Song Review:: 100RED: Winter Special Single- The Last Christmas

• Release date: 2024 December 10

• Album tracklist: The Last Christmas

• Album runtime: 4 minutes

 I was surprised to see that One Hundred Label (or BPM? I'm not sure which one would be more accurate) decided to do a company-wide Christmas Special like other companies back in Ye Olden Days. Artists involved in this one are Lee Seung Gi, Taemin, Baekhyun, Chen, Xiumin, Ha Sungwoon, VIVIZ, Lee Mujin, BE'O, and BADVILLAIN. It took me this long to do this, because I was sulking that Ren wasn't included. I didn't think he would be, but I was also hoping that they recorded this before he enlisted. And he won't be on next year's either if they do one because he'll still be enlisted. I'm fine. It's fine. Just about a year and a half.

That is a gorgeous song length.

Why does the very start of this song remind me of When You Wish Upon A Star? Otherwise, whoever composed it did a great job of making this sound pleasantly Christmas-y. It's the bells. It's also hard to hear anything but the bells for the instrumentals, which is something I'm not sure how I feel about. On the one hand, that means that the vocals are very strongly highlighted and put on display, and I like that. On the other hand, there's not a lot to say about the instrumentals because it's primarily bells shaken on the beat. There are of course moments where we get instruments other than bells, the very beginning is one of them where the drums and synth are more audible than the bells being one of them, but for the most part, the bells are rather dominant. 

There are some very good voices in this roster, and they're used to great effect. Again, I miss Ren's voice here, but they still have a complete song without him. My sulking notwithstanding, I think one of the best parts of what those voices are doing is when the female voices get paired up with the male voices. Even if they're singing the same notes in different octaves, it creates a good contrast that is hard to find other ways, unless you actively seek out a co-ed group or the rare collaboration. This is what we get with a company wide Christmas special and 100RED delivers that. There are also so many different vocal layers that I'm pleased with how it was put out. It's very pleasant and a good first version of what I hope to start becoming a tradition.

Yeah, that's not a music video. That's just a full drama. Actually, I think I've seen that drama. The former SME artists are so chill through this whole thing, which makes sense given their group lore, but it still makes me laugh. VIVIZ are so sweet being evacuation volunteers. BADVILLAIN also make me laugh. I'm pretty sure that they went for "Well, no one will notice if we set some buildings on fire," which is honestly a fair reaction to the end of the world as long as it continues to be the end of the world and it's not a fake out. I'd like to acknowledge the others, but I don't know who they are. Other than the fact that the music video opens with Lee Seung Gi's acting skills on display, not his singing. It's a five minute drama, and it's pretty fantastic.