Song Review:: Jang Hangeum: LUCID DREAM- SHINE

• Release date: 2025 May 01

• Album tracklist: MOONRISE, FIND YOUR OWN WAY, SHINE, LUCKY BOY, FIRE FLOWER, REWIND

• Album runtime: 17 minutes

 Okay, so Jang Hangeum is a soloist who debuted a few years ago, and given those nicknames, he either really likes winter or he does well with a winter-esque concept. And even though he debuted a few years ago, this is his first mini album! So congrats to him! It's a little weird for me to cover a new soloist who has never been part of a group or on a survival show of any kind as far as I can tell, because I have both no expectations and a lot of curiosity. But! That's okay as well. Also, the runtime average would be a lot longer if you remove the MOONRISE because it's less than a minute and significantly shorter than any of the other songs.

There's an interesting phenomenon happening with this song. Even while I'm listening to it, I catch myself not being able to remember that it slows down and softens during the verses. The choral instrumental ha a lot of influence over the song, but it's neither grating nor uncomfortable, so even though it's pretty much the entirety of the song with minimal variations, it works well despite that. Really, the song has a good rhythm to it, and it's a pretty good hallmark of the genre, so I'm pretty pleased with this.

You know, there were a few opportunities for his voice to have a vibrato to gently rumble throughout, but alas. Putting that disappointment to the side, which shouldn't be to much of a shock for anyone, he's got a soothing voice that does make me curious about the rest of his discography, limited though it is. I briefly skimmed through a couple of other songs from this album, and I'm starting to get a feel for how he is as an artist. Could it be that he's just a mild, comforting sort of singer? Yes. Could it be the theme of the album, given that he's got composer and lyricist credits across the board? Also yes. So I'm going to need to sniff into the other songs he's released to get a good feel for him, but what I'm hearing in this is enough to make me curious and interested. He does however have a gorgeous falsetto.

I had to attach the title of the song to his name in the search in order to find the music video on YouTube. Turns out that Suga released a song called Hangeum, which makes it slightly difficult. He is, however, very pretty, and this is very much a vibes and visuals music video, which highlights how pretty he is. He also kind of reminds me of my boy Yoon Jisung, who is older than me, but it's fine. The director and such did a really good job with showing off his visuals in a variety of lighting. Also, as of me posting this, there are only about 2400 views, so I'm excited to share this.