From: "Let's Talk About Love"
Released: August
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Entries: 2011: [#5] "What Can I Do"
Other notable song(s) from 2013: "지지베 GG Be" (feat. Jenny), "그딴 거 없어 (Come to My)"
Released: August
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Entries: 2011: [#5] "What Can I Do"
Other notable song(s) from 2013: "지지베 GG Be" (feat. Jenny), "그딴 거 없어 (Come to My)"
It's no secret that I think Seungri's "VVIP" is one of the best K-Pop releases of all time, and that up 'till now I still listen to it from time to time. So when "Let's Talk About Love" came out, of course I was excited. While I prefer "VVIP" as an EP, "Let's Talk About Love" was the logical progression, and I understand why it had to happen. And also, that "Gotta Talk To You" is a genuinely good song.
What I've always liked about Seungri's material is that while it's style-centric, very distinctly trendy, it never loses sight of the fact that what creates that style is substance. I can't say the music is equal parts style and substance, because obviously there is so much style in what he does, but it's the right combination of the two. And "Gotta Talk To You" is just that.
The style component is very strong yet again -- you have all these cool synths, a very sharp drum kit, a guitar line that gives off an air of sophistication. But what sets this apart from all the other songs that have the same thing is the fact that everything is put together with a musical mindset. The song doesn't sound like they just piled all the elements on top of the other -- everything has a function, everything has a reason for being there. The drum kit gives the song its foundations, it steers the dynamics and all the transitions, the appearance of certain synths also contribute to the dynamics and tell us where we are in the song, and the guitar line gives the flat verses the kick they need.
Usually when you have these many electronic elements, plus a flat melody and a very repetitive hook, the song ends up sounding cheap -- like generic Eurotrash. But the other thing I like about "Gotta Talk To You" is how that was tempered by many things, the most tangible of which are the real instruments in the arrangement, the guitar line in particular. It's what keeps the song from sounding one-dimensional and extremely processed -- it brings everything back to earth.
This is a song that shows very clearly just how much effort and thought was put into the production process. It's a song that sounds unassuming, and because of that mastery has escaped many potential pitfalls of the choices the production made. It's confident because it's capable.
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