Song Reviews:: Koyote: Four Seasons

•  Release date: 2024 November 04

• Album tracklist: Four Seasons, Four Seasons(Inst.)

• Album runtime: 7 minutes

 I was looking at some first gen K-Pop groups and found out that this one is both still active, and I missed doing a review for this song when it was released. Possibly because there are so many K-Pop groups that it's just not feasible for me to get all the names memorized yet. Also, excitingly, Koyote is a co-ed group, so this should be fun. Koyote is a trio which debuted in 1998, and unlike most groups now, has had multiple line-up changes, as a lot of the older groups had. Of the three current members, only Shin Ji is an original member, with Jong Min joining in 2000 and the maknae, Bbaek Ga, joining in 2004. I'm not kidding. If you want a look at what feels like a lawless time, look into the original K-Pop groups. There are some absolutely wild stories going on with them. They're on average less pearl-clutching-worthy as the sordid tales from the American hairbands from the 1980s, but still, wow. Fascinating. Also, finding out that some of them didn't have air conditioning and had to take turns in front of the open fridge, or walk ten kilometers to get to a bank that did have air conditioning? Thank you, Joon of g.o.d, for that little tidbit of information.

This also means that I will not be doing a Koyote song for a GH segment right now like I was going to. Instead, you get the most recent release. It's a couple of months old, but this is fair warning that I will be doing a Koyote song for a GH segment in the near future. You just get an introduction to them first.

There are very clearly delineated segments made of the big three instruments: piano, guitar, drums. The piano, which I assume would actually be performed as a keyboard and not a piano just because of the tone at the very beginning, takes a surprising amount of the spotlight for the instrumentals. The drums provide a solid backbone to support everything else and are through the entire song, but they don't take too much attention because of how stable they are. The guitar too gets quite a bit of attention here, though rarely are the three instruments together. Instead, we get mostly trade-offs, which is cool. 

First gen idol vibrato. Be still, my soul. Actually, you want to know what Shin Ji's voice reminds me of? The Carpenters, which is a huge compliment from me because Karen Carpenter had an absolutely incredible voice. The style of the song reminds me of The Carpenters as well, although they didn't rap, and Koyote's maknae does. Jong Min sounds more in line with Super Junior or SS501 or TVXQ! than earlier K-Pop, which makes the different textures of the voices when they're harmonizing really intriguing, especially since those two members themselves are the same age. And the maknae, Bbaek Ga, has an almost conversational rapping style that I really like, another marker of the generation the original group is from. The song overall feels happy and upbeat, but there's a bittersweetness to it that I personally really am digging. 

If you noticed that I'm treating this a little like a debut, well, I have to assume there are other people who have never heard of this group, and a higher percentage that haven't heard this song. And of those who read these, I'm sure there are people who read the review before listening to the song, so that means that my words are their first introduction to the group at all, much like a debut, and they might like some orientation for what to expect. 

Okay, but that's actually a really cute music video. On their own, it's hard and life kind of sucks, but when they're together, it's easier. And I mean that literally. It goes from dark and miserable and snowy and sad, but when they join up, the light falls on them. From then on, it's smiles and sunshine and performing on stage together. Really quite lovely. And the best part is the photograph at the end where they recreate an old one. That is so nostalgic, and I love it. The thumbnail is that picture that they're taking. The laughing genuinely makes me so happy.