[#43] BoA - "Call My Name"

From: "Message / Call My Name"
Released: October
Territory: Japan
Previous Best of Entries: 2010: [#30] "Ordinary Day" and [#5] "BUMP BUMP!" (feat. Verbal of m-flo) / 2012: [#15] "Not Over U"
Other notable song(s) from 2013: "Message", "Tail of Hope"

Her Korean material this year wasn't very inspiring (i.e., "Disturbance"), but BoA's Japanese releases were much better. "Call My Name" was, I think, the most well-done, most-"BoA-esque" of all of them. As far as the sound goes, "Call My Name" is that more mature, very melodic R&B that BoA has sort of evolved into. It's not super stylish like the material on "IDENTITY," but it has a quaintness to it.

This slightly more down-to-earth sound works because the focus shifts from the song to the performance, and anyone who knows BoA even just a bit knows that when it comes to her, it's the execution that matters. BoA doesn't need songs that carry her and mask flaws, because she has proven time and time again that she is perfectly capable of carrying songs herself. And "Call My Name" is one of them.

While some of the previous songs on the countdown are good because of what happens in the background, the focal point of "Call My Name" is definitely the melody. There's no clear hook, no times when monotony strikes a bit too hard -- it is a melody that's meant to be sung by a singer. Notice how the climax is less of an explosion of the arrangement than it is a summary of sorts of the melody -- the layered vocals at the last chorus is the explosion, and it's the melody that does the exploding. It's jarring in all the right places, pretty when needed, and is an absolute pleasure to listen to. Everything that happens behind it serves to emphasize where the melody is going, like the piano line that pops up in certain places but lays low for the most part, or the bass line that gives the melody a nice, strong kick.