Battle of the B-Sides:: LE SSERAFIM- Impurities

 Well, well. Considering what time of year this is (less than a week before Halloween), I was looking through my To Do playlist, looking for something a little spooky, and while this isn't my favorite song from the album, I did recognize the album artwork and took a listen out of curiosity. It was not a suggestion on The Form, which is fine, but it was a message on Tumblr. So, as soon as this is finished, I'll be forwarding that to you. I hope you enjoy it!

Impurities is the third track on their second mini album, released in October of 2022. So, hilariously, that's actually suitable for this as well. It's a really long list of people given writing credit, so I'll worry about them in a moment, but who is recognized as the producer is really interesting: 13. 13 is a producer team comprised of Score (who spent a lot of time at SM for Taemin and Jonghyun, but also for LE SSERAFIM in general), Megatone (also quite a bit of time with Score for SM, Block B, and also LE SSERAFIM), Luke (formerly of TCRNG (we still hate TS Entertainment because none of their groups deserved that) and has worked with a lot of groups who are contemporaries of his or a bit younger like TWS), Eden (of KQ fame and producer of my favorite BTOB song), and HLB (can't tell you about this one). Megatone is listed for writing credits, as is member Huh Yunjin, and Hitman Bang himself. There are actually a few SM connected writers in that list, which is a little interesting to see. 

I have a nail polish that, looking at it in the bottle, looks a little bit like a grayish purple. In other words, kind of bland. With one coat on, it kind of sparkles a little, but it just kind of grays out my nails (which is why I like to use it as a topper, because putting that over the top of an actual purple or a blue or black makes it rich up the color beautifully). But putting two coats on makes the color a subdued iridescence that actively distracts me when I'm looking at it in the sunlight. It's so pretty, but so subtle at the same time.

That's what this song reminds me of. This is a song that is sultry and sophisticated, with gorgeous hidden depths, and simultaneously nothing over the top to distract or cover up the raw simplicity here. 

Probably my favorite part of the song is the harmonizing on the "Impurities, show you my impurities" part, although a very close second and third are "Just because it's what I am" and the amazing, subtle ad-libs. The only reason the favorite bit is my favorite is because of how often I get to hear it. If I heard either it less or the other parts more, it would simply be a three-way tie. 

Impurities also has this dreamy tempo to it. Apparently I listen to a lot of music that's 130 BPM or more (often up in the 170 range which pains me with this knowledge), but this one's closer to the 90 BPM range if I counted that correctly. This is a slow, relaxed song. The chill vibes here really are what gets me. 

Now, the music video. Again, we've got a fairly decent metaphor with that nail polish. There's nothing flashy to the music video itself, though the camerawork is so quiet that you don't even really notice the subtle shifts to move from a medium shot on a single member to including three or more of them without the distance changing too much. There are several moments in the music video where the camera is spinning around the group and they're shifting to keep the camera in front of them. It's just seamless and I'm really impressed that LE SSERAFIM, at less than six months old, had the control and the capability to look that grounded while doing admittedly complicated work. I'm actually really curious to see what the choreography looks like when they're performing for a stage instead of a camera.

And that choreography. I absolutely could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that instead of having set choreography for each section of the song, the choreography is different the entire way through the song, or at least most of the way. There are so many different bits that need to be talked about. The body rolls, the synchronized group choreography, the slow power moves, the elegant turns and lines. This choreography is the best of both worlds between smooth and big, without ever being overly aggressive or too needlessly delicate. It just fits. Between the choreography and the music, the song is almost hypnotic, and that's also something that's fascinating to me.

The only one I can identify on sight at this point is Chaewon and only because of how much I love No Celestial, but I'd like to point something out about her that amuses me a little. She's wearing probably the least amount of clothing of anyone else in the group, which is fine. All the costuming matches without being identical, and that's cool. But Chaewon's in particular does a thing that I noticed on probably my second watch through: the mole on her thigh. If her costume was even a little bit longer on the bottom, that would have been hidden. Instead, we got to see a physical representation of an "impurity" for a song about showing impurities. I don't think it's an impurity, I think it's cute, but it could be seen as one, and that's cool.

Huh, would you look at that? Little maknae was not the one I thought she was. This is actually helpful because while I know all of the members' names, I can only actually identify Chaewon by sight, and possibly only during this era. But M Countdown includes their names with the lyrics so you can clearly identify which one is which if you can read Hangeul. (Fun fact, that's actually why I can read it fairly quickly and how I attach member names to faces: I use the stage performances.)

They're all very pretty. I feel like that should be a thing that's well-recognized if it isn't because that's an objectively true statement. 

Also, person-on-Tumblr, you're correct. Sakura gets a ton of lines in this song, and it is pretty fantastic. Her expressions here are top-notch and you can feel the performing experience really strongly anyway from her days as part of IZ*ONE. She practically glows on stage. And she gets to be the thumbnail here, which is very exciting.

I think for this Inkigayo stage, they're in their music video costumes, which delights me because it's reusing the outfits.

Once again, I have to comment here on the camera work. It's just one work of art after another here, and there's one point (the most replayed actually, so it's super easy for literally anyone to find) where the camera and the choreography are so synced up with each other that the camera pauses for the choreography to have them slap the camera back into movement. It also feels like this one might be a single camera, which automatically confirms this to be a single performance instead of a spliced together one. 

You know what? Have the relay dance. Just for a kick and a giggle. I love relay dance versions. The expressions and the hilarity are something that you almost never get in any other kind of performance. It's cute, and we get to see some fun personalities shining through. The vibing at the back is always what gets me though. You have to watch these a couple of times to catch all the hilarity. And I love most that we get Behind and some of the goofs and other takes.

And now, as always if it's been available, the dance practice. I am a tiny bit disappointed that we didn't get a static camera dance practice because I want to see what this looks like as a full group, as you'd see in an actual performance instead on in video form, but I also love how comfy they all look. And also, here's the reminder that this is a b-side. This isn't a title track.

Thanks for reading everyone. Let me know your favorite part of the song! If you've got a song you'd like me to cover, you can always drop a comment or submit it via The Form (link up at the top!)