[Review] Ailee "U&I"

As soon as I heard the Youngblood Brass Band-esque latin-flavoured ensemble setting the tone of the introduction of "U&I", I knew immediately that Ailee's new tune would become one of my favorites of this year.  I mean, where else in K-Pop do you find this kind of instrumental setting?  The only latin-ish flavoured pieces I can think of are Fiestar's "Vista" or maybe EvoL's "I'm Sorry", but these are stretching it.  So ultimately this was a refreshing piece from this standpoint.

Rant: This is also like the first time in forever that I heard actual instruments in a song.  Seriously I was going crazy hearing all the damn fake saxophone synths that has been proliferating K-Pop tunes as of late.  It's not even like they're trying to fake a real instrument by using this synth.  As a long-time hater of this sound since childhood, I can say it's annyoying, blippy, and has no place in music as far as I'm concerned.  I happen to know many fine Korean instrumentalists and why these national products are never used in K-Pop is beyond me.  As a former musician, I was happy to play at a gig with free food, so it can't be too hard or expensive. to hire some real instrumentalists

Maybe this is why I've seen comparisons of Ailee being the Korean Beyonce.  In some ways I can see why: her voice is confident and R&B inspired, and Beyonce was likely an idol to Ailee (as she is to most any other pop musician on the planet).  And her hips look similar.  But I think the real reason this is being brought up all of a sudden is because this song has an instrumental riff similar to "Crazy In Love".  And by similar, I mean it uses real instruments.  Is this how far K-Pop has fallen behind that real music—and mostly repeated loops of real instruments—is this big of a deal?  But I'm sure this tune would be a good discussion on the balance of West-East composition (which is a pile of bullshit, overly-opinionated, baseless arguments to begin with, but this is for another time).

Seriously, you could photoshop Beyonce's face on Ailee's body, tell people this is Beyonce, and have a lot of people agree with you.

Now for Ailee herself.  From a vocal standpoint, Ailee is on fire here.  Without question, "U&I" is her strongest vocal performance from a confidence standpoint.  However, I think this song also shows the limitations of Ailee.  While she's as powerful and confident as any singer in K-Pop, her range just isn't that extensive.  She does a good job at masking this, though; and it's also good that her producers aren't pushing her limits to any great extent (even though at some points it feels like she's on the verge of screaming).

Yet despite this, I have to bash the producers for the vocal filter that is over Ailee's voice throughout the song.  It's obviously not a noticeable quality as a vocoder, be her voice seems distant and thin, as opposed to the fullness that I am expecting Ailee to have.  Perhaps this is a phenomenological consequence of my expectations overlying what is actually present.  And if this were the case, then I shouldn't critique the vocal filter.  But I like to think I know what I'm talking about, so my critique on this stands.

But seriously, this song is great.  It's bold, catchy (and catchy in a good way, rather than just being annoying dribble that you unconsciously find yourself singing at an unexpected time), and will definitely leave a mark on K-Pop for a while (even if it's not exactly the view count hog on YouTube at the moment).  It's one of he true earworms that I've had this year, and I'm glad it was reserved for an artist as naturally talented as Ailee in the K-Pop industry—who seems to be establishing her place more and more securely with every release she pumps out.  I haven't listened to the rest of the album yet as I've been busy as fuck as of late, but I'm quite looking forward to it after sampling this taste.

Ailee "U&I"
Last Reviewed by eumagon July 15 2013
Rating: 4.7 stars