven years since their last shows here in the States, their return to North America went brilliantly. Judging from the rhapsodic responses of the audiences at the three shows I saw, as well as the band’s joyful delight at performing here, I don’t think it will be long before they’re back again.
Let’s Go Crazy: CNBLUE’s North America Strategy
After more than ten years, CNBLUE is finally touring North America again, with shows planned in April in Toronto, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. During those ten years the band has gone through a lot of changes, due to a two-year plus hiatus for their mandatory military service, the scandal-ridden departure of their lead guitarist, and the COVID-19 pandemic. But in the past couple years they’ve come back strong, with an especially stellar 2024, so now it seems they’re re-setting their sights on a more global presence.
Although CNBLUE was the very first South Korean band to have a world tour way back in 2013-14, for the most part since then they’ve focused their attention on building audiences in Asia, which they’ve done to massive success. But that means they’ve only played a total of two shows in the US in their fifteen-plus years of existence (not counting a joint performance with their labelmates FTISLAND and a few stages at KCon). With the rise of Kpop in the US in the past several years, it seemed like everyone and their mother was touring here except CNBLUE, but now that’s about to be rectified. But as a band and not a dance group they have less appeal to mainstream Kpop audiences in the US, so they’re not likely to be a breakout success like BTS or Blackpink. Instead, it seems more likely that they’ll have to follow the lead of another Asian band that’s also hugely popular in their home country, One OK Rock from Japan.
OOR started touring the US way back in 2014, right around the time that CNBLUE last played in this country. But unlike CNBLUE, OOR has been coming back to the US on the regular, with follow up tours almost every year since then (except during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020-21). For most of those years they played in 3000-5000 capacity halls, but after more than ten years touring in the US, OOR is now moving into somewhat bigger venues here, including the 12,000-seat Prudential Arena in New Jersey. On the West Coast they’re playing in 8000-seat houses, but in most of the rest of the country they’re still playing 3000-5000 seat venues. So despite their vast popularity in Japan, where they routinely sell out the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome for several nights in a row, OOR are still something of a niche attraction here in the US. But they’re gradually moving up, after many years of hard work touring in North America.
If they’re lucky, CNBLUE will follow a similar trajectory, and I’m sure they’re itching to jump in the game in North America. A further plot twist—sometime late last year CNBLUE’s frontman Jung Yonghwa torn his meniscus in his right knee and in mid-January underwent surgery to repair it. As of today he seems to be on the way to recovering, but for a little while it seemed a bit iffy if it would be a good idea for the North American tour would go forward, since Yonghwa’s signature stage presence includes continuously running and jumping on stage for upwards of three hours at at time.
But this tour is hopefully just the first of many to come, so if Yonghwa isn’t able to tear around the stage at full speed like he usually does it’s not the end of the world. This is just the first foray into a long-term commitment to expanding outside of Asia and if the example of OOR is a guideline it’s going to take a long time and several tours for them to successfully break into the US market. If their shows on this tour are somewhat less manic it’s okay, and CNBLUE will hopefully come back again next year or the year after when Yonghwa is back to his old self and can fully jump around. Despite the ten-year gap since their last show here, I have a feeling it’s not the last time CNBLUE will play in the US, and they’ll be back much quicker this time.
This tour is a little appetizer, so if they’re not able to be their fully hyped-up selves on stage it will be okay, since there will be other chances—this time they’re just dipping their toes in the water. As OOR has shown, this market is a tough nut to crack no matter how popular you are in Asia. There’s only one way to get to where OOR is and that’s through hard work and diligence, and if CNBLUE wants to succeed here they’re going to have to do the same and grind away at smaller venues until they build their fanbase here. This tour will be the first step in a long road, but I think it’s totally worth it, since they’re good enough to be globally popular and to compete in the world market. This time around Yonghwa will just have to come up with creative strategies to allow for his current physical state, which I’m sure he’ll do brilliantly. And above all, I have faith in the power of CNBLUE’s music. Their concerts are not only about running around on stage, but also about the sheer genius of their songs. That brilliance will shine through no matter what form their stage performance takes.
To buy tickets, go here:
Toronto, Ap. 16: https://www.ticketmaster.ca/cnblue-voyage-into-x-toronto-ontario-04-16-2025/event/1000624CAEC01BF6
NYC, Ap. 18: https://dice.fm/event/yolkla-cnblue-voyage-into-x-live-tour-18th-apr-knockdown-center-new-york-tickets
Los Angeles, Ap. 24: https://www.axs.com/events/846222/2025-cnblue-live-voyage-into-x-in-north-america-tickets
San Francisco, Ap. 27: https://www.axs.com/events/845376/cnblue-tickets
Where You Are: Searching For CNBLUE
The first time I went to Seoul in Spring 2016 Jung Yonghwa and CNBLUE were comfortably ensconced in the South Korean entertainment scene.
I ran across their images all over the place, and I heard their music everywhere, on sound systems in cafes and in the malls.
I even bought a cute little pair of socks with a cartoon Yonghwa on it.
The next time I went to Seoul, in June 2017, CNBLUE was still there, with Yonghwa’s smiling face looking down from a billboard overlooking the freeway from Seoul to Incheon airport, and on both a large video wall as well as a birthday billboard for Yonghwa in the Gangnam subway station that was covered with sticky notes from his adoring fans.
Like any popular South Korean celebrity, Yonghwa’s face adorned skincare ads, calendars, posters and other random merch all over the city.
CNBLUE were also models for the South Korean eyeglass manufacturer BIBIEM and their bespectacled faces were on billboards overlooking the Myeongdong area.
In Fall 2019 when I went to Seoul again, CNBLUE had enlisted in the military and their presence was a mere whisper, but I still saw various posters, calendars, and other stray paraphernalia sporting their likenesses at the street markets and Kpop shops.
At one store I managed to dig up a coffee mug with Yonghwa’s face on it in a mall somewhere in Dongdaemun.
My most recent trip to Seoul was in Fall 2023. After spending five days all over town I didn’t see any sign of CNBLUE’s presence on the city’s streets. CNBLUE debuted back in 2010 and thirteen years is truly an eternity in Kpop years, so it wasn’t that surprising to find that their images had been supplanted by merch featuring newer, younger groups. But I still felt a bit of melancholy seeing how they’d seemingly vanished from the public consciousness despite consistently releasing brilliant music throughout the years.
But late 2023 also marked a turning point for the band. Yonghwa dropped a new solo mini-album, Your City, in September of that year and instead of promoting on the usual Kpop music shows such as Inkigayo and Music Bank he instead got onto the campus music festival circuit. He played one, then two, then four and eventually six or seven different college festivals that fall, showcasing his superlative live performance chops to audiences outside of the usual Kpop listeners or CNBLUE fans.
Possibly due to the buzz around those shows, CNBLUE was invited to the Someday Christmas festival in December, their first music festival in South Korea after more than a decade of existence, and they also blew the roof off of that venue, playing the only encore out of sets by several different acts.
Earlier this summer they tore it up at the Peak Festival in Seoul and they’re scheduled for the Soundberry Festival, also in Seoul, upcoming later in July.
Yonghwa is one of the best and most versatile pop music composers in the world and he and CNBLUE have been popular for years in Japan and across Asia for their blistering live performances, but for some reason in South Korea they haven’t been able to fully shake their image as an idol band. By playing these indie and college music festivals they’re reinventing and reintroducing themselves to a South Korean audience who may have only thought of them as a Kpop group. CNBLUE is finally making the transition from being regarded as just a Kpop idol band to being recognized in South Korea as a legit live band and actual musical artists.
All of these recent shows in South Korea seem to have amped up CNBLUE’s and Yonghwa’s name recognition again in their home country. Recently a fan reported finding socks and other merch for sale once again with Yonghwa’s face on them in street markets in Seoul. Despite being a completely unscientific indicator of popularity or success, this somehow feels like a good omen to me.
You Only Live Twice: CNBLUE in Tokyo and Yonghwa in Hong Kong concert reviews, part 1
Part One: CNBLUE in Tokyo
This summer I had the privilege of replicating the CNBLUE/Jung Yonghwa concert double bill I’d experienced in 2017. I’d already planned to be in Taipei in late June, so when CNBLUE announced that the last concert of their Calling Zepp Tour would be in Tokyo right around then I made a quick decision to extend my itinerary. The recent years of military hiatus and COVID-19 CNBLUE concert-deprivation have made me jump at any chance to see them live. And then Yonghwa announced his All-Rounder tour would have a stop in Hong Kong at the beginning of July and I thought, what the heck, I’ll be in Asia anyway, so after calculating costs and counting my pennies I added a stopover in the former Crown Colony. After all the strife of the past four years I wasn’t about to miss a chance to see my favorite performers in concert-–you only live once, after all.
CNBLUE’s latest Japan tour took place on the Zepp circuit, a chain of small concert halls around the country that hold anywhere from 1,000-2,000 people with general seating tickets. As my friend Glenn recounted in his recap of two CNBLUE Zepp concerts from the tour, the smaller halls create a much more intimate environment than the 8,000-17,000 seat arenas that CNBLUE usually plays in Japan. The tour was a novel experience for fans as well as a way continue to rebuild the CNBLUE brand in Japan after their long hiatus during their military enlistments and during the COVID-19 shutdowns of the past few years. The show I attended at Tokyo Garden was in the largest venue of the tour with about 8,000 seats so it wasn’t quite as cozy as many of the previous stops. But as it was the last stop on the tour, by then CNBLUE was all limbered up and ready to rumble.
The band was definitely more confident and comfortable onstage than when I saw them back in November at Budokan, which were their first live shows after the military/COVID hiatus. By the time I saw them at Tokyo Garden they had a good ten shows under their belt and they had completely regained their swag.
The setlist for this tour was designed for maximum impact in the small Zepp venues, so the band came out swinging, opening with IN MY HEAD and then blazing through three more of their rockiest rock songs. The message was clear that they came for the high energy. Leader Jung Yonghwa busted out the hot pink Jackson guitar he’d debuted at Budokan, taking a few guitar solos to show he knows how. He had his game face on at the start as well, scowling and grimacing rock-star style. The sound in the hall quickly reached that satisfyingly massive roar that CNBLUE achieves when they’re playing their loudest, most rock songs.
Flexing their versatility, in the second set the band completely switched it up, playing three pop tunes that let Yonghwa practice his kawaii. On THIS IS Yonghwa demonstrated another aspect of his impeccable vocal skills as he flawlessly spit the song’s staccato lyrics. CNBLUE even showed off some of their dubious dancing skills during SHAKE, with much joking and smiling amongst the band members as well. They effectively worked the crowd, reflecting the years they’ve spent honing their entertainment chops on countless South Korean variety shows.
After another lengthy comment section they followed with yet another mood change, with a set of three more introspective songs including one of my favorites, the gorgeous trip-hop song SUPERNOVA. I’m happy to see this one added back into the setlist–-I’m wondering if it’s been absent due to the song’s tricky high notes, but recently converted second lead vocalist Jungshin was able to pull it off pretty well. The set concluded with ROYAL RUMBLE, one of their best songs and quite possibly their masterpiece. I’ve heard the song performed in Korean at a previous concert in Taipei but ROYAL RUMBLE in Japanese somehow hits different. The two sidemen guitarists played the intricate counterpoint that had been missing in previous live versions and the spare, repeating motif was mesmerizing, creating a hypnotic, somewhat claustrophobic mood that underscored the song’s bleak lyrics. Yonghwa as usual gave 1000% on the singing of the song, effortlessly moving between crooning, whispering, growling and belting. He puts his entire being into projecting the song’s emotion while maintaining absolute control over his vocals.
Bassist Jungshin’s performance contrasted most strongly of the three from the November Budokan shows. Back then it was his first couple live shows singing second lead and he was nervous as a cat, barely moving from his mic the entire concert, and his somewhat tentative vocals reflected his nervousness. At Tokyo Garden he sounded great and was relaxed and happy, roaming the stage freely and clowning with his bandmates. His basslines also were fire as he switched effortlessly between plucking and thumb-popping, demonstrating that his bass work is the spine of CNBLUE’s sound. Kang Minhyuk’s drumming was also on point, strong, precise, and full of imagination.
I had no idea what they were saying during the long comments between sets but the three were loose and funny the whole night. Jungshin in particular made everything hilarious. Though I don’t understand more than a handful of words in Japanese it seemed to me that Yonghwa has upped his nihongo game, speaking rapid-fire Japanese to the appreciative audience.
They were clearly at ease during this show, unlike the intense nervousness of their Budokan concerts back in November. The interplay between the three of them is one of very old friends who have literally gone through a war together and survived to emerge on the other side.
The band wrapped up the main part of the show with six of their most high-energy tunes, starting with a blistering version of their latest Japan single LET IT SHINE. The crackling guitar riff that opens the song gave an immediate jolt of energy, supplemented by a soulful Hammond organ sound by the backing keyboardist. It’s a testament to the continued quality of CNBLUE’s work that their most recent songs, LET IT SHINE, TRIGGER and MOON, are as strong and catchy as their longstanding classics like COFFEE SHOP and BETWEEN US.
The set also included their interactive jam song WAKE UP. At Budokan in November the no-cheering rules were still in effect at concerts in Japan but those have since been lifted, so Yonghwa was able to practice all of his favorite call-and-response games with the audience. The song, which in its original studio incarnation is only about three minutes long, went on for a good twelve minutes or so and included both Jungshin and Minhyuk stepping up to the mic to join Yonghwa on singing out phrases for the audience to mimic.
The staging at Tokyo Garden added a nice laser light element that reached out over the packed audience. However, the videos on the background screens looked a bit underwhelming and cheesy. There were no background videos for the prior ZEPP Tour shows so maybe an intern was tasked at putting these together at the last minute because they were very minimal and fairly bad and generic.
After concluding the last set the band came back onstage and proceeded to perform five songs during two lengthy encore sessions, encouraged by a very loud and raucous audience. The first encore included their traditional winding-down songs TRY AGAIN SMILE AGAIN and GLORY DAYS, but the enthusiastic crowd drew them back on stage for rounds of Happy Birthday in both English and Korean and presentations of cake and flowers to Yonghwa and Minhyuk, the birthday boys.
Yonghwa seemed to be so happy that he didn’t want to leave the stage, insisting on playing two more songs after that. His ear-to-ear smiles during the final encores were infectious and the whole venue was abuzz with good vibes and adoration. He seemed elated to have successfully concluded the tour and to have performed a complicated show to a very full house.
He and his bandmates also seemed happy and relieved to have completed a popular comeback tour in Japan, where their fanbase is the strongest. But even in their stronghold things have been in turmoil in the past few years, since the withdrawal of their former guitarist, Lee Jonghyun, who had been very popular in Japan and with some fans not supporting his departure. By playing in much smaller venues than they’re accustomed to, this tour was a way of regaining some of those fans and giving them the treat of seeing CNBLUE in close quarters. For the most part they were greeted with full houses and satiated audiences, so their strategy worked. In addition, I think I saw more male fans this time around (which is not to say that there were many of them). One sat next to me and seemed to enjoy the show, though he was less interested in the between-set clowning around. But maybe the band is starting to expand beyond its mostly-female fanbase and will be able to further grow its audience beyond its Kpop roots.
Hopefully CNBLUE will have continued success as they rebuild the brand after a few years of setbacks. It was touch and go for a while after Jonghyun departed the band in 2019 so it’s great that they’re still alive and kicking. The average lifespan of a kpop group is seven years or less so after more than thirteen years on the circuit CNBLUE continues to defy the odds.
Although they could probably have individual careers as actors and entertainers, such as Minhyuk most recently creating a buzz as the male lead in the hit Netflix drama CELEBRITY, it’s nice to see them focus on making music together again. While they’re entirely fine and skilled as actors, they are geniuses at music and live shows. And I’m definitely here for the music myself.
Next up: Part 2: Yonghwa in Hong Kong
A Tale of Two Tours: CNBLUE and One OK Rock In Japan
A special guest post by CNBLUE fan Glenn!
I was in Japan for a bit over a week in April 2023 and in that time was lucky enough to attend shows on tours by two different veteran acts – CNBLUE’s Calling Zepp tour and One OK Rock’s Luxury Disease stadium tour. Very different in their size and scale, but both exceedingly worthwhile.
Introduction
I suppose since I am Valerie’s guest here I should introduce myself. My name is Glenn and I am a 55-year-old man who lives in the DC suburbs of Northern Virginia. So, not exactly in the typical CNBLUE demographic. I first saw CNBLUE on the old MNET America cable channel about 8 years ago and I was immediately captivated by their music (and good looks). Until then I had only really been exposed to KPOP dance groups, so the idea of a real band playing their own instruments was fascinating. I dove headlong into their story, watching every youtube video and collecting as much of their back-catalog of CDs and DVDs as I could. Luckily, the many, many tour DVDs do a good job of capturing what the band is all about. Shortly after my intro I discovered that the WHITE Spring 2015 tour was going to be happening. In those days getting tickets was difficult but there was a fairly straightforward way to get them via secondary sources. So with that in mind I used one of the many little companies that work on behalf of foreigners to get a ticket to one of the Yokohama shows. I also became aware via the CNBLUE International Fans group on FB that someone had an extra ticket to the other Yokohama show. After an easy paypal transaction I had secured tickets to both and made my plans for a whirlwind weekend in Yokohama. It’s nice to have the tour DVD of a show I attended. So those are my general bona fides.
For the 2023 CNBLUE Calling Zepp tour I had already booked a trip to Asia before the tour was announced that included about a week in Tokyo for the first week of April. Given the byzantine world of Japanese concert ticketing I expected it would be difficult to get tickets since the initial lottery was only open to Japanese BOICE. which seems to basically require you to live in Japan (or be close friends with someone who does). Luckily when the winners of the first round of the lottery were announced several BOICE with extra tickets were advertising them on Twitter. Thanks to Valerie for making me aware of this! I contacted a few and was able to fairly quickly line up a ticket for night 2 in Nagoya and night 1 in Sapporo. Both were extremely helpful to me and I sent payment by PayPal, then had to go through the process of figuring out how to get a Japanese phone number to be able to use the electronic ticketing system. This also proved to be stressful but fairly straightforward.
With all of that out of the way, let’s (finally) get on with the show!
When this tour was announced I was initially a bit baffled. Why was a band that’s been playing arenas for years scaling way down to a tour of Zepp live house clubs? From what I can gather it was a chance to rebuild their audience and to reconnect with their biggest fans after being on hiatus for military service and after the loss of a band member.
I arrived in Nagoya a few hours before the second night’s show. I had seen the set list posted from the first night so had some idea what to expect. Zepp Nagoya holds about 1800 people. Signs were posted around the club and around the block for every 100 people. Everyone lined up by their ticket reference number. My number for this show was 1062. Around 5:30 I walked across the street from my hotel (Strings Hotel Nagoya – highly recommended if you’re going to a show here) to the club to see where I needed to go. Once doors opened at 6 PM the ticketing app made the tickets active and the line eventually started moving.
Despite my high number when I got inside the club I managed to be one of the last people to squeeze into the area about fifteen rows deep from the stage. Anticipation built as the 7 PM show time approached with audio of past CNBLUE shows playing over the club’s PA. Shortly after 7 PM the lights went down and Kang Minhyuk was first out to his drum kit. Now that they are a trio Minhyuk’s spot has moved to the front of the right side of the stage with bassist Lee Jungshin in his customary spot on the left and of course frontman Jung Yonghwa in the center. The sound is filled out on this tour by three extra musicians—two guitar players and a keyboard player who mostly were kept off on the fringes of the stage.
The show was arranged in short blocks of songs, the first of which was the “Rock” block that opened with IN MY HEAD. The sound in the club was a bit bass-heavy so having concert earplugs made a big difference in filtering the sound. Yonghwa’s vocals were loud and clear and Jungshin’s takeover of former band member Lee Jonghyun’s vocal parts was pretty seamless. It also felt like having Minhyuk that much closer to the audience really made the drums even more immediate. The block finished out with ONE TIME: RYU CAN DO IT, WHERE YOU ARE, and one of my favorites, TIME IS OVER. It was quite interesting to see how the set was constructed with some real out-of-left-field choices. I’m not sure I would have expected TIME IS OVER but I’m glad it was there.
Then it was time for the first MC block. Since I don’t speak Japanese I don’t know exactly what was said but it was the usual introductions from the three of them welcoming everyone to the show and riffed on the word “Calling.” Yonghwa also mentioned that IN MY HEAD was their major label debut single.
Second was the “Dance” block that opened with FACE TO FACE (with Yonghwa mugging for the crowd), THIS IS, and SHAKE SHAKE. That was followed by the next MC block with a recap of the SHAKE SHAKE choreography.THIS IS also seemed like a pretty deep cut.The guys were all extremely relaxed with lots of laughter and gentle ribbing of each other.
Next was the “Emo” block that kicked off with SUPERNOVA—yet another track you wouldn’t have really expected. This part of the show was very strong, however I felt like at the end of this song the drums got a little out of sync with everyone else. It definitely sounded better at the Sapporo show. That was followed by one of the real highlights of the show for me which was ROYAL RUMBLE. I feel like this song is really underrated and Yonghwa really gets to exercise his vocal talents. The additional musicians also allow him to just sing this song without having to worry about anything else. The section closed out with MOON, with the very excited crowd enthusiastically clapping along.
The following MC section was time for Food Talk, a staple of every CNBLUE performance.
The next section has apparently been dubbed “Powerful” by YH and included LET IT SHINE, TRIGGER, and BETWEEN US. Again the crowd seemed to really enjoy this section of newer material followed by another MC.
And the main set closed out with the crowd-pleasing “Final” section that included some of their best-loved audience-participation songs: LADY, WAKE UP, COFFEE SHOP, and I’M SORRY. Honestly, these are probably four of the best live songs ever. Because they’ve played them so many times and are free to play around a little it’s really a joy between Yonghwa goofing around during LADY, followed by all of the various “Wake Up, Wake Up” call-and-responses that can really be played with. Since the club is small Yonghwa several times called for silence from the crowd and did his call without a microphone, which worked well in such an intimate setting. And then he coached Minhyuk in a couple of rounds of the same thing. For my money COFFEE SHOP might just be the perfect song. It’s just so fun in the live environment and the whole club was really dancing along. I’M SORRY will always be a crowd favorite, with Yonghwa’s overhead arm thing that looks like a little kid asking a truck driver to blow his horn.
Of course the band returned after a brief break to change into the tour t-shirts. Yonghwa delighted the crowd by telling everyone it was ok to get out our phones to take photos and videos of TRY AGAIN, SMILE AGAIN. As someone who’s been to lots of shows in North America over the years I have to say that the prevalence of smartphone photography has largely detracted from the concert experience. So being in a place where photography is strictly forbidden is kind of refreshing since it allows everyone a chance to concentrate on just enjoying the show. But for one song I guess we could all be distracted by trying to get as many good pictures as possible. After that we had time for thank you’s to the extra tour musicians and I presume to the tour and club staff and of course all of us for being there.
The show closed with GLORY DAYS, which I guess seems to be the new traditional closer. After that they took their bows and it was all over.
The show in Sapporo was basically exactly the same but with different Food Talk. The queues were organized slightly differently and I was number 485 for this show. Once inside I got the almost identical spot to the previous show. Zepp Sapporo holds about 2000 but I think this show was not quite sold out and there was a little more personal space on the floor which I really appreciated.
If I could suggest one thing to the band it would be to change up the set from show to show to make them all different. They have such an extensive catalog now that it would be easy to switch out at least four or five songs every show. I get that they like everything to be well-scripted, but my favorite artists over the years like James or REM always played a different show every night. So if you went to multiple shows it was always fresh and it kept the band on their toes. On a tour like this where there is no big video or light show it would be somewhat easier to do.
I had wondered how the smaller stage would affect Yonghwa’s manic energy and his running all over the place, but in general he was focused and had plenty of chances to get out his energy. He’s always been the consummate frontman and in a venue this size he’s really able to connect with everyone.
The chance to see the band in a venue this size was really exciting and I still can’t quite believe how lucky I was to see them twice on this tour. A huge thank you to the two Japanese fans who sold me the tickets and were so nice in looking after me to make sure I got the tickets and knew where to be. In such a crazy world these days it’s great to see that there are still people who are happy to help a complete stranger.
One OK Rock at Tokyo Dome
Sandwiched between these two shows I had a chance to see One OK Rock at Tokyo Dome. On a bit of a whim I checked when I arrived in Japan to see if there were any tickets available in the Pia website and sure enough there were. I had no idea where the seat was located but it was easy enough to buy my ticket.
Tokyo Dome shows are very well-organized. I found the appropriate entrance and asked if I was in the right place. The staff member tapped on my phone and then another person applied a little NFC device to the screen to verify my ticket and I was in. One of the nice things about shows in Japan are the early start times. CNBLUE was doors at 6 PM, show at 7 PM. One OK Rock was doors at 4 PM, show at 6 PM. I had arrived a little after 4 PM, which was obviously quite early. It turned out that my seat was in the outfield bleachers with a generally obstructed view of the stage and no view of the big video screens. I couldn’t even see Kanki Toyoma but could just see the front of his drum kit.
I will admit that, while I really enjoy their music, I am not as intimately familiar with their catalog. But I knew this would be an interesting experience. When we entered everyone was given a radio controlled LED bracelet. These were certainly an integral part of the overall light show.
The band were fresh off a North American arena tour opening for Muse, but of course they are so huge here in Japan that they can sell out consecutive nights at the biggest stadiums in the country. I believe Tokyo Dome holds about 50,000 people for concerts and the place was packed full by show time.
The lights went down a few minutes after 6 PM and the opening strains of WONDER hit the crowd, but only Tomoya was on the stage so everyone was a little confused. Then spotlights hit two raised platforms around 1st base and 3rd base with Yamashita Toru and Kohama Ryota atop them playing before eventually coming down and running to the stage. And then Moriuchi Taka was raised up to the stage extension in front of the stage to start singing. I am not really a fan of stadium shows but the band are veterans of big shows like this and know how to make BIG movements and grand entrances. There is clearly a lot of work that goes into putting together a show on this scale. They really brought out all of the pyro, fireworks, and dry ice aided lasers.
I won’t do a song by song of the show, but they played 25 songs over the course of nearly 3 hours including some quite long MC sections. Here’s a link to the set https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/one-ok-rock/2023/tokyo-dome-tokyo-japan-3bbb6490.html Apparently this show was recorded for the eventual live DVD.
The show was quite a spectacle as I expected. Once the bracelets got activated the whole audience became a giant mood light. Everyone was REALLY into the show with most people singing along to everything and most arms in the air. Permission was granted for everyone to photograph the encore.
Taka is another fantastic frontman who loves being dramatic with lots of grand gestures. They’ve played lots of very large venues through the years so he’s clearly had time to hone his craft and play to a venue this enormous. For such a little guy he really has a large presence in addition to his huge voice.
Among the interesting contrasts between these events was the breakdown of the crowd. At the two CNBLUE shows I attended I’d estimate that I saw a total of ten other men (besides the band, crew, and venue staff) and I think the average age was probably in the area of forty. At One OK Rock I think it was about 50/50 women to men with the crowd skewing younger to their twenties – although I did see one businessman in a suit who was probably in his sixties. I’m not really sure why CNBLUE doesn’t have much of a male fan following. Are they just too handsome?
Overall it was three great shows by two excellent bands. I’ll always prefer a more intimate venue, but the OOR stadium experience was worth doing.
Practical Information
Valerie (again!) suggested a company called Mobal (www.mobal.com) which will provide you with a Japanese SIM card and real Japanese Softbank or DOCOMO phone number. Just make sure your phone is unlocked. You can either pick the card up when you arrive in Japan or they will ship it to you for free. The cheapest short term plan is currently about 8000 JPY for thirty days which includes a phone number for calls and texting as well as 7 GB of data.
Once you receive the SIM you can request a specific date to activate your account and they suggest that activation may take up to a couple of days so getting it activated right before you arrive is a good idea.
You will need a Japanese phone number to create and verify your account with the Ticket Pia site (t.pia.jp) and their service called Cloak which allows you to receive ticket transfers from other users. Because I had never used this before and couldn’t actually register until I arrived in Japan there was some stress about whether I would be able to get it working. But the worry was unnecessary as I was able to register no problem. As part of the process you call a toll free number from your phone number to verify it. Once I had that set up I was able to receive the ticket transfers. Until I actually got into the show though there was still some question over how it worked. But just showing the ticket screen to the venue staff was all I needed to do and they quickly clicked the link they needed to and I was in.
For the One OK Rock show however I also needed another app called MOALA to use this ticket. The Google Play store told me this app wasn’t available to me (presumably because it’s a US phone even though I had my Japanese SIM installed), but I managed to install a sideload version that worked fine. Just search for something like “How to install the MOALA app” in your favorite search engine and you will find the apk to download and install.
I Don’t Take A Break, I Break Bricks: Rhetorical And Poetic Devices In CNBLUE Lyrics
So since I’ve been spending the past 10 days in a quarantine hotel in Taipei as part of the social experiment that is Taiwan’s COVID-10 response, I have a lot of time on my hands. Around the fifth day of my quarantine I came across a twitter thread with examples of rhetorical devices in Taylor Swift lyrics, which inspired me to adapt the idea to a list of rhetorical and poetic devices in CNBLUE’s lyrics. CNBLUE’s leader and chief songwriter Jung Yonghwa, who writes in English and Japanese (in collaboration with Japanese translators) as well as his native Korean, has a distinctive way with words and it was interesting to analyze the craft he puts into his wordsmithing. I’m no rhetorician so some of my examples might not be quite right but I had a good time doing a deep dive into the lyrics of my favorite band.
Lyrics in translation from Korean or Japanese are in italics. All others are in their original English. All lyrics by Jung Yonghwa unless otherwise noted. A version of this originally appeared as a twitter thread. Some lyrics are from solo releases by Yonghwa. Many translations courtesy of justjyh.com
1. ALLITERATION: the succession of words with similar sounds
“Let’s stay sober tonight”
–Stay Sober
2. ANAPHORA: the repetition of a word or phrase in successive clauses.
“I think of you at the blowing wind
I think of you at the dazzling sunlight”
–Can’t Stop
“My heart stops at this cold love, my heart breaks into pieces
My breath stops at this sick love, my breath slowly dies”
–Cold Love
“Love is meant to be cruel
Love is meant to be piercing
Love is meant to be like fire”
–Love Is
3. ANTANACLASIS: The repetition of a word within a phrase or sentence in which the second occurrence utilizes a different meaning from the first.
I don’t take a break, I break bricks
–Ryu Can Do It
4. ANTIMETABOLE: The repetition of words in successive clauses in transposed order.
I see right through you the same
Same way you see right through me
–Brothers
5. APOSTROPHE: any instance when the speaker talks to a person or object that is absent from the poem.
Hello Hello Hello Mr.KIA
Don’t be such a snob
Don’t get on the high horse, man
–Mr. KIA
6. ASSONANCE: The repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighboring words.
“You shine a light so bright that it’s blinding
Like a firework that’s blooming in the sky”
–Summer Dream
7. ASYNDETON: the omission of conjunctions from a phrase or sentence.
“People become enemies, piercing, ripping, disappearing”
–Checkmate
8. BLASON: describes the physical attributes of a subject, usually female.
“It’s the stain of your lipstick
On the glass that you share with
Slowly crossin’ your legs
As you’re playin’ with your hair”
–Make You Mine
9. ENJAMBMENT: a line break that interrupts the flow of a sentence
“Slowly tracin’ all the droplets
As they’re drippin’ off your hair it’s
So amazing how you find
Another way to blow my mind”
–Make You Mine
10. EPISTROPHE (aka epiphora): the repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases or verses.
“Can’t you be my light?
Please be my light”
–Lonely Night
11. EPIZEUXIS: The repeated use of a word for vehemence or emphasis, generally in the same sentence.
“That day, that day, that day, that day, that day”
–One Fine Day
“I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know who I am who I am who I am”
–Till Then
12. EXTENDED or SUSTAINED METAPHOR; the use of a single metaphor or analogy throughout a poem.
“If life is nothing but a party
Your name is on the marquee”
–Life Is A Party
“Even if there are speed bumps to slow me down
I have to speed up again
I keep stopping, when I start to go, I stop again
I raise the speed but you tell me to stop”
–Navigation
“We’re like a puzzle
I want to put them together
Fitting vivid-colored pieces with each other”
–Puzzle
“Because the heart can act like a mirror
In a reflection of one another
The pieces coming together make the world brighter”
–Mirror
13. HYPERBOLE: The use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.
“Even sweet rest is utterly bitter survival”
–Royal Rumble
“On the blackest of the nights
My heart burns blacker than the night”
–Tattoo
14. HYPERCATALECTIC: having an extra syllable or syllables at the end of a metrically complete verse
“It’s time of the season
I just wanna breathe it in”
–Summer Dream
15. HYPOCATASTASIS: An implied comparison or resemblance that does not directly name its referent (an implied SIMILE or METAPHOR).
“The streets of Paris speak to me”
–The Moment
16. INTERNAL RHYME: two rhyming words juxtaposed inside of the line
“What can I do to get you through
And make you change your mind?”
–Someone Else
17. LETTER-FOR-LETTER SPELLING
“D.I.A.M.O.N.D girl”
–Diamond Girl
18. METAPHOR: A comparison which directly relates one thing to another unrelated thing.
“Every night’s a breath of life when the city never sleeps”
–Life Is A Party
“We are the fire in the rain”
–Fire and Rain
“I’m your navigation”
–Navigation
19. METONYMY: the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is associated
“Only black and white, like the piano”
–Still
20. ONOMATOPOEIA: a word that sounds like the noise it describes
“Tick tock when I see you”
–Face To Face
21. PARALLELISM: the usage of repeating words and forms to give pattern and rhythm to a passage, either to juxtapose contrasting ideas or connect similar ideas.
“’Cause when I’m with you
You’re not with me”
–Someone Else
22. PARADOX: a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true
“When I see you I can’t breathe, I need to see you to breathe”
–Between us
23. SIMILE: A stated comparison (usually formed with “like” or “as”) between two dissimilar things.
“Something in the way that you laugh is like a sunflower”
–Summer Dream
“Like a child
Just like heaven”
–Like A Child
“Like the water drops that soak the dry earth
You filled my insecure heart”
–Glory Days
“My past times are on film like a movie star”
–27 Years
“I can feel your lips settle down on mine like a butterfly”*
–Daisy
*lyric by Lee Jungshin
24. SLANT RHYME: two words located at the end of a line of poetry themselves end in similar—but not identical—consonant sounds or syllable
“Don’t know how to describe
What’s going on inside”
–The Moment
“Can you let me breath?
Can you let me dream?”
–Lonely Night
“Every day is a miracle
The colors are a spectacle”
–Summer Dream
25. CONCEIT: a typically unconventional, logically complex, or surprising metaphor whose appeal is more intellectual than emotional
“People told me nothing’s easy, that’s why I go hard”
–Ryu Can Do It
“When the cloud covers the sky
And stars have closed their eyes”
–Supernova
“So I’m drunk by noisy sights”
–Jellyfish
You’re Playing Me Like A Fiddle: CNBLUE’s Wanted album review
Wanted, CNBLUE’s latest release, dropped this past October and as usual it’s solid all around. On this EP CNBLUE is going back to the 80s when power pop, punk rock’s cheerful sibling, ruled the world, or at least my playlist at the time. Wanted is a textbook example of what Nick Lowe dubbed Pure Pop—simple, upbeat, cleverly crafted pop songs. Once you hear a power pop classic such as 99 Luftballons, Back Of My Hand (I’ve Got Your Number), Starry Eyes, or Attitudes it never leaves your backbrain and the same is true of CNBLUE songs. This five-song EP is power pop at its finest, anchored by Jung Yonghwa’s reliably stellar songwriting and vocals.
Whereas their 2020 release, Re:Code, was moody and introspective, Wanted is bright and buoyant. It’s a throwback to CNBLUE’s earliest releases, with an added sophistication to their musicianship and songwriting. The lead track, Love Cut, is a fun and fabulous blend of so many things, including muscular stride piano runs, twangy, evocative guitar licks, brassy Mexican horn flourishes, a supple bassline, and world-class whistling that pays homage to countless Western soundtracks of yore. The track is a little bit Sparks, a little bit Ennio Morricone, a little bit Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and all CNBLUE. Yonghwa’s triplets in the pre-chorus and a swinging, half-time bridge that breaks up the beat makes this song all the more kicky and surprising.
Interestingly enough, if the lyrics are read straight up they’re fairly grim, as they lament a toxic relationship gone bad. Taken at face value the bridge reads as some serious stuff:
From the beginning
We were broken
Without a word, you trampled me
I used to laugh and cry at your words
But I’m not that person anymore
But Yonghwa’s plaintive, mournful delivery is almost parodic, like a sad clown miming sorrow. The rest of the track’s upbeat, fast-paced delivery and sassy instrumentation and production further flips the script, making the song’s seemingly overwrought storyline melodramatic and satirical.
Yonghwa also manages some fine and impressive bilingual lyrics. Whereas his very early attempts at writing in English resulted in a peculiar not-quite-there use of the language, here he’s able to seamlessly integrate English and Korean. The second line of the first verse has a killer bilingual Internal slant rhyme (Love or not/animyeon jangnangam) and another equally outstanding example shows up in the pre-chorus (lyrics originally in English in italics)
O ireon That’s my fault
tto igeon nae jalmot
The translation also works perfectly:
Oh, no, That’s my fault
Like how this is my fault as well
This is insanely clever and complex wordplay in two different languages.
The music video fits the song like a glove and in fact the song almost feels like a soundtrack it’s so cinematic. The deadpan way that Yonghwa and Jungshin lipsync their lines, the zooming, vertiginous camerawork, and the smooth-as-silk surfaces of the members’ faces are a video game come to life and it all perfectly matches the song’s inventive instrumentation. With this track CNBLUE is having a lot of fun, tossing out musical references at a mile a minute and behaving like animatronic versions of themselves on screen. The MV’s climax, where the band members whip out their deadly weapons which turn out to be—scissors? underscores the song and the MV’s self-reflexive, surreal, and witty presentation. The whole thing is a ridiculously entertaining simulacra that’s as fun to watch as it is to listen to.
In contrast to Love Cut’s dense, fat production, 99%, the second track, is stripped down to its most necessary elements, but the tune itself is so catchy that it doesn’t need much embellishment. I like the way the track gradually adds elements: guitar, drums, vocals, bass. Yonghwa’s singing is completely on trend as he spits staccato vocals just like everyone’s favorite trap singers. This breezy little number is the epitome of the perfect three-minute pop song and it promises to be completely amazing live.
Following 99%’s sharp, spiky groove, the third track, Hold Me Back, shifts gears to a more relaxed Bruno Mars-esque R&B sound, anchored by Yonghwa’s suave and effortless vocals. The only track written by bassist Lee Jungshin (Yonghwa penned the other four), the song’s finger-snapping, silky vibe boasts a laid-back beat by drummer Kang Minhyuk and a sleek pre-chorus piano and bass riff. Yonghwa’s vocals shine once again as he glides smoothly between his rich midrange to a sweet falsetto.
The next track, Nothing, is a throwback to vintage CNBLUE as this energetic tune sounds a bit like an updated version of their 2012 hit Hey You. The track’s intro is a jazzy guitar, in part to transition from the smooth slow jam of Hold Me Back. This impeccable and well-thought out flow from one track to the next is another feature of CNBLUE releases. Minhyuk’s light and powerful, intricate drumming is one of the highlights of this track. The original Korean title, Teori, literally translates to “bullshit,” demonstrating Yonghwa’s more relaxed attitude toward maintaining his previously perfect pop idol persona.
On Nothing as well as Love Cut Yonghwa has figured out how to best showcase Lee Jungshin’s voice. Whereas on last year’s Blue Stars track from Re:Code Jungshin’s lines were pretty close in tone and range to Yonghwa’s own, here the focus is on Jungshin’s lower, more growly baritone register, which contrasts more clearly with Yonghwa’s light tenor. One of the highlights of early CNBLUE songs was the interplay between Yonghwa’s and former guitarist Lee Jonghyun’s voices, so it’s nice to see that happening more successfully on this EP.
The album closes with the wistful and sweet midtempo ballad Time Machine, which creates an entire mood out of the simplest chord progression. Yonghwa’s mostly known for his power vocals but on this track he highlights the softer qualities of his voice. He gently croons most of the song, hitting a sweet high note in the bridge. Like the best pop music this track does exactly what it needs to do, no more, no less. It could have been cheesy or overwrought but in CNBLUE’s capable hands it’s instead beautiful and affecting.
The song’s repeated refrain, “Everything is the same, only time and the two of us have changed,” evokes a dreamy nostalgia. The sentiment is not unlike Yonghwa’s earlier ballad One Fine Day, with the singer lamenting the loss of love, but here the mood is sadness and remembrance as opposed to the fresh, searing pain of the first song. The feelings are still there but perhaps burnished by time and distance and the song’s soft, sweet melody echoes that feeling. The little bit of flute embellishing the last few bars of the song adds a lilting conclusion to the track.
One thing that stood out for me when I saw The Sparks Brothers documentary last year was the intelligence and care that Ron and Russell Mael put into their music. I feel like CNBLUE is the same—they are always making interesting, creative decisions about their music and they are thoughtful, imaginative, and rigorous in their craft. Not everything they do is a slam-dunk success but they are constantly making informed, intentional decisions about what they put out into the world. That to my mind is the definition of an artist.
Then, now and forever: CNBLUE’s Re-Code album review
Urin gwageo hyeonjae miraee isseo
CNBLUE’s new EP, Re-Code, dropped recently, and it’s the band’s first South Korean release in more than 3 ½ years, with the members spending much of that period serving their mandatory 20-month Korean military service. There’s been a lot of water under the bridge for CNBLUE during that time, including a major personnel shakeup, and their latest release pivots hard toward a new musical sensibility. Unlike their last Korean release, 7ºCN, back in 2017, Re-Code features more acoustic guitars and no trap beats, a development that is not on trend at all in the pop music world and which to my mind is wholly refreshing. One of the tracks even features a spot of whistling and for the most part there are no electric guitar solos.
This is going to be an epic post since it’s CNBLUE’s first Korean release in nearly four years. In particular I’m gonna do a deep dive into the title track, Then, Now, and Forever, as it’s an exemplary piece of pop music that explores unhappiness and depression in an notably grown-up way. The song is a driving, midtempo rock song that’s a raw and delicate expression of the vulnerability and numbness that comes from trying to forget and to continue living despite loss and insecurity, and for me it conjures up all the feels during this year of COVID-19.
The syncopated tick-tocking guitar riff that opens the track, overlaid with a delicate woohooo melisma before the start of the verse establishes the dreamy, sad tone for the song. This carries through into the verse, which sets the stage with its melancholy lyrics. (trans. @buin_jungshin, FNC entertainment)
Oneul nalssi malgeum
(The weather today is sunny)
Ohueneun meokgureum
(But there will be dark clouds in the afternoon)
Nae maeumeun gyesok biga naeril yejeong
(I expect it will keep raining in my heart)
Then the meter of the lyrics doubles in a singsong beat, echoing the childlike reference to friends and playing.
Chingudeura mianhae
(I’m sorry, friends)
Oneuldo nan ppajilge
(I’m going to sit out again today)
Neohui mameun aneunde
(I know how you feel)
Sigan jogeumman jullae
(But won’t you give me some time)
Gyesok mami sseuril yejeong
(I expect to still be heartbroken)
This wistful beginning then charges into the intensity of the pre-chorus and after that the song doesn’t look back as it travels through its heartbreakingly fraught emotional territory.
At the beginning and the end of the day
Now, at the thread of parting
We are bound together, tangled
Like a knot
Some days I’m fine
Sometimes I miss you like crazy
Sometimes I hate you so much
Again
The ebb and flow of the song’s structure is also a refreshing change from the mechanized beats of most pop music these days. There are several pauses, including between the first pre-chorus and the chorus and after the bridge, which allow the song to breathe in a human rhythm that is absent in pop songs that use a preset drum track. This gives the song life and power, expanding and elongating the song’s tempo and giving it a lovely, fluid aliveness that meshes perfectly with the instrumentation of guitars, organ, drums and bass.
Drummer Kang Minhyuk and bassist Lee Jungshin supply a strong, steady backbone for the track and their reliable work does a lot of heavy lifting in the song. The rapid ratatat drum that underscores the first line of the chorus also elevates the emotion from the pre-chorus, and the church-like organ riff, the guitars, and the flowing bassline create a Spectoresque wall of sound that drives the song’s intensity. Whereas the chorus churns along mostly in a major key, the final repetition of the hook (urin gwageo hyeonjae miraee isseo) ends the song on three notes (G, D, Bflat to A) that form a perfect G minor chord, lending a melancholy and longing to the outro. The track’s final flourish on the piano closes the song like a caress, a beautiful moment of stillness after the passionate, driving beat of the second half of the song.
UPDATE: This amateur musicologist just realized a key element of the song that I’d missed before, which is the switching between two time signatures. The song’s verse and prechorus is in 6/8 time, which creates a looping, circular mood that accentuates the sensation of being trapped or stuck in a rut. The chorus and bridge then switch to 4/4 time, lending an urgency and drive to that section of the track. Swapping smoothly between the two time signatures is one of the things that makes the song feel fresh and unpredictable and which emphasizes the tune’s emotive power.
Credit must also be given to Jung Yonghwa’s effortlessly virtuoso vocal performance on this track. He goes from a breathy whisper to throbbing sustains to a clear falsetto to belting in the blink of an eye, imbuing each line with emotion and meaning and exploiting the dynamic range of his voice to mesh perfectly with the song’s swings from sadness to frustration to deep mourning. He’s developed his voice into a powerful and evocative instrument and his control over it is flawless. The chorus includes a sweet falsetto immediately followed by another belt, which is no mean feat, and more vocal fireworks occur at the end of the bridge where he lets loose with a gorgeous descending vocal run that literally stops the song in its tracks. This is closely followed by another breathy vocal fill that leads to full-out belting during the last chorus. Throughout the song Yonghwa’s performance embodies and elevates the song’s emotional core. Watching live recordings of the song further reveals his control and range as he navigates the complexities of the song in real time with ease.
The song’s beautifully crafted structure, Yonghwa’s virtuoso vocals, its emotionally charged, poetic lyrics, and the buzzing rock guitar and throwback Hammond organ over the pulsing backbeat all make for highly satisfying listening on many different levels. Although it can be read as a simple breakup song between lovers, to anyone familiar with the past four years of CNBLUE’s existence the song means much more. Despite great popularity for most of their careers, starting with their highly successful debut in 2010, things fell apart for the members around 2016 when the South Korean media attached various controversies to the band. Former lead guitarist Lee Jonghyun left the band in mid-2019 under a cloud of controversy, and a long silence about the issue followed, even after the rest of the members were discharged from the army in March 2020. Because of COVID-19 their normally busy touring schedule ceased, which only led to more speculation about their future. So this song, released more than a year after Yonghwa’s military discharge, is the first public statement they’ve made about their status as a band.
Though the song might not specifically be about their former band member it’s definitely about the loss of their past musical existence and in some ways, about the end of their youth. Many of CNBLUE’s past songs feature vocal duets between Yonghwa and Jonghyun and Jonghyun’s guitar playing played a very prominent role in defining their musical color. Many of those songs would now be very difficult to play live, so if nothing else CNBLUE may be mourning the loss of their excellent and extensive back catalog.
The album’s other tracks are also outstanding and it’s notable how different they are from one another. The second track, Til Then, is a musical palate-cleanser after the intensely mournful rock groove of Then, Now, and Forever. Opening with a lively round of whistling followed by a mellow acoustic guitar riff, the melody’s upbeat mood is nonetheless belied by the angsty lyrics. (trans: @cnbstaraccord)
I’m not allowed to laugh out loud
I’m not allowed to express my mood
“Don’t get cocky with me”
I get it, I’m okay with anything
Laughing like you’re happy in this world
Sounds like another world’s story
It’s a slightly depressing peek into Yonghwa’s constrained life as a South Korean idol and celebrity where every move is controlled and any mistake can have grave professional and personal consequences. The somewhat grim lyrics exist at odds with the light, perky music, reflecting the cheerful facade over the dark interior life that the song recounts.
As with Yonghwa’s solo Japanese release earlier this year, Re-Code includes a city pop track, In Time. The song harkens back to the lounge/jazz/disco hybrid genre made popular in Japan and other parts of Asia in the 1970s and 80s and exemplified by tracks such as Mariya Takeuchi’s Plastic Love, Naoko Gushima Candy, and Tatsurō Yamashita’s Love Space, and by modern-day practitioners like Taiwan indie band Sunset Rollercoaster. Like classic city pop, In Time is beautiful, lush, and sweet, with a supple bassline and a gorgeous synth break at the bridge. Yonghwa utilizes a breathy, light vocal style that includes a divine falsetto in the chorus and a nice high belt in the bridge. The song has a sweet, sad air of memory and regret, with lyrics that again describe a longing for someone missing or gone.
I’m living in you
But no matter how hard I look
You’re nowhere to be seen
I’m breathing in your traces
But you’re not here
The fourth track, Winter Again, includes one of my favorite of Yonghwa’s little vocal traits. It’s a distinctive vibrating resonance that his voice hits when he sings a certain high note, when the rasp in his voice perfectly aligns with the note he’s singing, and that’s in full effect in the song’s chorus. It’s just a short sustain of a slight high note and it’s not loud or powerful or particularly flashy, but when it happens it’s riveting.
The song’s lyrics, free-written in a stream-of-consciousness style, seem at first to be about the banalities of everyday life. But on closer inspection they’re actually an extended metaphor for the deceptiveness of daily perceptions. (trans: @cnbstaraccord)
It’s warm inside the room
Looking out the window it seems warm (outside) too
The human heart is like this too
(So) the wind was this cold
The mundane details of the lyrics mesh perfectly with the simple, country-rock guitar sound, performed by CNBLUE’s frequent sideman and studio musician extraordinaire Jung Jae-pil 정재필. Jung also plays on two other tracks, Then, Now, and Forever, and Til Then, filling in in lieu of the band’s former lead guitarist.
The album’s last track, Blue Stars, was written with the band’s loyal fans in mind. An upbeat, jaunty tune, the song is made up of a mix of nonsense syllables, easy Korean phrases and lyrics in English that are designed for singing along no matter what your language skills. After the moodiness of the first four songs it’s a nice, lively way to end the album on a more optimistic note. The entire EP is like one big therapy session and this song is the equivalent of a group hug. After processing the angst and melancholy of the past few years this track points the way to potentially better days. Or as noted in Then, Now, and Forever,
I hope we are happy now
It would be nice if we were happy now
I bet an ordinary day will come to me again
We’re here then, now and forever
(trans. @buin_jungshin)
To have CNBLUE come back with this new, glorious release now, after this impossible year of COVID-based deprivation, is like a beam of hope that signals better times to come. It hits different for those of us who have been living the restricted, maddening life that is COVID-19 in the United States, and it’s so much more meaningful seen through that lens. As always, in this new album CNBLUE has created resonant, relevant, and beautiful music.
Don’t Say Goodbye: Favorite CNBLUE live performances
I just published Have A Good Night: CNBLUE, Band Music, and the Uses of Live Performance in K-pop, my first article in the burgeoning field of CNBLUE studies, in the book The Future of Live Music (Bloomsbury, 2020) and to celebrate that achievement as well as to give the article more context I came up with a list of some of my favorite live CNBLUE performances.
Since CNBLUE is in the midst of reconfiguring from a quartet to a trio and since I wrote the article prior to that in 2019, this post is a bit of a time capsule. The band members were in the army from 2018-2020 and haven’t released any new music since 2017, but more significantly, they had a bad breakup with their guitarist Lee Jonghyun in 2019 due to his involvement with various controversies, so the band is definitely in transitional mode. But their live shows are legendary and as I wrote in my Bloomsbury essay, “In some ways CNBLUE’s drive to excel as live musicians stems from these early perceptions as they have striven to prove their musical legitimacy despite their idol roots.” Since then they’ve gone far beyond that early expectation and have become one of the premiere live performing acts in the world.
With the departure of Jonghyun, who wrote and sang many of their classic songs and whose guitar playing was an indispensable element of their singular sound, CNBLUE is a now different band than the one that performed in the clips below. But nonetheless this post is a tribute rather than an elegy to their prodigious output in the past ten years, as the remaining three members have promised to continue on. As I researched this post I realized that the setlist from one of their classic concerts from 2012, 392 Live, is almost completely different than their setlist from their last tour, Starting Over, in 2017, with only four songs overlapping in both shows. This indicates that although it won’t be easy to move on without Jonghyun, they are capable of remaking themselves almost completely and starting fresh with new material. I’m optimistic that once COVID-19 restrictions on live performances begin to ease up, CNBLUE will resume touring and will light up the sky again with their live shows.
It was pretty challenging narrowing down the list to just 15 clips and in truth the best way to experience CNBLUE live (besides going in person to one of their actual performances) is to watch an entire concert from start to finish, since they are masters of creating setlists and the pacing in their shows is designed for maximum effect. But for those who would like more of a guided tour, here in chronological order is a curated selection of some of my favorite live CNBLUE performances.
1. Hey You, Blue Night in Seoul, 2012
A much heavier version of this song than the studio recording, beginning with each member showing off their instrumental chops. This performance demonstrates their ability to turn even a fluffy pop song into what they call DSM, or dark, sexy metal.
2. Tattoo, You and I, 2012
I can imagine the horror of people who randomly tuned in to this performance on South Korean television during the performance of this ode to sexual obsession. Jung Yonghwa pants and moans into the microphone, thrusts his hips into his guitar, and gets on his knees and headbangs at the climax (and I don’t use that word lightly) of this song.
3. I Don’t Know Why, MTV Unplugged, 2012
CNBLUE shows off their acoustic chops and vocal harmonies in this unplugged concert for MTV Japan, and they really jam on the booming dreadnought guitars. The lyrics are also a good example of Yonglish, Yonghwa’s singular approach to the English language.
4. Y Why, Wave in Osaka, 2014
Slowed down slightly from its original studio version, this performance is a stellar example of CNBLUE’s trademark deep, dark, sexy metal, including Yonghwa’s growling and soaring rock vocals, Kang Minhyuk’s heavy, heavy foot on the drums and a wailing guitar solo by Jonghyun.
6. Lady, Summer Sonic, 2014
The ultimate rave up song and one of CNBLUE’s fastest paced, this tune has been staple in their setlists since its release in 2014. It’s a firestarter of a song and includes a supple bassline by Lee Jungshin. You can literally hear the audience going insane at the end of this version.
5. I’m Sorry, Summer Sonic, 2014
Playing at one of Japan’s premiere music festivals in the heat of the Japanese summer, this performance of their iconic rock track I’m Sorry includes a sweaty AF Yonghwa capping the song with his signature octave-jumping wail. Bonus: a jamming version of Lady, plus a rendition of their sweet sweet 2014 hit song Can’t Stop.
7. Loner, Yu Hui Yoo’s Sketchbook, 2015
An EDM version of their famous debut track, updated with synthesizer, this is one of the first live CNBLUE clips that I saw and the one that started me on this long, crazy journey. It’s also interesting to see the band coiffed and made up instead of sweaty and disheveled like they are in most of their live concerts and it’s pretty clear why they were recruited as idols back at the start of their careers. Even in front of a sedate studio audience they exude sheer energy and blinding charisma, which in combination with their good looks is deadly.
8. Catch Me, FNC Kingdom in Japan, 2015
Just rock. Absolutely electrifying.
9. Lie, We’re Like A Puzzle, 2016
One of CNBLUE’s many vocal duets–here they perform this midtempo rock tune in both Korean and Japanese. It’s a great example of their musical virtuosity on all counts, with the spotlight on Yonghwa and Jonghyun’s perfectly balanced, emotional vocals.
10. Radio, Our Glory Days in Nagoya, 2016
Although pretty much every live version of this song is great, Yonghwa is in fine form in this one, bopping on top of the piano, across the stage and into the audience. He ends up lying flat on his back at the end of the song exchanging a cappella vocal riffs with the audience.
11. LOVE, Between Us in Seoul, 2017
This jazzy rendition one of their sprightly earlier hits shines in the band’s locked-in performance, from Minhyuk’s rat-a-tat-tat drum rolls though Jonghyun’s fluid lead guitar lines, overlaid by Yonghwa’s energetic vocal improvisations and capped off by a monster rock break two-thirds of the way through the song.
12. Wake Up, Between Us in Bangkok, 2017
Wake Up is CNBLUE’s version of a jam band song and the live performances of this song features am extended call-and-response between the band and the audience, Yonghwa and Jonghyun swapping improvised guitar riffs, Yonghwa’s screaming high notes, and endless false endings. The longest version recorded, from Between Us in Seoul, lasts more than 16 minutes, which is pretty impressive for a song that was originally less than 3 minutes in its studio version.
This 2017 fancam is a fragment of a much longer version and demonstrates some of the maniacal improvisational hijinks that typically take place during the song. For a full version go here.
13. Eclipse, Starting Over in Yokohama, 2017
This performance builds beautifully, starting with Jonghyun’s sweet, clear vocal and acoustic guitar. The gradual additions of piano, drums, bass, and Yonghwa’s ragged lead guitar perfectly complement the smooth lightness of Jonghyun’s voice, showcasing CNBLUE’s balanced combination of vocals, guitar, harmony, and beats.
14. Between Us, Arirang I’m Live, 2017
This explosive tune usually brings the house down in 15,000 seat arena shows so CNBLUE performing it here live in front of a tiny crowd is absolutely earth-shattering.
15. Young Forever, Between Us in Seoul, 2017
Besides earworm pop tunes and spectacular rock anthems, CNBLUE also specializes in emotional bops including Glory Days and Book, two of their more recent Japanese releases. Young Forever falls into that category as well and this performance shows off the band’s stellar songcrafting and live chops. A gorgeous roundelay of a song, with three main parts that repeat and overlay each other, this live version beautifully showcases the lovely interplay of the various elements of the song, including layered vocal harmonies, changes in dynamics, and a cappella harmonizing, and which features the plaintive lament “Can we go back/but there’s no way back.”
For further exploration, there are many full CNBLUE concerts on youtube. My favorite full concert is Starting Over, from 2017, and my favorite short concert is FNC Kingdom 2017, which is also the last live with all four members and which demonstrates their ability to whip an audience into a frenzy.
The Endless Melody: Jung Yonghwa’s Feel the Y’s City album review
Evolution, Jung Yonghwa
CNBLUE’s leader Jung Yonghwa finished up his mandatory military service in the South Korean army last November and since then he’s been reemerging in Asia’s music and entertainment scene. Feel the Y’s City, his third solo Japanese album, just dropped recently and it shows Yonghwa’s continued evolution as an artist as he moves farther and farther from his Kpop idol roots.
The album’s lead track, The Moment, is an astoundingly joyous song, exploding with optimism and hope. Considering that Yonghwa recorded this just after he’d just gone through one of the darkest periods of his career it’s amazing that he was able to infuse such sheer happiness and hope into this track. This one is pure jazz at its most swinging, and it mixes up some killer changes over a driving piano riff, vibes, and blaring horns. Before he entered the military Yonghwa mentioned his admiration for the soundtrack to the film LaLa Land and The Moment definitely takes its inspiration from that style of midcentury jazz-based pop music. But Yonghwa is a better singer than either Ryan Gosling or Emma Stone and his smooth and swinging, powerful vocals drive the song. He effortlessly travels from his warm lower register up to a sweet falsetto.
The lyrics are mostly in English, with a smattering of phrases in French that seem be taken from a French For Beginners handbook, but he does a great job of rhyming in two languages that are not native to him. Although his French is delivered with a decidedly flat American accent, at one point he cleverly rhymes champagne, display, parlez, and café, which is pretty impressive for someone writing not in his first language. Throughout the song he further randomly throws in other French phrases, including a curious line that reads “Let’s get away and find ourselves la vie en rose, encore,” which sounds a bit like he strung together all of the French words he knew to make a lyric. Later in the song he shouts, “C’est la vie!” again not quite matching the proper use of the term. But it’s not bad for someone writing for the first time in French. I’m a bit surprised he didn’t include “mon petit chou” somewhere but that probably didn’t properly scan.
The next track, Summer Night In Heaven, continues the curious admixture of even more languages. Back in August I wrote a note to myself saying, “I have no doubt that Yonghwa can write a genius city pop song if he wants to,” and sure enough, Summer Night In Heaven is it. The song opens with a throwback guitar riff that emulates the crackly scratches of a vinyl record, followed by an outstanding bit of whistling that leads into Yonghwa’s relaxed, funky vocals. The lyrics are all pretty much about his blissed-out vacations to Hawai’i, and the song’s gently loping beat echoes his Zen experiences there. The track also includes a pleasant bit of Yonghwa scatting over a guitar interlude, a skill he showed off at his last concert tour before enlisting back in 2018.
The chorus demonstrates the polyglot scenario in his busy brain as he mashes up English, Spanish, Hawai’ian, and Japanese.
Summer night in heaven. Don’t you know the reason?
Groovin’ to the soul playground of freedom
Loco Ala Moana Forever I wanna
Uchiyosete kaesu shiosai no kōrasu (The chorus of the tide rushing back)
This somewhat random assemblage of languages, charmingly sung without regard to proper accenting or syntax, still manages to work, conveying the joyful and relaxing, utterly optimistic worldview that Yonghwa seems to be cultivating since his discharge from the army last year.
Continuing in that upbeat vein, the next track, She Knows Everything, is a sweet, simple pop song that’s the definition of a catchy earworm bop. The track is a streamlined throwback to ‘90s new jack swing, anchored by Yonghwa’s gorgeous falsetto. The song’s hooky chorus features Yonghwa’s lovely flutelike upper register as he sings, “I’m in trouble/In Good Trouble,” showing off his effortless, silky vocal range. Here the completely English lyrics sweetly outline a charmed relationship:
When my words get fumbled
Sometimes I’m misunderstood
Before I trip and stumble
She knows how to catch me long before I hit the ground
Once again Yonghwa invokes the Minnesota sound made famous by Prince, with a bright synthesizer jamming over the songs danceable beats.
In Jellyfish Yonghwa uses an upbeat dance track to emulate the backstabbing, duplicitous entertainment world that he inhabits. The song was recorded while he was enduring a particularly vicious witchhunt and Yonghwa shows a remarkable self-awareness for his situation at the time, questioning his own complicity in the trap that he’s in. Although Yonghwa is too polite to say it, the song clearly is about his adopted hometown of Seoul, where he’s spent most of his professional life and where he’s experienced his greatest successes and his greatest betrayals.
The fully electronic instrumentation adds a metallic tang to the song, and the song’s ringing, manufactured beats mesh perfectly with Yonghwa’s raspy purr of a voice. Although beautiful and seductive, the song is completely artificial and false, reinforcing the lyrics which describe being crushed, empty, deluded, and trapped. They also clearly describe the seductiveness and lure of the entertainment world, which Yonghwa envisions as a warm bath of oblivion and deception.
I am bathing in the light of the moon
Always floating
With all the jellyfish in bloom
They are shining in the dark, closing in
Hiding poison
I’m deeper in the city’s womb
The entire song vibrates with mendacity, but Yonghwa doesn’t shy away from his own attraction to the bright lights of fame and fortune, realizing that jellyfish are beautiful but potentially deadly and choosing to tangle with them can be fatal.
There’s a risk I could take when I touch you
Get paralyzed by your sting
Stimulus leads to hallucination
I’d sacrifice for anything
The next track, Fire & Rain, is a dreamy midtempo jam that opens with Yonghwa climbing from midrange to head voice in a beautifully sung acapella phrase. The song then kicks into a powerful dance groove. Yonghwa croons in and around the beat, his understated phrasing and intonation emphasizing the melancholy yet hopeful lyrics (in Japanese and English, with a “fiesta” thrown in for good measure).
We ’re the fire in the rain
hibiku ame no oto daichi ni utai inochi o naraseba fukinukeru kaze seimei no
Breathing moeru yō ni
(Sing on the earth/The Breathing of Life)
Although a very different song, the mood is reminiscent of Yonghwa’s 2014 composition for CNBLUE, Like A Child, as the music and lyrics create a hypnotic ambiance that suggests hope amongst despair.
Melody is a gorgeous slice of orchestral pop, with some lovely half-step progressions that elevate the chorus. Again Yonghwa’s stellar vocals shine, as he runs up and down his range with a fine falsetto at the end of the song, and the song’s arrangement of cascading strings over a lilting piano interweaves beautifully with Yonghwa’s passionate singing. This track was also one of the five recorded before enlistment and released while Yonghwa was in the army and it reflects his desire to continue making music no matter what difficulties or obstacles he faces.
Sekaijuu ni saita Harmony mamoritai yo kienai you ni
Sugite yuku toki no naka de kawaranai you ni
Kiitetai yo towa ni ima doko ni ite mo
Hibikaseyou Baby owarinonai Melody
(I want to protect the harmony that bloomed all over the world, so it doesn’t disappear
So it doesn’t change within this advancing time
I want to listen to it forever, wherever you are now
Let it resound, baby, the endless melody)
At the time he recorded this song there was some doubt as to whether Yonghwa would continue making music so this song holds significant meaning, rededicating his pledge to himself, his bandmates, and his fans to keep going with his career.
The two tracks that immediately follow Melody were also recorded during the controversies prior to Yonghwa’s enlistment and both reflect the state of mind he was in during that crazy time.
Brothers is a straight-up rock song, with power chords and a wailing guitar riff that clearly emulates the style of Yonghwa’s longtime collaborator and bandmate Lee Junghyun (who is currently exiled from CNBLUE following his tangential association with the Burning Sun controversy). In this song Yonghwa also pays tribute to Oasis, one of his favorite bands, as the track has a distinctly Britpop sound to it. The lyrics brilliantly set up the song’s premise, starting with the everyday conflicts that occur between close mates and friends.
Screaming at each other again
We never seem to click,
We’re fighting all of the time
Surrounded by tension and strain
So sick of all your jokes
This stark honesty demonstrates an understanding of the complexities of a longstanding relationship and show Yonghwa’s maturity of thought. As in Letter, despite ups and downs, working through and resolving these struggles ultimately creates an strong and lasting relationship.
The chorus reverses the conflicts introduced in the first verse, revealing the deep bond forged from such conflicts.
When you told me your dreams
And your ambitions
Something crushed inside of me
I see right through you the same
Same way you see right through me
Goin’ back when I found my soul brother
So we’ll never be apart
The song takes on an extra poignancy now that the rest of CNBLUE’s members are returning from their military service. Although Yonghwa has declared that CNBLUE will go on, he’s been mum on whether or not the band’s future includes their erstwhile lead guitarist. Interestingly, while Yonghwa has recently expressed his desire to play rock music again, Brothers is the only track on the album that prominently features guitar, suggesting that he’s waiting for CNBLUE (in whatever formation) to come back in order to get his rock groove on.
Letter, a midtempo love song, also explores an up-and-down relationship that in some ways is a metaphor for Yonghwa’s sometimes problematic relationship with his fans and his career. Yonghwa belts the song effortlessly, infusing the track with a gentle and melancholy longing. He adds a few delicate and powerful trills to the chorus, hitting a sweet crescendo before the song’s soulful denouement. (go here for a more detailed analysis of this track)
The last track on the album, Livin’ It Up, returns to the big-band jazz sound of The Moment. Somewhat more saccharine and less substantial that the other track it nonetheless clearly conveys the mood and meaning Yonghwa intended, which he states is a tribute to the joys of New York City. The song is a throwback to midcentury popular jazz tunes and would be right at home in a Fred Astaire MGM joint, with its lyrics describing “Falling falling snow,” the Brooklyn Bridge, and Rockefeller Center at Christmastime. Somewhere in there there’s a thesis about the pervasiveness of the myth of American exceptionalism in the South Korean imaginary but that’s a discussion for another day.
All in all this is a solid outing and demonstrates Yonghwa’s continued interest in making music that he finds interesting and engaging, rather than what the market dictates. It shows his continued development as an artist rather than an idol or pop star, as he keeps going farther afield from current commercial pop music. Though some of the tracks such as Jellyfish and Fire & Rain are completely on trend, others such as the jazzier cuts are much quirkier and less radio-friendly. As well as his infatuation with big band and jazz, he’s recently stated his fondness for the Indian dream pop duo Parekh & Singh and he’s covered a snippet of a song by the alt-country duo Dan + Shay on his instagram, so his tastes run a wide gamut of pop music.
Not unlike the way he slices and dices several different languages in one song, Yonghwa synthesizes his musical influences in sideways and unexpected ways and it’s very fun following what his fevered mind comes up with. Yonghwa was about to start his latest Japan tour this week but due to the coronavirus crisis those dates have been pushed back until April at the earliest or we’d surely be hearing even more remixes and rearrangements of his music. He’s repeatedly stated that he writes his songs with live performances in mind, so hopefully we’ll soon be able to hear what new directions he’s taking his current batch of tunes. I’m hoping someone plays some Ornette Coleman for him soon as I’d love to hear what happens when he hears some really mindblowing free jazz. A girl can dream—
BONUS: a clip of the new live arrangement of CNBLUE’s Face To Face, originally recorded as a straight-up Motown style jam. Here Yonghwa completely reworks it, and all cutie-pie clowning aside, this is an absolutely killer arrangement of this song, mixing Latin beats, tempo changes, jazz breaks, and some dope strings.
UPDATE: As of March 10, Feel The Y’s City has scored big on the charts throughout much of Asia. In its first day of release on Feb. 26, all five of the new tracks from the album were in the top ten on Japan’s daily Recochoku Kpop/World music chart, with a sixth track, Letter, at number 50.
Three tracks, She Knows Everything, Summer Night in Heaven, and Welcome to the Y’s City, swept the top three for two consecutive weeks (Mar. 2 and 9) on China’s weibo New Asia Song Asia-Pacific chart. As noted on weibo, “The whole song has a cool summer feeling from the melody to the voice. There is a sense of playing on the beach.”
The album also charted high on iTunes in several countries, reaching the top 5 in eight countries and topping the charts in Macau and Hong Kong. The album even made it to number 32 on the worldwide iTunes chart, which isn’t bad considering there was absolutely no promotion outside of Asia.
Yonghwa’s new South Korean variety show, K-Trot In Town, also scored very high ratings in its debut episode, reaching 14.9% in the second half of its broadcast. So despite a few bumps including the postponement of his Japan concerts in March, Yonghwa’s re-entry following his discharge from the military for the most part is going well. But in the mercurial world of South Korean entertainment that could change in a flash. Here’s hoping that things continue to go smoothly, especially once the rest of CNBLUE gets out of the army later this month.
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