Song Review:: Forestella: Apocalypse

- October 27, 2024

Release date: 2024 October 26
Album tracklist: Apocalypse
Album runtime: 4 minutes

So way back in the day, my older brother showed me the episode Blink of Doctor Who, and failed to tell me I could watch it here in the States. Took me a couple of years and the fiftieth anniversary gifsets and screenshots before I rediscovered it again, and proceeded to watch the entire thing in preparation for the Christmas special that year. Much like that, I discovered Forestella quite by accident via their cover of Bohemian Rhapsody on Instagram, and then couldn't remember anything about them and was forced to forget about them. A couple of years later, because of NU'EST and the algorithm, here I am, half in love with them because oh, good heavens do they have amazing voices. Top tier. And three of the four are married, which is awesome. The maknae and bass is currently in the military, so he isn't here for this. And just as a quick shout-out to another set of amazing voices, they're at Beat Interactive with the K-Pop group, A.C.E, who I've enthused about repeatedly already in the couple of months since I started this because their voices are also incredible.

That is a proper song length. Look at that.

This song has the absolute loveliest swell of majestic orchestral instrumentals I've heard in a long time. If I didn't know this wasn't from a soundtrack, I would one hundred percent believe it. It has literally everything I want. It opens and ends with a simple, uncomplicated piano solo, a haunting single note plinked out in the beat. Other instruments get added gradually, subtle touches of strings or drums until the first pre-chorus, when it reverses to simply the piano, and then it accelerates back through the chorus a truncated version of what they'd just done. At the second verse, the strings and drums take the call, the piano adds back in with a harmony during the pre-chorus, and it continues to build until the outro, when the piano quietly takes back the song in a sense of profound grief. It's a beautiful swell and ebb of music. Genuinely, I want just the instrumentals for this song.

And now, the point of listening to Forestella: those voices. The instrumentals definitely add something vital, but they could sing the thing completely acapella and it would still sound incredible, especially once they get the maknae back from the military so he can round out the notes and harmonies with that gorgeous voice of his. As I was listening to it, I thought it was an English track, but I double-checked the lyrics anyway to make sure I was hearing things accurately, and I actually was! The entire group uses their collective vibratos to powerful effect. I'm very pleased with what they released this time and they have met my admittedly very high expectations.

Why is the lyric video giving Lord of the Rings fan vid vibes? That first section, my brain went "Ah, yes. Lord of the Rings. This is clearly from Two Towers," even though I know darn well that it isn't because that one is my favorite of the movie trilogy. But for a moment, it tricked my brain into thinking it was. However, I'm a little suspicious that the video uses AI. I don't have confirmation of it, and so I'm not going to accuse the company of it, but something about it doesn't sit right with me. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and I'll own up to it. But still.