(Untitled)

[arbitrary_greay]

Is it just me, or is the new BoA album the most explicitly retro-themed that she's ever released? There's a sense of intent to the tracks of not just slapping a retro arrangement on a pop song, but actually going for an authentic recreation of the genres they're using. (Especially in the highlighting of the guitar parts, and prevalence of low-key

Comments

[askbask]

I thought 'Kiss My Lips' (the song) coded retro in some of the same ways Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' did. Session musician funk. 'Home', one of my favorite slow songs on the album is very much built on a 90s foundation.

Which tracks go Royal Road? Would probably say something about which music tradition she feels most at home in, JP or KR, since all the songs are composed / co-composed by her and she's producing some of the tracks for the first time.

[arbitrary_greay]

Yes, there's an emphasis on the "session musician" parts of the arrangement that set them apart from your standard mixes! They don't feel synthesized or phoned-in like other cursory all-pop takes on the genre do, but are given weight in a way that highlights the humanity of the playing.
Modern masters tend to flatten things out to make contemporary performances with traditional instrumentation yet feel a bit processed. (Example: Uptown Funk, the Jersey Boys movie) The master on Kiss My Lips has much more depth to it, so it also codes retro that way. Contrast to Smash, which has the regular shallow-depth master, especially used to emphasize the synthiness of the brass vs. the more session-y bass and guitar parts.

My Royal Road suspicions: (some of these may not be strictly Royal Road, but seem at least RR-compatible)
Who Are You
Fox
Double Jack
Love and Hate
Greenlight (this one is textbook, you can Rickroll it)

[askbask]

Good observations. Smash is probably one of my least favorite songs on the album actually but she pulled out the old school BoA dance moves for its Inkigayo performance so it's forgiven.

[arbitrary_greay]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF I'm FURIOUS at the Inki perf. Fucking camerawork pretty much ruined the choreography, especially the most important footwork fits. It's extra irritating since the other shows' camerawork was surprisingly good, but Smash was the only one that really had the dance chops worth highlighting. (Fox as a runner-up, I guess.)

Who knows, maybe we'll get a Clockwork tango perf on, I dunno, YHL Sketchbook or something.

And now I really really want BoA to work with whoever choreographs for Fairies, really do a footwork-ful piece like Beat Generation.