K-Pop Review: Sexy, Free & Single by Super Junior

POINTS

  • I heard that Leeteuk said this album was for the fans, not for winning? Aww.
  • ... It's a very interesting title haha...
  • Although Heechul has left for the military... This album marks the return of Kangin!
  • Men dancing and posing in strange rooms with eccentric outfits with no particular storyline... Typical Super Junior.
  • From the teaser, I expected another mindless catchy pop song... However, it turns out "Sexy, Free & Single" is a simple R&B track with a catchy chorus.

OPINIONATED REVIEW BELOW

The lyrics of "Sexy, Free & Single" says that through enduring hardships, one has become stronger, and now is the time to have fun... Hmm. Now let's take a detailed look at the song.

VOCALS: It's too overwhelming to analyze the vocals of all 10 members, especially since some members including Shindong did not have lines of their own...

Honestly, I didn't notice anything particularly amazing. Siwon starts the song as usual. Kyuhyun and Yesung are the strongest vocalists. Eunhyuk and Donghae each got fair amounts of lines. I was glad that they gave Kangin some lines, but I wasn't blown away or anything.

If I were to point out the part that stood out the most from the vocals, it would be Super Junior's tenor line in the middle of the song; Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Leeteuk's part specifically. Yes, the part with all of the 'Sexy's. I loved it!

In fact, I really liked Sungmin's voice in this song! His "nae sarama, sarama" sounded like he had some SOUL, hahaha. It just FIT this song.

Overall, Super Junior's vocals would not blow anyone away, but that's not the point of this song anyway.

RAP: No rapping here...

LYRICS: I was a bit boggled with this song, to be honest.

If we just took the English of the song, we would get "Hey... Wake up... Upgrade... Have a good time, party time... Sexy, free and single, I'm ready too, Bingo... We fail, we lose, to win... Time for romance... Sexy sexy sexy... Too hot" so on and so forth. I feel like SM just jammed a bunch of English words into the song...

At one moment, they passionately describe the failures and triumphs of the human being. Next, they talk about having fun, and then abruptly return to the dramatic power speech. From the overall lyrics, I assume this song is about celebrating after all the hardships one has had... I know lyrics like this should seem inspiring, but I found it all to be a bit awkward. It was like a jump between genres, these lyrics. I'm glad this wasn't another love song though...

Overall, I found the lyrics odd at many places, but they are not horrible in any way or anything. Many parts of the lines are inspiring, but at the same time much of the lines are strange (such as the random "sexy sexy sexy") and I feel like it doesn't mesh too well with the overall message of song.

MUSIC VIDEO: Someone needs to make a petition to make SM STOP putting ads in their videos. I shall never touch this EverySing app, EVER...

Anyway, there isn't anything new about the music video. It's like a recipe or something: take dancing men, cover them in interesting garments, and throw them in strange rooms. Then, select each individual, put them in more eccentric threads and have them pose and lip sync. Add effects to garnish (that strange Exo-like geometric figure that blew up at random) and voila! Freshly made Super Junior music video.

Although videos like these disappoint many fans due to their lack of meaning or plot, I like these kinds of videos. Why? Because it highlights the next part of the review.

DANCE: Ah, the choreography... I loved it!!! I suppose the signature move for Super Junior this time would be the wiping hands while kicking? The dance here was SO much more energetic than their performance for their Japanese version of "Opera". Even though Opera's theme didn't call for much movement, they didn't seem as energized their as they are in Sexy, Free & Single (although they had MUCH more energy in their older songs... but then again their older songs themselves were much more energetic). I'm glad they didn't have a complicated dance though, since I'm not sure how much preparation time Kangin has been given since his return. Now, enough with the babble, let's talk about the dance.

Was it me or was Donghae in the middle quite often? I felt like half of the music video was of him dancing, haha. I also noticed that Ryeowook was in the frontlines quite often, I'm so proud of him.

There were certain parts of the dance that I really liked. For example, during the awkward "sexy sexy sexy" part, they have a part where Super Junior moves their hips and snaps their fingers in sync to the music. Soulful music needs soulful dancing, right? It just fit so well and it looked good, I was impressed. Then a little bit afterwards, they form into a single line and spread out. It's the small parts like these that really catch the eye and allow the fans to appreciate the dance (as well as the song) even more!

There was one small thing that bothered me though. I know that Kangin only came back recently, but after I mentioned above about him being prepared, I noticed that Siwon runs center stage... With Kangin DIRECTLY behind him. Not even shifted slightly to the side or anything, right behind Siwon. If Siwon wasn't lip syncing all passionately, Kangin wouldn't have even been seen. I think the members lined up a little later and made it less awkward... But frankly, it bothered me that they put him back there.

Overall though, I adore the choreography. I hope they upload a dance version soon!

OVERALL: Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad song. "Sexy, Free & Single" is a mellow album overall and this song adds to that softened sound. The English was odd, but not unbearable. Many fans may be disappointed that this isn't a typical catchy track, but that isn't the point of Super Junior. Sexy, Free & Single has shined light on other genres that Super Junior has the potential to explore. With each listen, I'm enjoying the song more and more. Fans who are tired of factory-cranked pop may grow a liking to this different track. .

Oh... And kids, be careful when you're searching for this album. Parents, please make sure your children's search engines are filtered. The title of this album is a little, hahaha...

* This article is contributed by kraypop.wordpress.com and does not represent the views or opinions of KpopStarz.

Tags
Super Junior
review
Sexy Free Single
Join the Discussion

Latest Photo Gallery

Real Time Analytics