Song Review:: Vahn (NINE.i): Come&Go- Sweet! (feat. Lina Cooper, Joohyoung)

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  • Release date: 2024 September 14
  • Album tracklist: Sweet! (feat. Lina Cooper and Joohyoung), Feeling (feat. BLKZEN), Seasons (feat. Alina Kay), Tonight, Sucker for You (feat. BLKZEN and laebin), Feeling (Inst.), Sweet! (Inst.)

  • Album runtime: 22 minutes

 He has been a busy bee the last month or so. My goodness. First, he debuted as a soloist. Then he dropped a single, which I thought would be the extent of the business for a minute. A minute was about all he gave us before he delivered this! One of those second title track things! And now I'm starting to wonder how soon we'll get a full group something. One of the members is participating in the survival show Starlight Boys, so unless they do it without him, it won't be until after that's finished. I'm also now wondering if I should expect another single in the next couple of weeks, which, for the record, I am completely down for.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm of the opinion that Vahn is a huge fan of rock, but he gives the group not-rock songs, if we compare the two. The drums are the unquestionably dominant sound in the instrumentals. There's a bass guitar in there as well, as well as a synthesizer, but if you listen, those drums are showcased as much as the voices are. I think I'm hearing at least four different drums. I can't name any of them, because although one of my friends is a drummer, I never had any curiosity in them. I am kicking myself a little for it now, but that's fine. Live and learn. It literally only shows up at the very beginning of the music video and half a second before the start of the second verse, and I don't know if it will be included in the track for regular streaming (fingers crossed), but the video call sound effects are a welcome addition and they make me smile.

Two things. One, this song uses explicit language in the chorus. So be aware of that. Second, I think the song is fully half in English, half in Korean, which as some who likes thinking about languages is fascinating to me. I have a lot of questions about how many people he's collaborating with. I've never heard of Lina Cooper before this, but I really like her voice. It sounds familiar, because I know there are some other artists who have that tone, but I didn't listen to them, but I still absorbed their voices by cultural osmosis. But she's got one of those voices, and tonally, it pairs really well with what Vahn is doing with his. He adopted a little bit of a raspy growl, fitting with the rock instrumentals. Joohyoung mostly gets the first pre-chorus from what I can tell, which explains why he gets third billing.

You know what I think is really cool? That he keeps experimenting with his music videos. First one was the standard, sad-song music video. Still very cool. Then he went the exact opposite with the experimental and strange route. And now we have a Facetime concept. I know he isn't fully in control of what his music videos vibe with, and I don't know how much control or idea input he actually has. But this one was a cool one. Simple, but nice. And like with his single, I swear, we get added animations in place. Also, hilariously, I'm not sure he's actually that good at lip synching, but he sure is adorable while he tries. 



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