While I don't really have any justification for this feeling, I was excited for this release of 'A Good Girl' by JYP's Entertainment starlet Baek A Yeon. While her debut release 'I'm Baek' didn't wow me to any extent, the familiarity of her name unsurprisingly caused a pavlovian reaction of excitement when I saw she was releasing something new. Known for the purity and control of her voice, I figured her performances in this release, if anything, would be enjoyable to listen to, even if forgettable in the long run. it is a JYP album, so I expect at least a decent standard. But while Baek A Yeon sang well enough throughout, this mini-album ended up being an atrocity beyond an comprehensible notion that I could have conceived of prior.
a Good Boy
Should I be forced to describe "a Good Boy" (sic.) is one word it would be innocent. But I don't actually think this is the most appropriate term; what I really want to say is "cottony", but I've been criticized heavily recent for my use of neologisms so I'm going to not officially use that term. While I'm sure I'm influenced by the music video, but the song is the musical representation of a soft summer breeze gently hitting a cotton sheet hanging in a meadow—hence cottony. But seriously, this song is as innocent as one could get lyric- and melody-wise, almost to a mind-numbing level. Yet despite these qualities, which may sour one's taste to this track, Baek A Yeon's skillful performance saves this track from being an immediate toss-in into the pile o' mediocrity. Unfortunately, this trend of Baek A Yeon saving the track is ubiquitous throughout this album, but the production level on this track is by far the strongest of what will be heard. While this isn't my cup of tea in general, those fans ardent for the music of groups like, say, APink will thoroughly enjoy this little diddy.
Tell Me
I swear I've heard part of "Tell Me" somewhere before. I've asked my Chinese friends, my Japanese friends, and my Korean friends, and they all think I'm crazy for my persistence. This is likely going to bother me for a while, which may or may not be a bad thing depending on one's perspective. While it'll keep Baek A Yeon in my mind—an artist I admit that I don't really think of unless I come across her name for an obscure reason—this song isn't really something worth remembering. The fact that I think it copies another song directly in parts is evidence enough of this latter feeling. Now don't get me wrong: I think Baek A Yeon performs this fine, and her rather pretty, light voice is controlled well throughout the song and its major key change. The song just doesn't scream originality or present anything that should suggest going back to listen to it in the future for nostalgia's sake. But for those who like these kind of ballads, I'm sure you'll be more than pleased with this track.
Because of You
The next track, "Because of You", end up being a surprisingly fun, upbeat tune to listen to—if you're listening to the right things that is. As a song that wouldn't surprise me if it was taken from the IU or Juniel songbook, Baek A Yeon holds her own and cements together what was otherwise a rattled, disjunctured—and oft confusing—instrumental backing. Aside from the unnecessary, awkwardly placed key change, the rhythmic tracking towards the end breaks apart from what seems to be an attempt by the producers to add musical interest, which ultimately seems like a fail. Speaking of fails, Jia's rap is as standard as one can get, which I guess I didn't expect judging solely from the size of name that she is. But then again, I usually don't think of rapping when I think of Miss A. Nonetheless, Baek A Yeon was served no favors here by her production team.
I Love It
Like "Because of You", I was looking forward to hearing "I Love It" because of the guest artist contribution, this time headlined by Baro of the burgeoning male group B1A4. Again I was overly disappointed by their contribution. While I could say Baro's performance was slightly better than Jia's—the poorly inserted laugh during his rap broke things up—it pains me to actually choose between the two. Again Baek A Yeon does formidably behind a pieced-together instrumental backing—I'm sorry, but the flute synth just sounds awkward over the acoustic guitar in this case and a poor call to what seems to be light 1960s American pop—but this is as filler status of a song as one could imagine.
Like Oxygen
If I didn't think the producers of this album could get any worse, they end the album "Like Oxygen". While I've never felt or expected the musicality in JYP Entertainment songs to be very high to begin with, this song left an overtly sour taste in my mouth. A poorly balanced and mixed power ballad, the insensitive inclusion of non-complimenting synths and poor direction and progression is a slap in the face to enjoys even the most banal song. While Baek A Yeon isn't as convincing here as she has proved to be elsewhere, the sheer unpleasant nature of everything else in the track had led me to a great desire to not revisit this piece. I'm sorry, but if I could offer one piece of advice to Ms. Baek, it would be to run far, far away from JYP Entertainment and never return.
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