Song Review:: Xiumin (EXO): Interview X- WHEE!

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  • Release date: 2025 March 10
  • Album tracklist: Can't Help Myself, WHEE!, Make You Lala, Switch Off, Lost Paradise, Love is U
  • Album runtime: 17 minutes

 I'm going to do the soloists in age order since there were a significant number of soloists releasing music today. This way, it can be orderly. There's a little bit of controversy regarding this release which I'm not going to get into, but I will frown disapprovingly at a certain former company of his. In other news, I've kind of enjoyed the individual members releasing solo material because that's made it easier for me to get to know each of them individually. And given my predilection for 2012 debuts, I fully anticipate EXO getting added to my list of groups I really like, that plus my soft spot for groups that have been mistreated badly because the company is garbage and knowing a little bit of EXO's history, it's an inevitability for me. So, this is nice ahead of their reunion once the maknae is discharged.

This has the glorious static sound from old music that goes straight to my brain like a shot of caffeine. The static unfortunately does not stay, but underneath the percussion, there's a rapid warble that unsettles the entire song, in a good way. This is an energetic song that doesn't barrel along at breakneck speed, which sounds like it might be an oxymoron. I'm still a little disconcerted by the fact that it starts the way it does, and then that vibe isn't carried through the rest of the song. 

Xiumin has a really good voice. Not that this is a surprise because EXO is known for their vocals, but it's a nice discover so that I can start slotting them into their respective positions for when they're all together. We get most of the song in a narrow band of notes, but we got slightly more range in the upper notes with his falsetto than we do settling lower. I'd love to take a look at the sheet music for this to see if I'm right about the number of notes most of the song uses. It creates a very repetitious sound that requires a surprising amount of vocal control to keep sounding good, but not so repetitious that I'm driven a little bonkers. Instead, it's cyclical in its rhythm, rather than simply relying on the beat and the rhythm of the song.

What is it about a man in a leather jacket that makes my brain go "*static*"? In other news, this is a music video of the odd variety, which brings me joy, but we also get quite a bit of a storyline. My favorite part was the ending where he was just sitting there yapping, leaves, and then he steals the painting while that beep. I don't remember what that is the sound of specifically because it's been a hot minute since I called anyone on a landline, but having that noise going on while that's happening increases the hilarity three fold.



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