Song Review:: Moonbyul (Mamamoo): Starlight of Twinkle : REPACKAGE- Is This Love?

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  • Release date: 2024 August 21
  • Album tracklist: Backpack, Is This Love?, Dear., TOUCHIN&MOVIN (English Ver.), Is This Love? (Sped Up Ver.)
  • Album runtime: 16 minutes

As soon as I heard this song, I fell in love with it. First time. That was all it took to tumble head over heels with it. I'm going to be very sad if it doesn't end up being a top listen of the year for me. I love it so much. If it doesn't, that means that the competition was very stiff.

I'm a simple girl. Songs that brighten my mood immediately upon hearing them always end up being my favorites, especially if they also just make the brain happy because there are delicious things going on with them. The background instrumentals do some amazing things with the variability of the sections and playing alongside the vocals. Sometimes rests are added where there hadn't been earlier. There are some cool slides and stutters and skids. 

I think one of my favorites parts of the melody is the inverse word painting. Moonbyul sings a scale straight the second time she does the scale part, but the first time, she does it the opposite, starting with "Do Re Mi" but singing a descending scale, which then matches the second time she does it. It happens so rarely! A normal word painting happens all the time. Ain't No Mountain High, Friends in Low Places, Hallelujah, and Somebody to Love all feature word paintings. But Is This Love? is in such good company as Ring of Fire and Spoonful of Sugar. But anyway, that's just one example of why I like it so well. The musical composition is played with, sometimes played straight, sometimes contradictory. It's like a key change. I get so excited when I hear a key change happen. Literally, when I'm singing songs with a key change, I will often say "Key change" into the new key. It's a bad habit I have, but I just love it. I love it so much. 

And the music video! It's so weird! And fun! And playful! I really don't have a lot to say about it, but I'd happily just watch it on repeat. 



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